This year, the AI boom in Yancheng has suddenly heated up. Entering 2026, this major manufacturing city, whose total industrial output has exceeded one trillion yuan, has packed its schedule with event after event: the city‑wide conference on AI empowering new‑type industrialization, the open-source AI agent application sharing session, the special lecture on AI empowering the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises… Meetings follow one another, implementation policies roll out one after another, and new industry regulations are issued in quick succession.

In just one quarter, Yancheng has taken the lead in the province to draw a clear roadmap for AI‑empowered new‑type industrialization – creating 50 demonstration application scenarios of “AI + manufacturing” in 2026, adding more than 2 national excellent‑level smart factories and over 100 provincial advanced‑level smart factories. The goals are clear and the pace is tight.

The direction is now clear, and confidence is building. “Yancheng’s industrial foundation is something others cannot simply replicate. We have taken root in manufacturing for decades. What we need to do now is to match the key of AI with our own lock,” said a business executive attending the promotion conference.