BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) – Officials and executives in Guangdong, China’s southern manufacturing and tech hub, on Friday vowed to expand artificial intelligence across its $2 trillion economy, a day after Beijing launched an “AI plus” strategy to embed the technology throughout the economy.
They made the comments at an event discussing a new government work report and five-year policy blueprint that, for the first time, puts AI-driven industrial upgrading at the centre of economic growth.
As a critical link in global supply chains, producing smartphones, appliances and electric vehicles, Guangdong’s ability to deploy AI will also shape how far the European Union and United States can de‑risk their supply chains from China amid rising geopolitical tension.
• Guangdong is China’s largest provincial economy, ranking first nationwide for more than three decades
• The province recorded GDP of about 14.6 trillion yuan ($2.1 trillion) in 2025, making it a larger economy than countries like Australia
• Guangdong governor Meng Fanli said the province would deepen “AI plus” applications across sectors and push the large-scale commercialisation of AI
• Guangdong’s Communist Party secretary Huang Kunming said the province would speed up construction of new infrastructure, including large-scale computing clusters
• Qin Weizhong, mayor of China’s premier tech hub Shenzhen, said value added in sectors like AI, robotics, and semiconductors posted double-digit growth last year
• Strategic emerging industries accounted for 43% of Shenzhen’s GDP, Qin said. Shenzhen is home to tech giants such as Huawei, Tencent, and DJI
• The mayor said Shenzhen was accelerating domestic substitution in chipmaking equipment, computing clusters and EDA software – areas where China lags the United States and faces restrictive U.S. controls
• He also urged stronger central support to build a self-sufficient AI hardware and software ecosystem and to expand China-led standards in areas such as AI and smart vehicles
• A provincial state-asset official said Guangdong would guide state capital toward advanced manufacturing, including sectors such as AI and drones
• Feng Xingya, chairman of automaker GAC Group, said the company would deepen the use of AI models in autonomous driving systems
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista, Editing by Louise Heavens)