Currently, nearly every major city is discussing "large-scale artificial intelligence models." However, what truly determines their "model power" is often the "fuel" these models rely on—data. Consequently, the real competition has quietly shifted to a deeper level: whoever can activate data, enable its circulation, and ensure its credibility holds the true advantage in the next round of competition.
On February 28, Guangzhou's government affairs and data system convened a high-quality development conference under the theme "Digital Intelligence Revitalizes Industry, Benefiting Enterprises on a New Journey." The core focus was on the foundational and far-reaching project of reforming the market-oriented allocation of data elements. The information disclosed at the meeting was significant: approval for 40,000 petaflops of computing power to strengthen the AI foundation; establishment of 50 government AI agents and creation of 100 high-quality datasets, equipping Guangzhou with an intelligent government data processing factory; and the release of the nation's first city-level data industry map and trusted data space rules. The former serves as a guide for investment attraction, while the latter establishes regulations for data circulation.
Driving all these initiatives is a central theme called "Digital-Intelligence Integration." The year 2026 has been designated as the "Year of Pioneering Digital-Intelligence Integration Innovation," and the core pathway "1+2+7" was simultaneously announced. This signifies that artificial intelligence will deeply integrate with massive, compliant, and high-quality data to precisely empower government affairs, industry, and public livelihoods.
If past honors have proven Guangzhou's foresight and execution capabilities in the digital realm, the city is now attempting to answer a new question: how to systematically transform accumulated data capabilities into kinetic energy for economic growth, efficiency in governance modernization, and tangible experiences for citizens? The next step for this city is not merely a simple overlay of technologies, but a profound transformation centered on the market-oriented allocation of data elements.
The blueprint for a digital Guangzhou is becoming increasingly clear. Let's first review the achievements of Digital Guangzhou over the past year. If one were to find an annotation for Guangzhou's digital progress last year, the National Games might serve as a vivid example. Behind every critical scenario—from the opening ceremony and event operations to the torch relay—an integrated "sky-land" intelligent sensing network operated silently. Supporting this was not a breakthrough in a single technology, but a long-term layout of systems and infrastructure.
Rules were established first, with deep-rooted foundations. Furthermore, the "Guangzhou Experience" has frequently gained national recognition and stepped onto the world stage. With the successive promulgation of the "Guangzhou Data Regulations" and "Guangzhou Government Service Regulations," Guangzhou has built a systematic institutional framework around the "Four Data Constructions," charting a course for the aggregation, circulation, and utilization of data.
With rules in place, data began to shift from a沉淀 resource to a market-allocable element. On this basis, the province's first city-level trusted data space was率先 built. Over 500 data products were listed and circulated here, empowering more than 200 high-value scenarios. The identity of data quietly transformed—from a "manageable resource" to a "tradable element." The ecosystem of the Guangzhou Data Exchange continues to expand, with partners exceeding 4,400, and trading activity remains among the highest nationally.
Institutions, platforms, and markets together constitute the foundation for data element circulation. These ultimately allowed the "Guangzhou Experience" to reach a broader stage: the city was rated as a national pilot in several key areas, including data infrastructure construction, trusted data space innovation, data industry clustering, and logistics data opening and interconnection. It also won the highest honor in the Chinese region of the World Smart City Awards—the "City Award."
At this year's conference, Guangzhou further intensified its efforts: it took the lead in releasing consensus rules for the city's trusted data space, constructing eight pillars of trust covering the entire data circulation chain, and introducing incentives such as "zero-cost entry within three months." Eleven districts collectively presented their industrial strengths, forming a collaborative ecosystem characterized by "one district, one specialty; one industry, one zone."
As data circulation becomes normalized, the industrial轮廓 becomes clearer. Guangzhou's comprehensive strength in the digital economy ranks third nationally. The number of data-driven enterprises exceeds 22,000, with over 2,000 being "Four Above" scale data enterprises, and the data industry scale has surpassed the trillion-yuan threshold. The consolidation of this industrial base provides firmer ground for the "Guangzhou Data Industry Map" released at the meeting. As the nation's first city-level data industry map, it integrates enterprise distribution, innovation resources, and development carriers in a spatial, visual, and interactive manner, marking the first 56 characteristic data industry parks and providing intuitive coordinates for enterprises to establish their presence in Guangzhou.
Ultimately, these capabilities are not confined to the macro level but are translated into improvements in governance precision and public welfare. City-wide "cross-domain services" have increased to 2,461 items; national "efficient handling of one matter" tasks have been fully implemented; and local characteristic services continue to be optimized. Blockchain technology enables mutual recognition of medical test results, and digital technology is embedded into the细微 corners of public safety and urban operations. Technology is no longer a lofty concept but transforms into tangible convenience in daily life.
Looking back at this path, a clear evolutionary logic emerges: it is based on rules, activating the flow of data; using this flow to nurture and grow the industrial forest; and ultimately allowing this forest to nourish the city, achieving governance effectiveness. A digital city capable of sensing, thinking, and radiating warmth is burgeoning with infinite vitality.
