The 2026 China International Digital Economy Expo was held in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, from September 23 to 25, where the "one-person company" became a buzzword of the event.
A "one-person company" (OPC) refers to a new type of micro startup entity led and controlled by one core natural person, generally with no more than 10 employees, whose main business is AI technology research, development, application or services. It operates with an extremely lean organizational form, independently completing a full closed loop from product design, R&D and marketing to commercial delivery.
In the OPC empowerment zone at the expo, OPCs from Chengdu in Sichuan Province as well as Xiongan, Langfang and Baoding in Hebei were showcased together, demonstrating a new entrepreneurial model in which one person runs a company with the help of artificial intelligence.
Li Ning, general manager of the Leye Digital-Native OPC Innovation Community, was introducing their exploration to visitors: "We are an OPC community initiated by a collective enterprise in a relocated village in Rongcheng County, Xiongan New Area, focusing on serving the upgrading of traditional industries and driving relocated residents to start businesses and find employment."
Li Ning said that Xiongan now offers subsidies for computing power, talent and other aspects, providing a solid foundation for OPC development, and that villagers have already been organized to take on some AI comic drama orders.
Lyu Yuanye, deputy mayor of Xiaoli Town in Rongcheng County, Xiongan New Area, Hebei, explained that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, 169,000 relocated residents in Xiongan New Area transitioned from farmers to urban citizens, making employment a new challenge. "We want everyone to proactively embrace artificial intelligence and enable ordinary people to earn money through digital skills," Lyu said, noting that the Leye Digital-Native OPC Innovation Community has laid out three major tracks—AI comic dramas, cross-border e-commerce and enterprise digital transformation—and is working with resources from universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University to raise the digital and intelligent level of the collective economy and surrounding industries.
"Register a one-person company here and you can get a business license in as fast as two hours," said Zhao Lu, head of the OPC community booth at the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Digital Talent Port, adding that enterprises in the community mainly focus on areas such as AI video editing and AI application software development. "We provide shared meeting rooms and other office spaces and help individuals connect with major platform companies, lowering the threshold for entrepreneurship," Zhao said, adding that local computing power access, scheduling and settlement services will also be offered to OPCs going forward.
The rapid development of OPCs cannot be separated from systematic policy support. In September this year, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the "Artificial Intelligence SME Entrepreneurship Support Plan (2026–2028)," encouraging localities to give inclusive support to micro entities such as "one-person companies" and super individuals that rely on intelligent tools for agile entrepreneurship.
During this year's expo, achievements such as Hebei ranking first nationwide in the comprehensive computing power index for two consecutive years and Langfang and Zhangjiakou leading the country in urban computing power sub-indices were frequently mentioned. As factors such as computing power and data continue to cluster, the new entrepreneurial model of OPCs may yield more replicable and promotable experience in Hebei.
At the same time, Wu Da, product manager at the System Integration Center of China Mobile Communications Group Hebei Co., Ltd., reminded that entrepreneurs should also be cautious when entering the field, as OPCs still have areas in need of improvement such as customer acquisition, financing and resource coordination. Wu suggested that entrepreneurs should first understand the boundaries of AI capabilities and, through OPC communities, connect well with computing power and policy resources.
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