The 12th Plenary Session of the 11th Changning District Committee clearly outlined the strategic blueprint of "Digital Changning Reaching New Heights", setting its sights on building a strong district in the digital economy. For over two decades, "Digital Changning" has taken root and flourished thanks to the internet, transforming Changning into a major district in the digital economy. With the changing tides of change, artificial intelligence is reshaping industrial logic, and a profound transformation is quietly taking place on the banks of the Hongqiao Bridge. How can AI reshape the entire chain of production, distribution, and services? How can artificial intelligence be integrated into real-world scenarios, and how can an innovation network be woven through talent, policy, and computing power? Changning is exploring its own path to digital transformation and reaching new heights in the central urban area.

At the recently concluded World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Changning's science and technology innovation enterprises stood out: Shanghai Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology's COFE+, the world's 7th generation fully intelligent robot coffee shop, provides 24-hour unmanned freshly ground coffee service; iFlytek showcased its independently controllable AI achievements, offering full-scenario translation support..... Dozens of companies demonstrated Changning's innovative vitality in artificial intelligence. Shifting focus from the exhibition to the front lines of industry, Black Lake Technology, located in "Shanghai's Silicon Alley”, leverages its "Black Lake Intelligent Manufacturing" industrial collaboration platform to export digital intelligence solutions to the global supply chain; Westwell Technology, with its "physical AI + operational AI" dual-drive model, has deployed driverless commercial vehicles in over 30 countries and regions worldwide.

Behind these effective application scenarios lies Changning's systematic layout across multiple tracks of "AI+": AI+e-commerce platforms empower the entire life cycle development of e-commerce platforms; AI+industrial internet promotes the intelligent upgrading of industrial software; AI+transportation industry supports the digital transformation of base airlines and resident units; and AI+professional services promote the standardization of service products and the platformization of knowledge management. Furthermore, Changning is accelerating the pace of embodied intelligence technology research and development and industrialization, relying on platforms such as IBP Hongqiao Smart Domain and the International Robotics Industry Collaborative Innovation Center to promote the implementation of demonstration scenarios.

To date, Changning has gathered more than 7,000 digital economy enterprises and 34 e-commerce platforms with transaction volumes exceeding 100 million yuan. The total transaction volume of e-commerce platforms and the scale of the software and information service industry rank first and third in the city, respectively. More than 80 Changning-based embodied intelligence enterprises have formed a complete industrial chain encompassing "general-purpose facilitiesand host equipment—dexterous hands and core components—practical training and scenario applications—supply chain and ecosystem." Similarly, more than 80 Changning-based large language model embodied intelligence enterprises have built a comprehensive industrial ecosystem.

Building a solid foundation: strengthening the base of development elements and establishing a firm root for AI development

To support industries in climbing to higher levels, the foundation for development must first be more solid. Changning has adopted a systematic approach to coordinate the supply of resources, building a comprehensive support system from organizational mechanisms and computing networks to technological carriers.

Inceptio Technology, recognizing the unique industrial ecosystem of Changning District and the dual advantages of its location and application scenarios in the East Hongqiao area, has established its headquarters in the East Hongqiao Center, deeply rooted in Changning's smart transportation AI sector.Leveraging Changning's comprehensive industrial support and policy backing, the company is steadily advancing the implementation of its L4-level autonomous driving light truck test demonstration project. "This has helped us take a crucial step on the road to commercializing advanced autonomous driving technology," said Ma Zheren, founder and CEO of Inceptio Technology. He added that Changning's full-chain empowerment provides a solid guarantee for the company's technology implementation, scenario verification, and industry breakthrough.

To empower the transformation and upgrading of the entire producer services industry chain, Changning has established a special task force for "AI + Producer Services Industry". Led by district leaders and with the collaboration of multiple departments, the task force focuses on four major areas: industrial internet, transportation, energy internet, and professional services. It has built a closed-loop promotion mechanism of "special task force in overall management, departmental leadership, and participation of sub-districts and towns" to ensure the effective implementation of policies.

Computing power is the core productivity of the artificial intelligence era. Changning continues to enhance the service capabilities of the "Hongqiao Data Valley," launching inclusive computing power services for SMEs, one-person companies (OPCs), and other market entities, and attracting computing power service companies to build a regional computing power operation center. In addition, Changning is accelerating the deployment of "dual 10-gigabit" networks, 5G-A applications, and edge computing power, strengthening the whole-process governance of data security and algorithm security, and safeguarding the bottom line of development with inclusive and prudent "sandbox regulation."

