A southern Chinese city is banking on a combination of AI, greater computing power and greater consumption to drive economic development and put the region at the forefront of technology.
On the sidelines of the National People’s Congress on Thursday, Zhuhai mayor Huang Zhihao said his city was applying general and AI computing to urban infrastructure as part of its bigger plan to turn itself into a “digital city”.
Huang told a panel discussion of NPC deputies from Guangdong province that expanding computing power could help the region accelerate research and development in artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and traditional Chinese medicine.
Huang added that Zhuhai would forge closer links with Hong Kong and Macau to attract more consumers to the city.
“The development of a region or a city depends on policies in the short term, population in the medium term but the city’s services in the long run,” Huang said.
Zhuhai is less than 10km (6 miles) from Macau and is one of 11 major centres in Beijing’s Greater Bay Area cluster.
Leaders have pinned high hopes on the Greater Bay Area – which includes Hong Kong and Macau – to be an economic pillar and an innovation hub in the country’s rivalry with the United States.
Technology is one of the main fronts in the rivalry and the southern region is expected to play a big role in closing the hi-tech gap between the two countries.
Guangdong alone is home to several prominent tech companies including electric vehicle maker BYD, drone maker DJI, telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies, and internet giant Tencent.
Last year, the Greater Bay Area’s gross domestic product reached 13.6 trillion yuan (US$1.89 trillion), or roughly the size of Tokyo’s economy.
During the session, deputies also addressed the pressing need to attract skilled professionals to the region.
“Guangdong has more than 18 million business entities and more than 75,000 hi-tech enterprises, they are now in very strong need of talent,” Guangdong education department director Zhu Kongjun said.
Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, said there was still ample scope for integration of the cities in the area to boost domestic demand and upgrade industries.
“Residents from Hong Kong and Macau will further spend in Guangdong due to its cheaper goods and convenient transport. This trend is likely to gradually spread from Shenzhen to Zhuhai and even other cities in the province,” Peng said.
“We will see lots of these cities introducing consumption-boosting policies this year.”
Last year, retail sales in Shenzhen topped 1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.8 per cent, the highest growth rate of the major cities. The spending was partly driven by Hong Kong residents.
According to Peng, the major push for the Greater Bay Area this year will be industrial integration of Guangdong’s strength in technology and manufacturing with Hong Kong and Macau’s edge in finance and the international market.
