Why China and the West should work together on cybersecurity problems

China and the West have a unique opportunity to cooperate on improving global cybersecurity in a way that could be transformational. To do this, both sides need to keep focused on the common good and find pragmatic ways to address mutual suspicions.

When I first came to Hong Kong as a student, Deng Xiaoping had recently announced the creation of the special economic zones. Over the years, I watched Shenzhen develop from a small town to a city larger than London.

More importantly, it developed from a low-cost manufacturing base, making its name delivering hardware designed outside China, to a global centre for world-leading innovation. Along with other regions, notably the Zhongguancun area of Beijing, Shenzhen has moved upstream. It is now at the forefront of creating new intellectual property: designing and manufacturing cutting-edge technologies.

China’s Next Generation AI Development Plan is delivering a better-organised, much better-funded push into this sector than any Western government has managed. Chinese academics publish more papers on deep learning each year than their US counterparts.