"Digital-Intelligence Integration" Opens a New Chapter Standing at a new starting point, Guangzhou has chosen a clear main thread: driving the deep integration of data and artificial intelligence, with the reform of market-oriented data element allocation as the core driver. Huang Jin, Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Government Service and Data Administration, stated that 2026 is the "Year of Pioneering Digital-Intelligence Integration Innovation" for Guangzhou's government affairs and data work. The meeting provided a "roadmap," implementing the "1+2+7" work path. This is a structured presentation of this thinking—one main thread, two drivers, and seven actions, clearly layered and specifically targeted.
These seven actions embody a progressive logic from foundation-building to empowerment, and from governance to public welfare. The foremost priority is building the foundation. Without a solid地基, no tall building can be erected. The leading Digital Guangzhou Navigation and Foundation-Building Action focuses on the high-quality formulation and implementation of the "Digital Guangzhou Construction '16th Five-Year' Plan," concentrating new key elements like data, computing power, and energy consumption towards major digital projects.
Above the foundation lies the systematic enhancement of governance efficacy. The Digital Government Acceleration and Efficiency Improvement Action advances the construction of Digital Government 3.0, establishing a management mechanism of "cataloging upon construction, collection upon acceptance." The most notable aspects are getting public data "moving" and the government AI "Ten-Hundred-Thousand Co-creation Initiative." This involves creating an intelligent government data factory, building 50 government AI agents, developing 100 high-quality datasets, and covering 200 application scenarios. It also entails building a responsibility list for sharing 1,000 data items, completing the registration of 1,200 public data resources, and striving to increase the number of city-wide "Four Above" data enterprises to over 2,100.
The optimization of government services targets tangible experiences: government efficiency is not just about approval speed, but also about proactively appearing at the points where businesses and citizens need it most. Under the Government Service Iteration and Leap Forward Action, no fewer than 20 Guangzhou-characteristic "one-stop services" will be added, the 12345 hotline will be developed into the "Guangjie Zhiban" service brand, enterprise service expert seats will be upgraded, and the "immediate handling upon receipt" response mechanism will be perfected. The capabilities of the "Sui@iEnterprise" enterprise digital space profiling and精准 services will be enhanced.
Through the Data Facility Upgrade and Expansion Action, Guangzhou is outlining a new pattern of data circulation integrating "Data Port, Air Port, and Sea Port," creating a high-speed data infrastructure support base for the entire city. Specific paths include promoting the listing of no fewer than 1,500 data products, building a government intelligent computing resource pool, and constructing a city-wide integrated computing power调度 network, making computing power a readily available public resource like water and electricity.
Ultimately, all accumulated energy will be released into the industry. Through the "Digital Economy Incremental Quality Improvement Action," Guangzhou is accelerating the construction of two national-level data industry clusters in Tianhe and Huangpu. Focusing on key areas like intelligent manufacturing, connected vehicles, and healthcare, it will meticulously create a batch of high-quality multi-modal datasets (text, image). These datasets will become "premium fuel" for large model training, propelling Guangzhou to accelerate in the AI race.
Of course, Guangzhou's vision extends beyond this. It is actively integrating into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area data circulation system, speeding up the construction of the Nansha "International Data Port," and anchoring its local data industry competitiveness on a broader world stage.
Digital Intelligence Integrates into Daily Life All technological progress must ultimately return to the human scale. In the Digital Society Benefits the People Action, digital intelligence is deeply integrating into the city's "vitality." The "Sui Zhi Guan" urban operations management center incorporates large model and big data capabilities, gradually achieving全域 intelligent governance. A municipal government drone platform is being built, exploring application scenarios like visual models and "AI+IoT sensing," making governance more sensitive and multi-dimensional.
For frontline grassroots workers, digitalization means real burden reduction. By improving the grassroots reporting "single ledger" system and combining it with AI+RPA technology, Guangzhou is striving to remove the "mountain of repetitive forms," liberating grassroots officials from繁琐 tasks and allowing them to truly return to their primary duty of serving the public.
For every citizen, "Sui Hao Ban" is evolving into an attentive "super service portal," planning to introduce over 100 high-frequency life services and setting up dedicated service zones for groups like foreigners and the elderly, ensuring no one is left behind in the era of digital civilization.
Urban competition ultimately boils down to competition for talent. The ability to attract and retain复合型 talent proficient in both data technology and urban governance will be a key variable determining whether Guangzhou can maintain its leading position over the next five years. To this end, the Digital Pioneers Cohesion and Empowerment Action focuses on "people" themselves. Guangzhou is deepening the government-industry-academia-research-application collaborative talent cultivation model, striving to build fertile ground that attracts and nurtures digital talent.
Looking across these seven actions, they are not isolated tasks but a set of interlocking, mutually driving systematic projects. Artificial intelligence is not a悬浮 concept but is naturally growing within specific scenarios like government AI agents, urban sensing, and grassroots burden reduction. Guangzhou's practical logic is clear and pragmatic: only by first solidifying the data foundation and streamlining the circulation mechanism can the value of artificial intelligence be realized naturally, rather than remaining on the drawing board.
The conference has concluded, but the journey continues. Guangzhou's practice of digital-intelligence integration is still being written in depth. Standing at the new starting point of the "16th Five-Year" period, this city, with its solid accumulation, quietly awaits the moment of qualitative change when the energy of data and the capability of AI converge and erupt.