Technological advancements are having a measurable impact in China. You can see it in the smart phones people carry, mobile payment technology and even in hospitals. The use of Artificial intelligence is leading to potentially life saving breakthroughs in detecting cancer. Ge Yunfei talked to a physician in southern China to see how it works.

In China, around 2.7 million people died of cancer every year. That means cancer kills more than five Chinese people every minute. Dr. Xu Guoliang tries to detect cancer in its earliest stages-which can improve a patient's chances of survival. Xu is an endoscopy specialist working at one of the largest cancer treatment centers in southern China. He searches for tumours inside body cavities and hollow organs like the stomach. While the WHO says stomach cancer is a leading cause of death in China, there aren't enough Chinese doctors like Xu.

XU GUOLIANG CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT OF ENDOSCOPY AND LASER SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY CANCER CENTER "Five years ago, there were only about 29,000 qualified endoscopy doctors in China. But, according to our estimates, there are 120 million patients that need to do endoscopy. That means we have to increase the number of doctors 50 times to meet that demand. Clearly, that's almost impossible."

So, Dr. Xu turned to artificial intelligence for help. His hospital has been working with Internet giant Tencent, hoping to develop an AI clinical diagnostic system called Miying.

XU GUOLIANG CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT OF ENDOSCOPY AND LASER SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY CANCER CENTER "Each endoscopy examination will produce 48 images that'll be simultaneously sent to Tencent's database. And the AI system will give feedback in four seconds. Based on a huge pool of data, it'll suggest which position could the cancer lesion."

Xu said AI's accuracy in diagnosing some types of cancer early is as high as 90%, and, AI's accuracy is still improving. Patients in China's first-tier cities may still prefer human doctors at the best hospitals, but for the one billion or-so people living in less-developed areas with limited medical resources, AI promises huge benefits.

ZHOU XUAN, SENIOR PRODUCT DIRECTOR INTERNET PLUS PARTNERSHIP, TENCENT "AI is able to learn from 'big data'. That's what humans can't do. We hope the system can reach remote areas and grass-roots hospitals in China, where patients can get a diagnosis as accurate as the ones in first-class hospitals in big cities."

GE YUNFEI WASHINGTON DC "The Chinese government is part of a global trend. Last November, it announced plans to build a national platform for AI diagnostic imaging-a commitment to AI as a pillar in the future of Chinese medicine. The UK government says in the next 15 years, AI could prevent more than 20-thousand cancer deaths a year. And, scanning cell images only, U.S. researchers have shown AI can distinguish types of cancer in most cases with nearly 100 percent accuracy. Ge Yunfei, CGTN Washington."