The recent 12th Plenary Session of the District Committee unveiled a clear strategic blueprint for "Digital Changning's Summit Climb," setting its sights on becoming a leading intelligent digital economy powerhouse. For over two decades, Changning has leveraged the internet to grow its roots and flourish into a major digital economy district. As technological waves shift and artificial intelligence reshapes industrial logic, a profound transformation is quietly taking place along the banks of the Hongqiao area. Changning is actively exploring its own path to digital-intelligent advancement as a central urban district, focusing on how to use AI to reinvent production, distribution, and service chains, and how to weave talent, policy, and computing power into an innovative network.
Scene Breakthroughs: AI Takes Root on the Industrial Frontlines
At the recently concluded World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Changning's tech enterprises made a particularly impressive showing: Hetaun Robot showcased its 7th-generation fully intelligent robot café COFE+, offering 24-hour unmanned freshly ground coffee service, while iFlytek demonstrated its self-developed, controllable AI achievements providing full-scenario translation support. Dozens of companies highlighted Changning's vibrant AI innovation ecosystem. Shifting the lens from the exhibition floor to the industrial frontlines, Heihu Technology, located in the "Shanghai Silicon Alley," is leveraging its "Heihu Smart Manufacturing" industrial collaboration platform to deliver digital-intelligent solutions to global supply chains. Meanwhile, Westwell has deployed its unmanned commercial vehicles to over 30 countries and regions, driven by its dual-engine model of "Physical AI + Operational AI." These effective application scenarios are backed by Changning's systematic layout across multiple "AI+" tracks: AI+e-commerce empowers the full lifecycle development of e-commerce platforms; AI+industrial internet drives the intelligent upgrade of industrial software; AI+transportation supports base airlines and resident units in accelerating their digital-intelligent transformation; and AI+professional services promotes the standardization of service products and the platformization of knowledge management. Additionally, Changning is accelerating the technological breakthrough and industrialization of embodied intelligence, relying on carriers like IBP Hongqiao Intelligent Hub and the International Robot Industry Collaborative Innovation Center to facilitate the implementation of demonstration scenarios. To date, Changning has gathered over 7,000 digital economy enterprises and 34 e-commerce trading platforms with billion-yuan turnover. Its total e-commerce transaction volume and software and information service industry scale rank 1st and 3rd in the city, respectively. More than 80 embodied intelligence enterprises in Changning form a complete industrial chain—from general-purpose bodies and mainframe equipment, to dexterous hands and core components, to training and scenario applications, and supply chain and ecosystem—while over 80 large-model intelligent agent enterprises have built a robust industrial ecosystem.
Building Foundations: Strengthening the Pillars of AI Development
To support industries in their climb to greater heights, the development foundation must first be made more solid. Changning is adopting a systematic approach to coordinate factor supply, establishing a comprehensive support framework encompassing organizational mechanisms, computing power networks, and technology carriers. Inctec Technology, attracted by Changning's unique industrial ecosystem and the dual advantages of location and application scenarios in the East Hongqiao area, has established its corporate headquarters at East Hongqiao Center, deeply embedding itself in Changning's intelligent transportation AI track. With the support of Changning's complete industrial support and policies, the company is steadily advancing its L4-level unmanned light truck testing and demonstration project. "This has helped us take a crucial step on the road to commercializing advanced autonomous driving technology," said Ma Zheren, founder and CEO of Inctec, acknowledging that Changning's full-chain support provides a solid guarantee for technology implementation, scenario validation, and industrial breakthrough. To empower the full-chain transformation and upgrade of the producer services industry, Changning has established a special "AI+Producer Services" task force, led by a district leader with multi-department collaboration. The task force focuses on four major areas: industrial internet, transportation, energy internet, and professional services, building a closed-loop promotion mechanism of "task force managing overall, departments taking the lead, and sub-districts participating" to clear the last mile of policy implementation.
