NANJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The total value of China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry output will reach 160 billion yuan (25 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020.

The output of the country's AI industry exceeded 70 billion yuan in 2017. The figure is expected to increase to more than 160 billion yuan by 2020, according to a document released at the International Conference on Robot and Intelligent Manufacturing, which kicked off in Wujiang District in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Thursday.

It said that China's AI industry would grow rapidly with more investment in the future. Statistics showed the investment in the AI industry was 58.2 billion yuan last year, a 65 percent increase from 2016.

The document also said that AI talent is in high demand in China and suggested that colleges and universities should increase efforts to cultivate more talent in this field.