Xinhua News Agency – China’s artificial intelligence industry has entered a period of rapid growth. The number of AI enterprises has now exceeded 5,000, with 11 national AI innovation and application pilot zones and 17 national-level intelligent connected vehicle testing and demonstration zones already established, showcasing strong innovation vitality and market potential.
Number and Structure of Enterprises
The total number of artificial intelligence (AI) enterprises in China has exceeded 5,000, including more than 400 nationally recognized “Little Giant” specialized and innovative enterprises, forming a complete industrial chain layout from the foundational layer to the application layer.
Innovation Platforms
China has established 11 national AI innovation and application pilot zones, covering key regions such as Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, to accelerate technology adoption and scenario integration.
A total of 17 national-level intelligent connected vehicle testing and demonstration zones have been set up, supporting the iteration and commercialization of autonomous driving technologies.
Technological Breakthroughs and Computing Power Support
Continuous breakthroughs have been made in core areas such as AI chips and algorithm frameworks. Domestically developed open-source foundation models are helping lead the global open-source innovation ecosystem.
China’s AI computing infrastructure ranks among the world’s leaders, with an intelligent computing capacity of 788 EFLOPS (788 quintillion floating-point operations per second), providing strong support for AI training and inference.
Industrial Ecosystem Development
A RMB 60 billion National AI Industry Investment Fund has been established to accelerate the integration of capital and technology.
The AI Science and Technology Ethics and Service Management Measures have been formulated to regulate the boundaries of technology applications.
The China–BRICS AI Development and Cooperation Center has been founded to promote international standards and ecosystem co-construction.
More than 240 standards have been developed in core AI technology fields, covering critical areas such as data security and model evaluation.
Smart Factories and Industry Empowerment
China has built over 35,000 basic-level, 6,300 advanced-level, and 230 world-class smart factories, driving the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector.
Benchmark applications have been created in areas such as intelligent connected new-energy vehicles, digital cities, and the low-altitude economy, forming a closed-loop ecosystem of “technology–scenario–industry.”
