BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States need to cooperate in artificial intelligence, and duplication of efforts in the area could be avoided, the president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) said.

Stephen Orlins, who participated in the annual China Development Forum in Beijing, made the remark to reporters, according to a video clip posted by the Chinese central bank-owned Financial News.

AI has become a key area of friction between the two countries in recent years, with Washington levying successive rounds of sanctions against China’s AI and chip sectors in a bid to slowdown its advances, arguing that such moves were crucial to prevent China from developing military-related technologies.

The National Committee on United States-China Relations is a non-profit advisory body.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Bernadette Baum)