AI in China and in Europe: Trust, Differences, and Future Implications - Vincent Xiang, Founder China AI Connect (EP 26)
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Why do Europe and China ask completely different first‑question about new AI technologies?
Hello, this is Eva and you're listening to the Inbetween Tech and Trust podcast. Right now, there is a global race underway, as you all might know, and we all ask ourselves, well, who is it going to be and also how is it going to turn out on a global scale? And most of the European conversation about it is happening at a significant remove from what is actually underground and feasible in China. And so I'm particularly intrigued that this week's guest is one of the few people in a position to actually help us understand of what's going on and also look into the gap of knowledge that we might have. And so Vincent Yang is the founder of China AI Connect. He's based out of Europe, but he's someone who works daily between Chinese AI founders and European investors.
And in his role, he's advising both sides on what the other is actually doing and what they might also get wrong about each other, what they might benefit from each other. And so in our conversation, we get deep into whether China's AI deployment is genuinely a surveillance dystopia, whether that label says more about Western assumptions than Chinese reality. we also talk about what european companies and investors are misreading about the chinese ai landscape and what it means that the world is currently splitting into distinct and possibly well maybe permanent ai blocks which we're currently not quite sure about and which will definitely need some follow-up and seeing whether or where it's headed the question underneath for me was
a significant one because in a global AI arms race, can we actually trust between the ecosystems that we build and or is managing the gap a realistic ambition overall? Welcome, Vincent, and I'm so happy to have you on the In Between Tech and Trust podcast.
Thank you, Eva. It's a pleasure to be here and thank you for inviting me.
I was really looking forward to our conversation because you're one of the experts to talk all the happenings that we can refer to when it comes to tech in China, most of all, and also, you know, bridging the technological progress between Europe and China overall. And when you think about the intersection of technology and trust, what is the very first thing that comes to your mind, particularly from a perspective of working between China and the global AI ecosystem?
Yeah, I think this is a really good start for the conversation. So the first word coming to my mind is actually difference. So let me explain a bit more. So as you said, I work in between the two ecosystems, China and Europe. I often think that technology and trust is understood across China and Europe very differently. In China, for example, when we launch a new product and new services, people often ask, how is this going to change our lives? How is this going to improve our lives? Will it save time? Will it improve our quality of living? So when they think that the answer is yes, they are willing to try it. And then over time, the trust will build, right? If you look at Alipay and WeChat Pay, together they are serving 1.8 billion accounts in China.
People use it for everything, for payment, for transportation, for online booking, et cetera. So they are more willing to invest use and taste new ideas and new products in China. When I look at Europe, it's often very different. So the first question people often ask is, so where is the guardrail? Is that safe for my data? Where my data is going to be stored? How is it going to be collected? So there's more cautious, more caution when it comes to trying new technology. And so this is coming more from the different kind of history and different value. And that actually shapes how AI is regulated, how AI is adopted, how AI is used across China and Europe.
And now you founded the AI Connect. And that means that you're building an understanding across systems and cultures, but also across stakeholders. And it will be interesting for me to know what motivated you personally to step into this also themely fitting in-between space.
Yeah, wonderful. I started the China Air Connect around six months ago.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do Europe and China ask completely different first‑question about new AI technologies?
0:14–5:44
2
How does China’s “trust the system, not the stranger” model (Alipay escrow) work?
5:44–11:15
3
Why are the labels “AI superpower” and “surveillance dystopia” both misleading?
11:15–16:18
4
What is the three‑layer coordination of government, platforms, and institutions in China?
16:18–21:25
5
How is fragmentation becoming a permanent reality for AI developers in China and Europe?
21:25–27:47
6
What does the upcoming robotics inflection point mean for policy and market opportunities?
27:47–33:00
7
How can European companies build credible, compliant AI products for the Chinese market from day one?
33:00–33:27
8
What future scenarios could shape the convergence—or divergence—of Chinese and Western AI ecosystems?
33:27–33:28
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The In-Between Tech and Trust Podcast
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