Apart from Shenzhen, several cities in China are emerging as new tech hubs due to the advancement of AI. The following is an introduction to these cities:
- Beijing: It ranks first among Chinese AI cities. As the national science and technology innovation center, Beijing has gathered more than 50% of AI talents and over 1,500 related enterprises in the country. Top – tier universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, as well as research institutions like the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provide strong intellectual support. In 2025, Beijing will further consolidate its position as a large – model research and development center. Enterprises such as Cambricon, ByteDance, and Baidu have deeply implemented general AI models in fields such as finance and healthcare. Moreover, the computing power cluster in Huairou Science City and the free trade zone policies offer test beds for the commercialization of AI technologies.
- Hangzhou: Its rise benefits from the dual – core drive of Alibaba and Zhejiang University. In 2021, Hangzhou proposed to build a “global AI leading city”, and its number of authorized artificial intelligence patents has exceeded 1,000, ranking among the top in the country. Companies like DeepSeek and Unitree Robotics, known as the “Six Little Dragons of Hangzhou”, are quite famous internationally. In 2024, the Hangzhou National Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Application Pilot Zone entered the final stage, focusing on intelligent manufacturing and smart cities, and promoting the deep integration of AI with the real economy. For example, the “City Brain” of Alibaba Cloud has been applied on a large scale in traffic dispatching and emergency management, and the AIGC technology of NetEase Fuxi is revolutionizing the game and content industries.
- Shanghai: Relying on its international advantages and financial industry foundation, Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a world – class AI industrial cluster. Zhangjiang Science City in Pudong New Area has gathered more than 1,000 core AI enterprises, and the cross – border data flow policy in the Lingang New Area has opened a window for international AI cooperation. In 2025, Shanghai will focus on the deep integration of “AI + finance”, and intelligent risk control, quantitative trading, and personalized wealth management will be the breakthrough directions. For instance, the anti – fraud system of the Bank of Communications based on AI has increased the risk – identification efficiency by 40%, and the intelligent branch solution of SenseTime is changing the bank – service model.
- Nanjing: The rise of Nanjing in the AI field is remarkable. In 2021, the Nanjing Intelligent Computing Center was put into operation with 800P computing power, ranking it among the top five in the country. In 2025, the center will be expanded to 2000P, becoming a computing – power hub in the Yangtze River Delta. Additionally, Nanjing is known as the “Chip City”. The Nanjing factory of TSMC and the packaging technology of Huatian Technology provide underlying support for the localization of AI chips. On the application side, the smart grid of NARI Group and the smart – retail algorithm of Suning are creating benchmark cases in vertical fields.
- Chengdu: As the only western city among the top ten, Chengdu has advantages in data resources and policy dividends. As a western node of the “East – to – West Data Transfer” project, the Chengdu Intelligent Computing Center provides 300P computing power to support the smart city and biomedical R&D in the Sichuan – Chongqing region. In 2025, Chengdu will focus on breaking the “data silos”. The federated learning technology of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China has been applied to the cross – hospital medical – data sharing, and the AI drug – R&D platform in Tianfu International Bio – Town has shortened the new – drug R&D cycle from five years to 18 months.
- Jinan: It is the biggest dark horse on the 2025 list. As the only city in China that simultaneously has a national artificial – intelligence innovation – application pilot zone, a new – generation AI innovation – development experimental zone, and an industrial – internet demonstration zone, Jinan’s “three – zone superposition” policy has rapidly improved its AI industrial chain. The server – production capacity of Inspur Information, the robotics discipline of Shandong University, and the AI drug – screening platform of Qilu Pharmaceutical form a closed – loop of “computing power + algorithm + data”. In 2025, Jinan plans to expand the scale of the AI core industry to 50 billion yuan, with a focus on breaking through in smart agriculture and the industrial internet.
- Tianjin: Its debut on the list benefits from its dual layout in chips and intelligent manufacturing. The 28 – nanometer chip – production capacity of the Tianjin factory of SMIC and the domestic – CPU design of Phytium provide power for AI computing. On the application side, the unmanned terminal of Tianjin Port and the smart – energy system of the Sino – Singapore Eco – City have become national – demonstration projects. After the completion of the Tianjin Artificial Intelligence Test Area in 2024, it will further attract enterprises such as Cambricon to settle in, improving the industrial chain from chips to scenarios.
- Guangzhou: The AI potential of Guangzhou lies in the upgrading of the traditional manufacturing industry. The autonomous – driving platform of GAC Group, the smart – home – appliance ecosystem of Midea, and the industrial robots of Baiyun Electric are transforming “Made in Guangzhou” into “Intelligently Made in Guangzhou”. In 2025, the “Ten – Hundred – Thousand” plan of Guangzhou will reach its climax – 10 AI industrial parks, 100 demonstration scenarios, and 1,000 enterprises, aiming to become the intelligent – manufacturing center of the Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area. For example, the Pazhou Test Area has gathered enterprises such as Tencent WeChat and Alibaba Cloud to create a global benchmark for “AI + exhibition”.
- Xiamen: Its selection is unexpected yet has its own unique features. Relying on the scientific – research strength of Xiamen University and the Third Institute of Oceanography, Xiamen is focusing on “AI + marine economy”. The intelligent – fishery – breeding system can increase the accuracy rate of aquatic – disease identification to 95%, and the AI – operation – and – maintenance platform for offshore wind farms can reduce the maintenance cost by 30%. In addition, through the BRICS New Industrial Revolution Partnership Innovation Base, Xiamen promotes the export of AI technology to Southeast Asia, becoming an AI hub on the “Belt and Road”.
Leave a comment