A visitor tries a face recognition technology system by SenseTime during the AI Exhibition and Conference (AI Expo) in Tokyo on June 28, 2017. Photo: IC

An array of high-tech Chinese firms have announced plans to advance their construction of new infrastructure projects, through which China aims to hedge against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up SenseTime officially launched a key project, the "New Generation AI Computing and Empowerment Platform," on Tuesday in Shanghai's Lingang New Area.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021 and will help Shanghai get on high ground in the field of AI amid a new round of competition in cities around the world. It will also provide a solid foundation for the construction of a complete AI ecosystem in the country.

The new platform features numerous data handling engines, a heterogeneous computing power scheduling system and a deep learning training framework, according to SenseTime.

The project will improve the efficiency of basic computing power usage and the iteration efficiency of independent original algorithms, accelerate the evolution and application of various AI technologies, and merge the three basic elements of AI - algorithms, computing power and data - into an organic whole by the time it is completed in 2021, said SenseTime.

The Hong Kong-headquartered company, which provides technology-based applications including facial recognition, video analysis and autonomous driving - said it is valued at more than $7.5 billion, Reuters reported.

Separately, Chinese tech giant Tencent said in May that it will invest 500 billion yuan ($71.2 billion) over the next five years in technology infrastructure including cloud computing, AI and cybersecurity.

Tencent began services at its largest data center cluster on Friday in Qingyuan, South China's Guangdong Province. The center has the capacity to house more than 1 million servers.

According an industry report on China's internet data center (IDC), the market for China's IDC businesses will grow at compound rate of 27.8 percent from 2020-22, and the scale will reach 320 billion yuan in 2022.