CICC Chairman Chen Liang responds to 36Kr: AI will not quickly cause a huge impact on investment banks; writing research reports requires more precise understanding of policies and specific company situations.

By / @E1@

From March 22 to 23, the 2026 annual meeting of the China Development Forum was held at Beijing Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

At the “Addressing Uncertainty: Global Risks, Growth Opportunities, and Cooperation” special symposium, Chen Liang, Chairman of China International Capital Corporation Limited and Chairman of the Management Committee, shared his observations and thoughts from the perspective of “geoeconomic competition reshaping a multilateral cooperation framework.”

Chen Liang noted that the current process of economic globalization is facing unprecedented challenges. This is clearly spelled out in this year’s Government Work Report: the international economic and trade environment has undergone rapid and dramatic changes, unilateralism and protectionism have been escalating abruptly, market expectations have been disrupted frequently, and foreign trade has come under significant pressure. This accurately summarizes the structural predicament confronting the global economy. In addition, international games in areas such as artificial intelligence, resources, and energy are also a major concern for governments and markets in every country.

Chen Liang, Chairman of CICC | Image source: provided by the organizers of the conference

In response to intensifying geoeconomic competition, Chen Liang believes three trends are worth paying close attention to: first, the global industrial chain is accelerating its reconfiguration; second, the technological revolution is reshaping competitive advantages; and third, the uncertainty brought by geoeconomic competition is increasingly becoming an important investment variable affecting capital markets.

In terms of the technological revolution reshaping competitive advantages, Chen Liang said the world is in a critical period of transition between new and old drivers of growth, and technological competition is increasingly becoming the core of great-power games. Under the traditional international division-of-labor framework, the United States has long occupied the high ground in invention and innovation, while China, leveraging advantages in production and market scale, has been leading the commercialization process and driving supply expansion. Against the backdrop of intensifying geocompetition, countries that hold early advantages in technological innovation and industrialization have become central nodes in global technology networks. This not only means greater influence over global industrial chains, but also strengthens international voice in rule-setting.

“For example, as a general-purpose technology, artificial intelligence is profoundly affecting the global economic and governance landscape. China has a complete manufacturing system, a large digital user base, and rich application scenarios—therefore, it has enormous potential to drive innovation through the market and to generate breakthroughs in ideas through demand,” Chen Liang said.

To respond to global uncertainty and the acceleration of trade fragmentation, Chen Liang said that efforts can be made in three areas: first, coordinate and advance multilateral mechanisms and bilateral cooperation, and build diversified, strongly complementary supply-chain and industrial-chain cooperation relationships; second, accelerate efforts to secure independent control over core technologies and explore new models for international technology cooperation; and third, continuously enhance the resilience of capital markets and solidify financial security.

Chen Liang also mentioned that in recent years, CICC research has successively released a series of in-depth research results, such as “Big-Country Industrial Chains,” “AI Economics,” and “Geoeconomics,” among others. These studies deeply analyze macro industrial-and-financial trends under the evolution of the global economic geostrategic landscape, and explore the potential of China’s economy to achieve high-quality development.

During the conference, Chen Liang accepted an on-site interview with reporters from the “China Daily Economic News” (hereinafter referred to as “@E2@”) .

When @E2@ asked about how to view AI’s impact on investment banks, Chen Liang said, “I think in our industry it probably won’t create such a huge shock that quickly—(AI) probably won’t cause a massive impact on our industry that quickly—but we are also paying attention to and doing research.”

“Research is the cornerstone of investment banking.” This is a viewpoint Chen Liang has mentioned on multiple occasions. When @E2@ asked about how to view the fact that AI can already write relatively solid research reports, Chen Liang said, “In China (when writing research reports), it’s necessary to grasp the policy and the specific situation and characteristics of enterprises more precisely, and to dig deeper; AI may not be able to do that yet.”

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Cover image source: provided by the organizers of the conference