China Unicom keen to lead global AI journey

China Unicom will fully embrace artificial intelligence to upgrade its business and is committed to further strengthening cooperation with European partners to promote AI for the greater good and for all, experts at China Unicom Europe have said.

Traditionally, telecom operators have been regarded as just "channel providers", said Xue Wenxia, president of China Unicom Europe. For example, China Unicom's traditional business has revolved around the essentials of connectivity: fixed-line and mobile services such as calls, text messaging, and international roaming, alongside broadband internet access.

Over time, these services have also expanded to cover network infrastructure, security, and data services, the kind of backbone offerings that allow individuals to stay connected and enterprises to run reliably across borders.

Founded in 1994, China Unicom is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. In March, it reported robust financial results for 2024, with its net profit rising 10.5 percent year-on-year to 9.03 billion yuan ($1.25 billion), while revenue grew 4.6 percent to 389.6 billion yuan.

China Unicom Europe, founded in 2006 in the United Kingdom, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Unicom International, the global services arm of China Unicom.

In the age of AI, however, China Unicom aims to become a "key architect of an intelligent ecosystem", Xue noted. This, she added, means fully integrating AI into its networks and technologies to deliver better services and empower all industries.

One prominent example is China Unicom's in-house large language model (LLM), Yuanjing, launched in 2024, Xue said. Notably industry-specific and customizable, the implementation of Yuanjing is developed with China Unicom providing computing power and algorithms, while partners contribute data and application scenarios.