In Dazu, Chongqing, agricultural workers operate drones above a blooming canola field on March 2, 2026. (Photo/Chongqing Daily)
Chongqing - As competition in artificial intelligence intensifies globally, the Chengdu–Chongqing region is accelerating efforts to develop its AI industry and expand practical applications for growth.
The Chongqing 15th Five-Year Plan Outline clearly states that Chongqing will work with Chengdu to upgrade and develop the Chengdu–Chongqing national hub node of China’s integrated national computing power network, jointly implement the “AI Plus” initiative, and build a “Digital Chengdu–Chongqing” region together.
Deng Lanyan, vice president of the Chongqing Comprehensive Economic Research Institute, said that as artificial intelligence moves from technological exploration toward large-scale application, and with the nationwide rollout of the “AI Plus” initiative, the Chengdu–Chongqing region is entering a major strategic window to build a national hub for AI applications. The region’s geographic location, solid industrial base, and abundant application scenarios provide strong foundations for such development.
She added that Chengdu and Chongqing, the twin cores of the economic circle, should play complementary roles and pursue a clear division of labor in advancing the regional AI industry.
Chongqing’s strengths lie mainly in industrial application scenarios. Supported by industries such as automobiles, electronic information, and equipment manufacturing, the city has built a relatively complete manufacturing system. By the end of 2025, Chongqing had established 1,231 digital workshops and 211 smart factories, including 34 national-level 5G factories.
As a mountainous megacity, Chongqing also offers diverse testing and application environments in areas such as intelligent connected vehicles, urban governance, and digital culture and tourism.
Chengdu’s advantages lie primarily in technology and enterprises. The city is home to the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Sichuan University, which have accumulated research strengths in large model algorithms, computer vision, and natural language processing. By the end of 2025, Chengdu had more than 1,000 AI-related companies.
Over the six years since the launch of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, the two cities have indeed begun cooperating in computing power and AI applications.
Driven by China's east-data-west-computing project, Chongqing has opened access to computing resources from Xinjiang, while Chengdu has established a national-level intelligent computing center. The two cities are now advancing a node in national computing power network.
In the field of smart transportation, Turing Xinxunmei (Chongqing) Technology Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. are jointly developing an AIGC computing power platform. The project aims to develop large models for transportation and build a digital twin system for urban traffic.
In healthcare, Chongqing University and Chengdu University are jointly developing an embodied-intelligence medical companion robot for healthcare services.
Deng noted that, overall, the Chengdu-Chongqing region still lags behind cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in terms of industry scale, number of enterprises, high-level talent, and total computing capacity.
She said the next five years will be critical for developing the AI industry in the region. Chengdu and Chongqing can strengthen industrial internet infrastructure, expand AI applications in sectors such as agriculture, consumption, and healthcare, build computing centers and research platforms, and increase efforts to attract and train talent for AI.