Shanghai to make itself highland for industrial innovation in AI

Shanghai will make continued efforts in 2025 to make itself a highland for industrial innovation in artificial intelligence, Zhang Ying, director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, said at a news conference on Thursday.

The city will also make early moves in the emerging sectors in smart devices, bio-manufacturing, marine equipment, space information and robotics. The integration between the manufacturing and service industries should be deepened. More application scenarios should be explored regarding supply chain management and low-carbon development, she said.

While the total industrial investment in Shanghai was estimated to achieve double-digit growth throughout 2024, the output value of high-tech ships and integrated circuits was estimated to grow by about 17 percent and 20 percent, respectively, on a yearly basis, according to Zhang.

During the first 11 months of 2024, the revenue made by the Shanghai-based software and information service companies rose 10.9 percent year-on-year, accounting for about 10 percent of the city's GDP. These two industries have become key economic pillars in the city, said Zhang.

By the end of last year, Shanghai had issued and implemented supportive policies for 24 key industries including low-altitude economy, new materials and industrial services. Up to 50 billion yuan ($6.8 billion) of comprehensive cost has been reduced for the industrial enterprises based in the city.

Recognized by the Ministry of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the Chinese city providing the best financing environment for small and medium-sized enterprises for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, Shanghai was also home to more than 12,000 companies specializing in niche sectors, commanding high market share and boasting strong innovation capacity.

China's first humanoid robot innovation center jointly built by the central government and the local government was landed in Pudong New Area in May. Kupasai Technology, the country's first AI corpus company was founded in Shanghai in March. Up to 63 large language models and foundation models have completed filing in Shanghai by the end of last year.

Meanwhile, a total of 1.65 million new energy vehicles have been used in Shanghai, ranking the first in China. The city also tops the country in terms of 5G base station density and gigabit optical network construction, according to Zhang.

Up to 145 national-level green factories and 28 zero carbon emission factories have been built in Shanghai by the end of last year.

Industrial clusters were also another highlight, according to Zhang. The city has seen the establishment of 11 district-level industrial clusters with each valuing 100 billion yuan, 14 national-level special industrial clusters made up by SMEs, and another five national-level advanced manufacturing industrial clusters for NEVs, integrated circuits, biomedicine, large aircraft, and shipbuilding and marine engineering.