Media Mentions

Recent Chinese AI models are also now compatible with cheaper, locally made processors. “For the money [a Chinese AI company would] spend on an Nvidia chip, they can buy 10 local chips from Huawei or other local chipmakers,” says George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group. Demand (for Chinese AI models) has only grown as […]

George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, said US “closed models”, which include products offered by OpenAI and Anthropic, were too expensive for most consumers in global south countries, which lacked the capacity to develop their own AI. “So China has suddenly provided a very good Plan B [for developing countries], maybe

Japan’s involvement is part of an effort to bolster its regional energy security, according to Taro Han, a former official at Japan’s trade ministry, who recently joined The Asia Group, a consulting firm. Even with its own substantial stockpiles, Japan remains deeply dependent on Southeast Asian supply chains for goods made with oil byproducts, including

“Election interference allegations strike at the most politically sensitive fault line in US-China relations,” said Han Shen Lin, the China managing director for The Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm.  “They reinforce Washington’s bipartisan narrative that strategic competition with China extends beyond trade and technology into democratic institutions.

Conference attendee George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, an American strategic advisory firm, said that Beijing has been using the Shanghai AI conference to deliver key messages on AI cooperation, safety, and what officials now call “AI diplomacy”. The goal is to rally allies and partners, particularly across the

“It’s significant at a symbolic level in terms of perhaps ever so slightly but tangibly the US is lightening up on its negativeness about Hong Kong,” said Kurt Tong, a former US consul general to Hong Kong and Macau who is now a partner with the Asia Group consultancy. “The US is now leaning less

“The WAIC has steadily evolved into a policy-oriented forum, with Beijing using it to deliver key messages on AI cooperation, safety and what officials now call ‘AI diplomacy,’” said George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at advisory firm The Asia Group. China, Chen added, sees an opportunity to present itself as a more

“Households overwhelmingly favor property, bank deposits, and guaranteed products over venture investing,” said Han Shen Lin, China managing director at The Asia Group, a Washington-based advisory firm.

“Against this backdrop, WAIC has become more than a technology showcase; it is now a geopolitical stage where Beijing seeks to articulate its vision ‌of AI ⁠as both a national priority and a diplomatic instrument,” wrote George Chen, chair of digital practice at The Asia Group.

With the approval, China “removes a long-time and major political uncertainty for Shein,” Han Lin, China director for consultancy firm The Asia Group, told AFP. “Beijing is signaling selective reopening, not deregulation — rewarding companies that strengthen China’s economy while remaining aligned with national security and regulatory priorities,” he added.