The digital world relies on data. And no one produces more of it than China's hundreds of millions of internet users. The 2018 International Big Data Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition recently opened its doors to foreign contestants in US's silicon valley. The event is not only to pick out the best big data talents, but also to boost China-US collaboration in this new area. Guan Xin reports.  

This year's event is hosted by China's Dongguan city and 9 leading companies in the country's supply chain and logistics business. The competition reflects a growing realization that the vast wealth of information that users emit could help firms to become some of the world's best, especially those involved in such areas of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and 5G technology.

ZHENG YANLING, GENERAL SECRETARY SHENZHEN LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT ASSN. China has a large reservoir of data technologies, a fast growing user base and application market. In comparison, America is leading the world in advanced data technologies and talents. Their business models are mature and innovative. So there is ample space for the two countries to cooperate.

ZHAO XIAOXI, CEO DATA BEYOND "The number one challenge Chinese tech firms face is that we don't have platforms to promote our products. This competition helps us solve the problem. We have set up an office here in the valley, mainly for recruiting high-end talents. But in the future, we believe our talent pool back in China will surpass the one in here, both in quality and quantity."

There were more than 700 million internet users in China last year. Analysts say that makes for an excellent environment for exploring big data. That's because the sheer volume offers significant advantages for China--more data, more accurate predictive models and richer analysis. That, in turn, can help enhance market planning and operation efficiency.

Guan Xin, CGTN.