Computing power is the core productive force in the AI era. Changning is continuously enhancing the service capacity of the "Hongqiao Data Valley," offering inclusive computing services to market players such as SMEs and One-Person Companies (OPCs), while attracting computing service providers to establish a regional computing operation center. Furthermore, Changning is accelerating the deployment of "dual 10-gigabit" networks, 5G-A applications, and edge computing, strengthening full-process governance of data and algorithm security, and upholding the development bottom line through a tolerant and prudent "sandbox regulation" approach. Technology origins and spatial carriers are also being upgraded in tandem. Leveraging research institutions like the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology and the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changning is reinforcing basic research support in frontier fields such as chip design, electronic materials, and sensing technology. The East Hongqiao International Youth Science and Innovation Center and Markwo MAKE021, two OPC-featured communities focused on super-individual entrepreneurship, along with new incubation carriers like Digital Silicon Alley Incubator and Hongqiao Intelligent Hub, are fostering project incubation and industrial clustering, creating a tiered AI cultivation space. Thanks to the comprehensive incubation support from these carriers, a wave of "small team, big output" innovation cases is emerging: for example, a three-person team has achieved monthly service revenue in the millions using AI tools provided by the incubator, and some startup projects have shortened their cycle from solution design to prototype verification by 30%, showcasing a continuous surge of innovation vitality.
Ecosystem Nurturing: Building a Thriving Sci-Tech Rainforest
A thriving industrial ecosystem is akin to a tropical rainforest, where large and small enterprises coexist harmoniously and flourish together. Changning is gradually weaving a full-cycle, full-chain service network—from talent cultivation and event activation to professional services—to create a fertile ground for sci-tech innovation that attracts talent and businesses from near and far. At the East Hongqiao International Youth Science and Innovation Center, a returning entrepreneur shared his experience: the center provided him with six months of free workspace along with five free support policies covering finance, taxation, and legal matters, truly embodying the principle of "you just focus on starting your business; leave the rest to us." Such stories are not isolated in Changning. The District Talent Work Bureau and the District Science and Technology Commission have jointly launched "Ten Measures" to support sci-tech talent entrepreneurship and innovation, building the "Hongqiao Overseas Innovation Bay" platform and advancing the development of five featured overseas innovation bays. The District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau has published a catalog of key entrepreneurial incubation carriers, implemented subsidy disbursements, used evaluations to enhance incubation service quality, and innovatively launched the city's first cross-border e-commerce entrepreneurship training premium course. In Changning, a variety of branded sci-tech innovation events are held in succession, connecting the capillaries of the innovation ecosystem. Events such as the "Shanghai Silicon Alley" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Suhe Appointment Overseas Returnee Afternoon Tea, "Shanghai Silicon Alley" Hardcore Co-creation Camp, and "Hai Ju Ying Cai" Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition provide platforms for startups to showcase themselves, while also accelerating the flow and precise matching of innovation resources—helping good projects find great scenarios and good technologies meet capital. Addressing the development needs of the AI industry, Changning is building a full-chain professional service system: AI+legal develops tools for contract intelligent review, IP protection, and cross-border compliance assessment; AI+advertising covers the entire chain of creative generation, intelligent placement, and compliance review; AI+finance deepens innovation in supply chain finance, inclusive finance, and cross-border finance. Leveraging its advantages as part of the Hongqiao International Open Hub, Changning has established a digital overseas expansion service network, providing full-chain services such as cross-border data and compliance consulting. Local leading enterprise Feishu Shennuo, through its self-developed overseas marketing intelligent system, has delivered full-chain AI marketing solutions to over 170,000 Chinese companies.
Seizing Strategic Initiative: Achieving a Critical Leap in Urban Capability
The transition from a major digital economy district to an intelligent digital economy powerhouse—a subtle change in wording—reflects a deep restructuring of development logic and a critical leap in urban capability. This is a "transformation of industry"—from "Internet+" to "AI+," driving the deep integration of digital-intelligent technology with the real economy and cultivating new quality productive forces. This is a "transformation of drivers"—from traffic-driven to data-driven, converting massive industry data into high-value products and unleashing the multiplier effect of data factors. This is a "transformation of ecosystem"—from isolated breakthroughs to a tropical-rainforest-style ecosystem, forming a virtuous cycle where large and small enterprises develop inclusively and the upstream and downstream industrial chains collaborate synergistically. Riding the wave of data to scale the summit, leaping forward with intelligence. Centered on the deep implementation of the "Digital Changning Summit Climb" strategy, Changning is proactively embracing the AI wave, consistently adhering to the development philosophy of "Technology in Changning, Scenarios Worldwide." It is advancing AI technology innovation, scenario breakthroughs, factor support, and service guarantees to high standards, striving to achieve the critical leap from a major digital economy district to an intelligent digital economy powerhouse, and injecting Changning's momentum into Shanghai's efforts to build a hub for AI innovation.
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