China still lags behind the United States in many AI indicators, such as the scale of financing and number of patents registered. Despite that, the county's giant market and the unparalleled amount of data generated by its 1.4 billion citizens will ensure that it will be able to attract the talent it requires, which will offer engineers more training opportunities.

"That training will gradually provide China with its core AI talents," the institute said. The institute also made the point that many leading Chinese AI scientists work in industry not academia, so greater cooperation between universities and businesses in fields such as R&D and the application of technology would provide a good mechanism for the training of high-end talent.

Xin Jingming, deputy director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Xi'an Jiaotong University, endorsed the idea of enhanced cooperation between universities and industry.

"AI differs from other sciences because it can be applied to many different fields in a wide range of industries. There is not a single sector that AI could not help," he said, adding that breakthroughs in the sector are often the result of ideas generated by such cooperation.

Moreover, he noted that AI is strongly related to other industries, such as electronics and manufacturing, which can be a source of strength. "Japan is more developed than China in AI development as a result of strong support from other industries," he said.

"However, China also has inherent advantages as a result of the national commitment to promote the development of AI, which will help make the sector prosperous."

According to the Wuzhen Institute, despite the current uncertainty about which country will eventually dominate the AI sector, the competition to recruit talent is only just beginning.

"Data and talent are the keys to the development of AI, and the global battle for talent will continue because it takes time to overcome shortages such as the one we are seeing at present," the institute said.

Jiang Chenglong and Zhu Fangjie contributed to the story.