- City rolls out plan to tackle bottlenecks in digital transformation
- Focus spans data, computing power and industry-wide AI adoption
Ningbo unveiled a sweeping plan yesterday to embed AI across its manufacturing sector, setting targets to cultivate 20 industry-specific large models and 30 specialized AI service providers by 2028 as it seeks to overcome persistent bottlenecks in industrial upgrading.
The blueprint, part of a broader “AI plus manufacturing” initiative, aims to build a coordinated innovation system spanning core technologies, product supply and service ecosystems, according to a policy document released by the city government.
At the core of the strategy is a push to strengthen foundational capabilities. Ningbo plans to accelerate industrial data utilization, encourage companies to appoint chief data officers and formalize data assets, while advancing proprietary industrial AI models tailored to vertical sectors.
The city will also expand computing capacity through subsidies such as “compute vouchers” to lower costs for enterprises to adopt AI, and explore the deployment of embodied AI in factories, targeting 10 pilot projects.
On the product side, the plan prioritizes intelligent equipment, industrial software and operating systems, including efforts to integrate AI agents into machine tools and robotics, and develop low-code industrial applications.
Cluster-based growth
Traditionally known as a manufacturing powerhouse for auto parts, industrial machinery, petrochemical and new energy sources, the coastal city also aims to promote AI-enabled terminal products to support cluster-based industrial growth.
Ningbo will simultaneously cultivate a tiered ecosystem of service providers, with a goal of fostering 30 nationally recognized “specialized and sophisticated” AI firms and building pilot platforms for industrial large-model testing alongside city-level open-source communities.
The initiative also promotes new operating models, including collaborative micro-enterprises built around open-source projects, to deliver lightweight, cost-effective AI solutions for small and medium-sized manufacturers.
The plan introduces three transformation approaches — supply-chain-led integration, cluster-based collaboration and coordinated digital-green development — encouraging leading companies to build industrial internet platforms, industrial parks to deploy 5G and edge computing infrastructure, and manufacturers to pursue low-carbon factory initiatives.
Ningbo’s latest policy underscores intensifying competition among Chinese industrial hubs to lead in AI adoption, as local governments seek to translate technological advances into productivity gains across traditional manufacturing sectors.
