How technology will shape the future world is a difficult yet fascinating question. At a panel discussion jointly presented by CGTN and the BEYOND Expo, industry experts and investors shared their vision of the world in the decades to come.

James Mi, founding partner of Lightspeed China Partners, is seeing vast changes in the means of transportation, with autonomous-driving cars everywhere and all the boats being "electrical or hydrogen cell-powered." 

The veteran investor also envisions a 100-year life expectancy for human beings.

Echoing Mi's vision of an autonomous and carbon-neutral future, Brian Gu, vice chairman and president of Chinese electric carmaker XPeng Motors, went further in suggesting the integration of personal mobility. The auto industry insider cited his company's drive to develop "flying devices, last-mile solution robots, and water-based transportation" that integrate "new energy sources, AI-power sensors, autonomous driving engines, as well as new AI perception technologies" in a user-friendly interface.

With big entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk all investing in clean energy, the industry is very like to see "really significant breakthroughs," said David Scott Aikman, former chief representative of World Economic Forum, Greater China.

He also said that "climates will drive people's rethinking of the food structures and ecosystems" and of the wider agricultural model. In the meantime, with people's pursuit of better health and better lifestyle, the human-machine interface is expected to "evolve beyond the meta universe into the health care space."

Jason Ho, co-founder of the BEYOND Expo, a flagship tech event that's being held online and scheduled to take place offline on December 2-4, paid particular interest in the so-called "smart city infrastructure" technologies. 

He also noted the health sector's application of technologies that people have not seen before, singling out China's use of QR codes in tracing the spread of the coronavirus. Ho also said that the technologies involving new energy, food and agriculture will "not only change traditional businesses, but also solve global challenges as well."