Madrid Financial Forum echoes China's five-year plan with AI starring

Beijing Financial Street in the Chinese capital's Xicheng district is the beating heart of the Chinese finance sector, often called 'China's Wall Street.'

It's where you'll find the seat of the central government, China's financial regulation center which holds a third of the country's financial assets, and where the highest-level decisions of economic development are made.

On Monday a big financial forum began in Beijing, following the announcement of the 15th five-year plan focused on transformation and innovation.

Over 11,000 kilometers away in Spain, a satellite forum took place in Madrid's financial center, known as the 'Cuatro Torres,' or four towers, focussing on Sino-European economic cooperation.

Organized by ICBC banking group, both events were streamed live in Beijing and Madrid.

It's the first time the Financial Street forum has taken place in Spain and only the second time in Europe, another example of the positive moment in Sino-Spanish relations.

Chinese ambassador to Spain Yao Jing told CGTN Europe: "I feel lucky that a lot of attention has begun coming to China and Spanish cooperation because this is my job! I think of Spain as a partner of China and it's occupying a more important place in bilateral relations and in the eyes of the Chinese business communities."

The relationship has seen Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visit China three times in the past three years and Chinese companies have invested north of $10 billion in Spain, mostly in green industries like renewables and electric vehicle and battery production.

"China and Spain can play a bigger role or more meaningful role for this China-European cooperation," added the ambassador.

AI and global finance

Artificial intelligence and collaboration dominated the discussions. Li Feng, ICBC Europe General Manager, told CGTN: "This is a very important dialogue platform focusing on financial interaction between China and Europe and further activating the two major markets, as well as exploring new areas for future investment.

"This year is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Europe, as well as the 20th anniversary of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Spain. Therefore, we at the ICBC are holding this forum here in Spain to boost communication, understanding, and mutual trust between China and Europe."

Using AI to fight cybercrime and fraud

Guests from supervisory bodies, research institutes, industry experts and prominent scholars were present, like Alberto Lopez Gonzalez, a Spanish expert in cybercrime.

"In the MasterCard network, we process 159 billion transactions per year. That represents roughly more than 5,000 transactions per second," he said. "One of the most important takeaways from the Madrid forum is the importance of AI to prevent fraud and to help the business to be more secure. 

"But the other one is related with collaboration. We have seen the importance of collaboration between public sector and private sector, but also between regions like China and Spain or Europe."

AI in Education

The Nebrija Univerity in Madrid has led the way in terms of collaborations with China and Chinese institutions, including setting up a shared research facility in Madrid where Chinese and Spanish or international researchers work together.

"I think what we share mainly is the conviction that education in general and in particular higher education is the engine of economic growth, social prosperity, social mobility," she said when asked about the motivations behind these collaborations.

"There's also an interest in some of the challenges or disruptive forces to higher education, like artificial intelligence, the digital revolution, or the green transition. And those are topics where we hope that we can collaborate with China.

"China is really leading in the sense that it has understood very early on that the implementation of AI through education is the way to develop the talent needed to use AI in the right way, in a productive way. That does not affect learning, but improves learning."

AI and the world

Bernardo Crespo, academic director of the prestigious IE University and Quantum Marketthink CEO responded to the recent five-year plan proposals and what they mean for Europe and the world.

"The fact we are having this conversation about the five-year plans, something that we would not have something like 10 years ago, it is an important milestone," Crespo said.

"We have to embrace this new multipolar reality as part of this geopolitical change that we are witnessing right now."