The rise of China has been amply discussed and documented.  But not enough attention has been paid to the intersection of the new China with new and emerging technologies.  How will the rise of China shape the future?  How will advanced technology guide the rise of China?

China’s growth in recent decades has been fueled largely by low-cost labour, rapid urbanization of a large rural population, heavy state investment and a relaxed attitude to intellectual property rights.  But as the economic and political landscape in China evolves there is growing focus on innovation; as analyst Justin Chakma notes,  “…one of the clear initiatives is investing in innovative science.”

With a large market eager to uptake new technology and the lack of any significant ultra-conservative or bio-luddite push against technological progress, China seems poised to play a key role in the development and rollout of the next wave of progress.

What kinds of transformational technologies will take off in China that would likely be encumbered by bio-luddite or ultra-conservative opposition in the west?   What will the future look like, with transhumanist technologies emerging as eastern and western cultures are synergizing or even to som extent merging?  What will be the face of transhumanist culture, Chinese-style?  Can the East & West join forces to develop technologies to lift millions out of poverty and raise the general standard of living manyfold whilst mitigating environmental impact — moving us all toward a radically better future together?

Technologies like AI, humanoid robotics, genetic engineering and mind uploading are currently being pursued by international teams spanning China and the West.  What would the dramatic success of some of these project mean for the world?

And so — we hope you will join us in Beijing, July 27, to explore these and other topics regarding the future of science and technology in China and around the world.  A fantastic roster of Chinese and Western speakers — including many currently leading advanced technology projects in China — will guide and foster discussions on some of the most critical issues facing humanity as it enters is next phase of development.

Also note: We are scheduling Humanity+ @Beijing for July 27th primarily because of the Artificial General Intelligence conference (AGI13) to be held in Peking University the following week. We anticipate that some speakers and attendees from AGI-13 will wish to attend Humantiy+ @Beijing as well. TheIJCAI conference, a very large international AI conference, is also held the following week, and will also be a source of Humanity+ @Beijing attendees.  We have also been in touch with the organizer of TedX Beijing, who has offered to help us recruit attendees from his network.