Property developer Evergrande Group has signed contracts with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to develop cutting-edge technologies in a bid to renovate its businesses.
According to a deal signed Thursday, the two parties will jointly develop six projects including supercomputing, artificial intelligence, and surgical robots.
They will invest a total of 1.64 billion yuan (about 237 million U.S. dollars) as part of a 10-year cooperation plan. Evergrande will be the primary shareholder of five projects.
In April, Evergrande and CAS signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement, with the real estate conglomerate pledging to invest a total of 100 billion yuan over the next decade into sectors including life sciences, quantum science, new energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, and modern agriculture.
Investing in high-tech sectors is a major strategy for Evergrande Group to become a sustainable development enterprise, said Xu Jiayin, board chairperson of the Hong-Kong-listed company.
Evergrande expressed its ambition earlier this year to gain more presence in the hi-tech industry and become a pillar of the industry, which will cover property development, cultural tourism, and health businesses.
