China is emerging as a global leader in generative AI (GenAI) adoption, according to a new survey. This finding comes after a year of significant progress in the field, fueled by the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022.

The survey, conducted by the U.S. AI and analytics software company SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, has polled 1,600 decision-makers across various industries worldwide. Notably, 83 percent of respondents in China reported using generative AI.

The figure was higher than the 16 other countries and regions in the survey, including the U.S., where 65 percent of respondents said they had adopted GenAI. The global average was 54 percent.

The industries surveyed included banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail and energy. The survey also found that organizations in the U.S. are ahead in terms of maturity and having fully implemented GenAI technologies at 24 percent compared to China's 19 percent, and the U.K.'s 11 percent.

In recent years, China's AI industry has achieved progress in technological innovation, product creation, industry applications and other areas. The sector has presented new features with the accelerated development of new technologies like large models.

Last week, a report by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization showed China was leading the GenAI patent race, filing more than 38,000 between 2014 and 2023 against 6,276 filed by the U.S. in the same period.

China now hosts more than 4,500 AI companies. Its core AI industry reached a scale of more than 578 billion yuan (about $79.5 billion) in 2023, up 13.9 percent year on year, according to official data.

The country will also formulate more than 50 national and industrial standards for AI by 2026 and develop a standard system to guide the high-quality development of the sector, according to guidelines jointly unveiled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other government organs.

(With input from agencies)