A researcher operates an AI virtual anchor system at iFLYTEK, an AI and speech-technology giant in Anhui province. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

In recent years, China's digital industry clusters have developed rapidly, with many regions having explored this concept.

According to the 2022 China Digital Economy Development Research Report, released in November by the China Center for Information Industry Development, a path for many cities to develop digital economy is to combine core industries of digital economy with where it has a resource advantage, and then to expand its market and nurture an ecology around this industrial card.

An Internet of Things cluster has been formed in Wuxi, Jiangsu province where digital technologies are well received by the logistics industry. Factory technicians simply insert a code on a keyboard, activating driverless intelligent Internet-connected trucks that can automatically load and unload cargo between docks, distribution centers and enterprise warehouses. In addition, express packages can also be quickly scanned and sorted on a double-layer cross-belt sorting device.

In Hefei, Anhui province, the intelligent voice cluster, represented by iFlytek, generated revenue of 137.8 billion RMB in 2021, with a growth rate of output value exceeding 30 percent for five consecutive years.

Beijing's Chaoyang district centered on building five featured industrial clusters, including artificial intelligence, integrated circuit, industrial Internet, network and information security, and spatial geographic information. Presently, the district has built 4,889 5G base stations, and established innovation platforms, like the national industrial Internet big data center.

Baiyun district in Guangzhou city has expedited the construction of Baiyun Lake Digital Sci-Tech City, inspired by the vision of integrating giant local enterprises with industrial ecology. The city has provided industries, such as new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, e-sports, and business services, with total investment of more than 20 billion RMB. This has attracted many enterprises and startups.

The new generation of electronic information industry has become the engine supporting the development of Shenzhen's industrial economy, and plays a positive role in promoting investment, information consumption and the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

Experts say that the rapid development of China's digital economy has provided a good foundation for building digital industrial clusters. The clusters can maximize the synergy advantages of specialization and cooperation between industries.

This will effectively reduce innovation and transaction costs, promote the rational flow of production factors and advance the deep integration of both the digital and traditional economy.