Another State-level Brand: Chongqing Approved to Establish National Artificial Intelligence Industrial Innovation and Application Pilot Zone

On September 8, the reporter learned from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology that the city has recently received approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to establish a National Artificial Intelligence Industrial Innovation and Application Pilot Zone, marking another prestigious national-level brand in the field of artificial intelligence (AI).

“The digital infrastructure established through the Digital Chongqing initiative, the massive governance scenarios of a megacity, a robust foundation in modern manufacturing, as well as the advantages in AI technological iteration, industrial implementation and scenario-driven empowerment, all of these factors contributed to our city being approved to establish a pilot zone,” said a representative from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology. In recent years, Chongqing has been steadily advancing the integrated development of the “33618” Modern Manufacturing Cluster System and the “416” Scientific and Technological Innovation Layout, while vigorously implementing the “203060” Key Breakthrough Framework. Centered on dual-driven empowerment from AI innovation R&D and in-depth industrial application, Chongqing leverages high-value application scenarios to drive the efficient of innovation resources, industrial foundations and market demands, thereby exploring and establishing a path for AI development that is highly distinctive, practice-oriented, and fully implementable.

For instance, building on its manufacturing strengths, Chongqing focuses on characteristic industries including automobiles, smart terminals and high-end equipment, relying on leading enterprises to pioneer trials and achieve technological breakthroughs. In the intelligent connected vehicle sector, Changan Automobile has obtained a test license for its self-developed L4-level Robotaxi, achieving independent control and on-road testing of advanced autonomous driving technologies. SERES integrates AI, new energy and smart cockpit technologies, embedding AI technologies such as large models and intelligent interaction throughout the entire chain of complete-vehicle R&D, production, and operation and maintenance.

In the smart terminal sector, Tech-Front and Inventec keep expanding production capacity and market reach, and engage in the R&D and manufacturing of AI PCs. The HP AI Innovation Center is accelerating its deployment in Chongqing, bringing together a pool of technological, talent and ecosystem resources.

Chongqing also keeps improving the innovation ecosystem for the AI industry. It has built China’s first open-source community for embodied intelligence. Key technologies are tackled through the “open competition” mechanism. A total of 15 innovative complete-machine products have been incubated, with the local supporting rate of components exceeding 40%, forming an independently controllable industrial supporting system.

As intelligent transformation moves forward steadily, Chongqing has so far established 1,395 basic-level smart factories, 246 advanced-level smart factories and 5 “Global Lighthouse Factories”. The first batch of 30 industrial agents has been announced. AI is comprehensively reshaping the production modes and industrial forms of Chongqing’s manufacturing sector.

▲June 16, 2026. At Changan Digital Intelligence Factory and Global R&D Center in Liangjiang New Area, staff are working at full steam on the production line. Photo by Yin Shiyu.

In terms of building AI infrastructure platforms, Chongqing is fully advancing the construction of the “Two Institutes and One Bay” initiative, namely Chongqing College of Artificial Intelligence, Chongqing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence and Chongqing AI Bay. A total of 52 high-level science and technology innovation platforms have been deployed, 47 new-type R&D institutions have been introduced and established, and 4 AI industrial innovation complexes have been built.

▲Aerial view of Chongqing College of Artificial Intelligence. (File photo) Photo by Qi Lansen

Leveraging its advantages in megacity governance and diverse industrial foundations, Chongqing has been continuously promoting the full-scale expansion of AI application scenarios. The city's urban governance large model has been opened for sharing to 51 municipal-level authorities, with cumulative calls exceeding 71 million times. The smart traffic congestion-mitigation and intelligent governance system covers more than 30,000 road sections and over 3,000 intersections across the city. More than 100 medical imaging-assisted diagnosis models have been deployed on the cloud, delivering intelligent imaging interpretation services to more than 5.5 million person-times in aggregate.

To underpin the high-quality development of the AI industry, Chongqing further consolidates computing power and data, the two core foundational pillars. Through the implementation of the “Xinjiang-to-Chongqing Computing Resource Transfer” project, a high-speed direct all-optical computing network linking Chongqing and Hami has been built. The cross-region schedulable intelligent computing capacity has exceeded 30,000 Petaflops, enabling efficient cross-regional coordination, complementarity and sharing of computing resources.

Source: Chongqing Daily