Yang Jun, deputy director of the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong, said the province issued a government plan on July 23, revealing its ambition to become a leading national destination for new-generation AI industry development.

"The industrial output of the core AI industry in Guangdong reached 26 billion yuan ($3.78 billion) in 2017, accounting for nearly one third of the country's total," Yang said.

As a result, boosted by the development of the AI industry, the industrial output for robotic and intelligent equipment surpassed 200 billion yuan, he added.

Yang noted that Foshan will make an even bigger contribution in the future.

Qian Weiqiang, president of the China Academy of Invention Achievement Transformation, one of the organizers of the event, said his academy will cooperate with Foshan High-Tech Zone and other organizations to introduce more resources, projects and talented people from Beijing's Zhongguancu, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas after the event, to promote the long-term industrial development in Foshan.