Core technology innovation and spatial infrastructure are also being improved simultaneously. Relying on research institutions such as the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology and the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changning is strengthening basic research support in cutting-edge fields such as chip design, electronic materials, and sensing technology. The East Hongqiao International Youth Science and Technology Innovation Center and the MAKE021 are the two OPC-featured communities that focus on super individual entrepreneurship, while new incubation platforms such as the Digital Silicon Alley Incubator and Hongqiao Smart Domain focus on project incubation and industrial agglomeration, forming a tiered artificial intelligence cultivation space.

With the comprehensive incubation support of the aforementioned platforms, a number of innovative cases of "small teams with big output" are emerging rapidly: for example, a three-person team has achieved monthly service revenue of millions of yuan by using AI tools provided by the incubator, and the cycle from solution design to prototype verification for some entrepreneurial projects has been shortened by 30%, with innovation vitality keep booming. 

Ecological empowerment: improving service support and cultivating a rainforest of scientific innovation that attracts visitors from near and far

A healthy industrial ecosystem is like a rainforest, where large, medium, and small enterprises each thrive and coexist harmoniously. Changning is gradually building a comprehensive, full-cycle service network, from talent attraction and cultivation to activity activation and professional services, creating a fertile ground for scientific and technological innovation that attracts both local and international businesses.

At the East Hongqiao International Youth Science and Technology Innovation Center, an entrepreneur who had returned from studying abroad said that the center provided him with a free workspace for six months, as well as five free support policies including financial, tax, and legal assistance.Entrepreneurs can just focus on starting the business and leave the rest for the innovation center to take care. Such stories are not uncommon in Changning. The District Talent Work Bureau and the District Science and Technology Commission jointly launched "Ten Measures" to support innovation and entrepreneurship among science and technology talents, creating the "Hongqiao HaiChuang Bay" innovation and entrepreneurship platform and promoting the construction of five distinctive entrepreneur hubs.The District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau released a list of key entrepreneurial incubation carriers and implemented subsidy distribution, using evaluation to promote excellence and improve the level of incubation services, and innovatively launched the city's first high-quality cross-border e-commerce entrepreneurship training courses.

In Changning, a series of branded science and technology innovation activities have been staged, connecting the capillaries of the innovation ecosystem. Events such as the "Shanghai Silicon Alley" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the Suzhou River Rendezvous - Overseas Innovation Afternoon Tea, the "Shanghai Silicon Alley" Hardcore Co-creation Camp, and the "Overseas Talents Gathering" Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition have been staged, providing a platform for startups to showcase their talents and helping to accelerate the flow and precise matching of innovation resources, ensuring that good projects find good scenarios and good technologies meet good capital.

To meet the development needs of the AI industry, Changning has built a comprehensive professional service system: AI + law service  provides tools for smart contract review, intellectual property protection, and international compliance assessment; AI + Advertising covers the entire chain from creative generation and intelligent placement to compliance review; and AI + Finance deepens innovation in supply chain finance, inclusive finance, and cross-border finance.Leveraging the advantages of the Hongqiao International Open Hub, Changning has established a digital overseas service network, providing full-chain services such as cross-border data processing and compliance consulting. Leading local enterprise Feishu Meetsocial, relying on its independently developed intelligent overseas marketing system, has provided full-chain AI marketing solutions to over 170,000 Chinese companies.

Seizing the opportunity and taking the lead: Grasping the strategic initiative to achieve a key leap in the city's development level

From a major digital economy district to a leading digital and intelligent economy district, this seemingly minor change represents a profound restructuring of development logic and a crucial leap in the district's overall capabilities.

This represents a "transformation of industry"—an iterative upgrade from "Internet+" to "AI+", promoting the deep integration of digital technology and the real economy, and cultivating and strengthening new productive forces; this represents a "transformation of power"—shifting from traffic-driven to data-driven, transforming massive amounts of industry data into high-value products, and releasing the multiplier effect of data elements; this represents a "transformation of ecosystem"—shifting from single-point explosive growth to a tropical rainforest-like ecosystem, forming a virtuous cycle of integrated development of large, medium and small enterprises and collaborative linkage between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

Changning continues to ride the wave of digitalization to reach new heights and leaping towards intelligence. With a focus on the in-depth implementation of the "Digital Changning Reaching New Heights" strategy, Changning is proactively embracing the wave of artificial intelligence, consistently adhering to the development philosophy of "technology in Changning, applications globally." It is also promoting high-standard advancements in artificial intelligence technology innovation, application breakthroughs, resource support, and service guarantees, striving to achieve a crucial leap from a major digital economy district to a strong digital and intelligent economy district, injecting Changning's momentum into Shanghai's construction of an artificial intelligence innovation hub.