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Beijing E-Town unveils ambitious plan to become leading AI hub

By Yang Chuanli
China.org.cn
| July 4, 2025
2025-07-04

Attendees listen to a speaker at the AI Ecosystem Rainforest Conference in Beijing E-Town, July 2, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Beijing's Economic-Technological Development Area, known as E-Town, plans to become a regional hub for artificial intelligence, Wang Zhanshuo, deputy director of the area's administrative committee, said at the AI Ecosystem Rainforest Conference in Beijing on July 2.

The plan, dubbed the "Pan-AI-enabled City," aims to cluster more than 600 leading AI enterprises by 2025, launch 100 key application scenarios for public access, and boost the industry's scale beyond $11 billion.

Wang said the strategy will leverage E-Town's policies, including subsidies of up to $1.4 million for each domestically developed computing infrastructure project, and annual support of up to $13.8 million per enterprise that demonstrates competitiveness in both domestic and international markets. The area will also issue data vouchers worth $13.8 million to support data circulation and trading.

To promote real-world AI applications, E-Town will establish integrated hubs for culture, commerce, tourism and sports, and will focus on sectors such as education, elderly care and media.

Additionally, the "Magic World" AI community being developed by E-Town is offering companies ready-to-use facilities, free office space for the first year, and free high-performance computing power for the first month.

"E-Town's overall GDP growth has already reached double digits, with AI-related industries contributing more than $1.4 billion in new growth," Wang said. "The area possesses the key scenarios and socio-economic advantages needed for developing the AI industry."

Li Shizun, CEO of Johnsmith.ai, was among the first to move into Magic World. Li unveiled the company's new "Real-time Avatar," a digital human livestreaming technology, at the event.

The product uses eight AI agents to achieve 95% lip-sync accuracy, recognizes 98 types of user intent, and supports multilingual interaction.

According to test data, livestream rooms using the technology saw a 42% increase in user engagement time, a 25% rise in product click-through rates, and a 16% improvement in sales conversion rates.

Johnsmith.ai has already worked with global brands such as Lancôme and Estée Lauder, totaling more than 3 million hours of livestreaming and reaching a 96% client renewal rate in its fourth year.

"'Real-time Avatar' consumes 100,000 tokens per hour — five times that of a typical chatbot — but delivers sales performance surpassing top human hosts," Li said.

AI-powered avatars are also gaining traction in other sectors. Matthew Heller, CEO of 37 Partners, said his team has developed a platform that uses AI technology to help sports stars connect emotionally with Chinese fans, turning NBA athletes' intellectual property into personalized retail experiences.

"We're looking at generative AI avatars as a way to build those connections even deeper," Heller said. "These avatars will be digital twins of our celebrities, with one key exception: They'll speak the local language, so they'll speak Mandarin."

AI innovation is also transforming the fashion sector. Regina Zeng, CEO of Inno Baker, showcased AI applications across the industry value chain, from generating new designs with style transfer algorithms to enabling personalized advertising based on consumer profiles and brand style.

During a panel discussion, guests agreed that AI is evolving from an efficiency tool into a "commercial operating system." Li said digital human livestreaming has moved beyond replacing basic labor to creating new value, with the next breakthrough expected in emotional interaction.

Tian Ruifeng, director of industry innovation at the China Chain Store and Franchise Association, compared retail AI to a "rainforest ecosystem," adding that E-Town's policy practices are providing the necessary institutional framework needed to support the development and integration of AI across many sectors.

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