China's tech hub trailblazing AI-powered smart city construction

The southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen is ramping up efforts to accelerate smart city construction with measures to foster artificial intelligence (AI) industry development.

In Shenzhen, along a stretch of sidewalk are 5G-powered streetlights which are mounted with LED screens, cameras, and microphones. The poles can give out voice alerts when there is illegal parking or littering, and can keep an eye on traffic, air quality, and noise levels.

Besides, the city's subway riders don't need a metro card or phone, but their face to make a payment. And there are self-service kiosks in subway stations, which use speech recognition, AI, and biometric tech to offer assistance to passengers.

The digital transformation of infrastructure is likely to speed up in Shenzhen, as the city, which is already home to over 2,000 AI companies, announced in December 2024 a slew of measures to build itself into a pioneer city for AI.

In a recent interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), a local official elaborated on the incentives Shenzhen has launched to encourage the development of AI sector in the city.

"The new measures are all about making computing, models and data more affordable for businesses. The next step is to lower AI deployment costs across industries. For example, 'model coupons' will help save on AI models, and the government is setting aside up to 50 million RMB each year to fund scalable AI solutions. In industrial sectors, up to 100 million RMB will go towards supporting AI-driven projects. When it comes to smart products, there's strong backing for AI hardware and software, like robots, AI PCs, and wearables, with rewards of up to three million RMB for top-selling products. To help startups, small businesses will get rent exemptions for six months to three years, along with full support in computing, data, funding and talent. Plus, the government is teaming up with private capital to create a trillion-RMB AI ecosystem and a 10-billion RMB fund for AI and robotics, all while providing comprehensive support for talent," said Lin Yi, director of Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence Industry Office.

China's tech hub trailblazing AI-powered smart city construction

More than 1,000 coal mines in China have adopted intelligent systems, as their application expands from pilot projects to large-scale deployment, the China National Coal Association said recently.

Statistics show that by the end of 2025, a total of 1,066 coal mines nationwide have introduced smart systems, with such technologies now supporting more than 65 percent of the country's coal production capacity. The number of autonomous mining trucks in operation surpassed 4,000 units, roughly doubling on an annual basis.

The rapid adoption of smart mining is driven by robust domestic capabilities in intelligent equipment and technology. In Beijing, a newly deployed underground Internet of Things (IoT) precision positioning and management system links workers, positioning cards and operating zones, while also enabling health monitoring. Its core technologies and components are fully domestically developed and have been applied in coal mines and coal preparation plants. "This underground positioning system we've developed has a positioning deviation of less than 20 centimeters when a person or device is stationary. Even when a person or device is moving at high speeds, the margin of error remains minimal. A single device can cover a radius of 800 meters," said Wu Fengdong, general manager of China Coal Beijing Coal Mining Machinery Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Coal Group Corporation.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), cumulative investment in smart mining has exceeded 107.1 billion yuan (about 15.6 billion U.S. dollars), with intelligent technologies now widely applied, accelerating the shift from traditional mining to modern, technology-driven extraction.

Over 60 pct of China's coal production capacity uses smart technology by end of 2025