5 Chinese Tech Whizzes Named Among World's Top Young Innovators

(Beijing) — Five China-based entrepreneurs and engineers have been selected as the most promising young individuals shaping science and innovation by the MIT Technology Review.

Two high-level engineers at tech giant Alibaba and three startup founders were included in this year’s “35 Innovators under 35” list, published each year by the well-respected magazine. This year’s list features a growing presence of entrepreneurs from China turning innovations into commercially promising projects.

Former Princeton University professor Xiao Jianxiong was acknowledged for founding autonomous-driving newcomer AutoX, which uses webcams and algorithms to reduce the cost of self-driving vehicles.

Kathy Gong, 30, was included in the list for creating a Beijing-based mobile game company pivoting towards the Middle East market.

Another thinker on the list was the founder and chairman of a Shenzhen company developing and manufacturing thin flexible displays that can be rolled tightly around a pen.

Others included Alibaba’s Wang Gang, head of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) lab, who was recognized for his push to move AI technology into commercial use.

Wang is a new poach by the e-commerce behemoth, joining the firm from a teaching position at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His colleague, Wu Hanging, a security scientist at Alibaba, was also noted for devising a mechanism to fend off hackers.

The 2016 list featured four China-based individuals making breakthroughs, though only one was beginning a business based on his inventions. In 2015, although three scientists from China were included on the list, none had taken their work to the commercial stage.

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)