A new plan from the Zhejiang government will see billions of yuan spent through 2027 to support AI companies and attract 'top talent'. — SCMP
The provincial government of Zhejiang, home to Alibaba Group Holding and DeepSeek, has released a comprehensive policy package to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) research, industrial growth and talent acquisition, in an effort to turn the region into a “global AI innovation development highland”.
Under the plan, major companies in the AI supply chain – including those responsible for large language models, cloud computing and semiconductors – are expected to generate combined operating revenues of more than 1 trillion yuan (RM591.35bil or US$138.6 billion) by 2027, according to the policy, which was drafted in April and published on the provincial government’s website last week.
That would be nearly double the current production value of China’s AI industry, which last year saw total output worth 570bil yuan (RM337.07bil), according to official data.
The strategy combines fiscal support, talent incentives and other measures designed to foster growth and respond to Beijing’s call for technological self-reliance that has urged local governments, computing centres and companies to purchase or adopt home-made software and hardware.
Financial support includes attracting more than 10bil yuan (RM5.91bil) in venture capital to invest in AI – especially in early-stage, long-term research in hard tech – subsidising start-ups that invest more than 3% of their operating revenue in research and development, and providing up to 30mil yuan (RM17.74mil) for projects focused on foundational AI models and vertical applications.
The programme also offers consumers a 15% discount – up to 2,000 yuan (RM1,182) per order – when buying intelligent devices such as household robots and smart glasses.
The plan aims to attract more than 10 “top AI talents” to the province each year, although it did not specify who qualifies. The government said it is exploring new standards for evaluating AI talent that consider factors including income, code citations, contributions to major open-source communities, and experience in optimising AI systems on thousands of graphics processing units, making them as important as traditional metrics such as titles, academic qualifications and awards.
The province named two “core cities” as part of the programme: the capital, Hangzhou, and coastal Ningbo. Hangzhou is home to tech giants like Alibaba and NetEase, as well as emerging start-ups known as China’s “little dragons” such as DeepSeek and humanoid robotics maker Unitree. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Ningbo is home to one of China’s largest ports and semiconductor unicorns like wafer manufacturer Rong Semiconductor.
The policy takes effect on May 31 and will remain valid through 2027.
Zhejiang is the latest provincial government to roll out financial support for local AI development. Last month, the Guangdong government announced subsidies aimed at establishing a “global innovation highland” for the AI and robotics sectors. The Guangdong city of Shenzhen is home to some of the country’s largest tech firms, including Tencent Holdings and Huawei Technologies. – South China Morning Post
