CAREC Institute Researcher Shares Insights on AI, Innovation, and Regional Digital Cooperation at China-SCO Forum in Karamay
Dr. Asif Razzaq, Senior Research Specialist at the CAREC Institute, participated in the 2026 China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Digital Technology Cooperation and Development Forum, held in Karamay, Xinjiang, from 11 to 12 June. The forum brought together government officials, international organization delegates, research institute experts, and industry practitioners to advance cooperation in digital technologies, capacity building, joint research, and industrial cooperation among SCO member countries.
The forum featured a main forum, thematic forums, and industrial achievement showcases. All sessions covered a wide range of topics, including green data center development, computing power infrastructure, AI applications, digital government, urban digital transformation, low-altitude economy, and space-based computing power. Collectively, these themes highlighted the expanding influence of digital technologies in boosting regional connectivity, driving industrial transformation, and supporting balanced regional economic growth.
During the main forum, Dr. Razzaq delivered a keynote speech titled “AI Development and Green Innovation in China.”His remarks examined China’s rapid expansion in artificial intelligence, including the growth of AI firms, wider AI adoption beyond coastal economic hubs, and the changing geography of digital innovation across China. He further connected such digital progress with China’s green innovation landscape, noting how AI can support cleaner production, improve R&D efficiency, reduce managerial short-sightedness, and strengthen firm-level green innovation capacity. Supported by empirical data from Chinese cities and listed companies, he emphasized that AI development should be viewed not only as a digital growth agenda but also as a policy tool for green transformation, productivity upgrading, and more inclusive regional cooperation under both the CAREC and SCO frameworks.
Dr. Razzaq also joined other participants in a milestone ceremony celebrating 1,000 cumulative enrolments under the “Tree of SCO” digital technology training program, an initiative advancing digital capacity building among SCO partners.
The CAREC Institute’s participation underscores its continued focus on evidence-based policy exchanges covering digital transformation, technological innovation and regional sustainable development. It further aligns the Institute’s ongoing research agenda with key regional cooperation priorities on artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and green innovation across regional cooperation initiatives.