Remodeling the “Manufacturing Stronghold” with AI: Chongqing Explores the Path to “Smart” Success

When the “Industrial Brain” connects the data veins across the industry chain and robotic arms in “Future Factories” cooperate tacitly with intelligent algorithms, Chongqing’s manufacturing industry is undergoing a deep transformation toward “smart manufacturing”.

Since last year, the national government has issued the Opinions on Deeply Implementing the “AI+” Action and the Opinions on the Implementation of the “AI+ Manufacturing” Special Action. Chongqing followed suit, successively releasing the Chongqing “AI+” Action Plan and the Chongqing Implementation Plan for Promoting the Integration of the Digital and Real Economies and Advancing “AI+ Manufacturing”.

Today, artificial intelligence is reshaping Chongqing’s identity as a “manufacturing stronghold”. At the recent Chongqing “AI+ Manufacturing” Integrated Application Promotion Conference and the “Science-Technology-Industry-Finance Integration” Roadshow—”AI+ Manufacturing” Special Event, a series of significant results were unveiled: the Chongqing Municipal Artificial Intelligence Public Service Platform officially went online, a list of 102 real-world scenario requirements was released, and financial institutions expressed preliminary investment intentions totaling 530 million RMB.

From policy support to platform construction, and from demand matching to capital empowerment, these intensive actions demonstrate Chongqing’s active exploration of “AI+ Manufacturing”. By restructuring the entire “Man, Machine, Material, Method, and Environment” chain and innovating the industrial ecosystem, Chongqing is injecting continuous innovative momentum into its manufacturing development.

Restructuring the Five Elements of “Man, Machine, Material, Method, and Environment”: AI Opens “New Spaces” for Industrial Development

In Total Quality Management theory, “Man, Machine, Material, Method, and Environment” are the five primary factors affecting product quality. In Chongqing, AI is restructuring these elements to open new spaces for industrial development, revitalizing traditional manufacturing workshops.

Inside the Avatr Digital Factory, 471 robotic arms dance in the welding workshop, where a flexible welding line for steel-aluminum hybrid bodies operates at a takt time of 60 seconds per vehicle. The automation rate of key processes has reached 100%.

▲ Inside the Avatr Digital Intelligence Factory, a robotic arm is in operation. (Photo courtesy of the company)

However, this is merely the evolution of the “Machine”. What truly distinguishes this factory is how AI synergistically restructures all five elements:

The Digital Operations Center receives real-time production line dynamics from thousands of data collection points. The Collaborative Support Center provides centralized dispatching and precise resource allocation. The Intelligent Manufacturing Center ensures hundreds of robots operate efficiently at optimal cycles. The Supply Chain Center works in sync to ensure materials arrive at every workstation on time.

The coordinated efforts and real-time information exchange between these four centers have upgraded the entire factory from “individual sprints” to “systemic operations”. ”

AI helps the factory build an intelligent system with full-process coordination, effectively improving production efficiency and product quality,” said a representative from the Avatr Digital Factory.

▲ Inside the Avatr Digital Intelligence Factory. (Photo courtesy of the company)

This transformation extends beyond the automotive sector. In the pharmaceutical field, where “sterility” and “traceability” are strictly required, the “Automatic Sampling System” independently developed by Zhongke Yuluchuan has for the first time entered a critical GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) stage. Robots have replaced humans to complete the entire process of sampling, sterile transfer, and automatic data entry in a Grade A clean environment.

“In the past, manual operations in sterile environments always presented risk exposures. Now, we use an intelligent system with coordinated ‘hands, eyes, and brain’ to achieve full-process automation from calibration and sampling to transportation,” explained a representative from Zhongke Yuluchuan. This solution has been successfully implemented on the core production lines of Hybio, a global leader in plant-derived recombinant protein technology, providing a replicable model for the intelligent upgrade of high-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

From systemic operations at Avatr to the “hand-eye-brain” coordination at Zhongke Yuluchuan, these vivid practices clearly show that the five traditional manufacturing elements are being rewoven by AI into an intelligent production network. Chongqing is accelerating the weaving of this network through “Industrial Brains + Future Factories,” driving the manufacturing stronghold toward a new era of “smart” manufacturing.

▲ Avatr. (File photo)

Through the “Industry Brain + Future Factory” model, Chongqing is now accelerating the weaving of this network, propelling this manufacturing hub swiftly into a new era of intelligent manufacturing.

Statistics show that in 2025, the scale of Chongqing’s core AI industry grew by 23.6% year-on-year. AI-enabled industrial technical transformation investment grew by 19.2%, ranking fifth in the country for growth rate.

As more workshops are empowered by AI, the essence of Chongqing manufacturing is undergoing a profound shift toward being “intelligence-driven”.

Breaking the “Bonsai-style” Development Bottleneck: AI Empowers a “New Ecosystem” of Holistic Manufacturing

The greatest risk in AI-empowered manufacturing is falling into “bonsai-style” development, where only a few leading enterprises implement applications while small and medium-sized enterprises are deterred, ultimately failing to form industrial synergy.

Chongqing’s solution is to move from points to surfaces, promoting AI empowerment across the entire manufacturing ecosystem so that large models become tangible productivity.

On March 22, at the Guangyang Island International Convention Center, nearly 300 representatives from government, industry, academia, and research witnessed the official launch of the “Chongqing Municipal Artificial Intelligence Public Service Platform”. Relying on business modules such as data services, model services, agent services, industry applications, and public AI testing services, the platform serves as a public service hub for the AI industry, integrating open-source resources, R&D testing, and supply-demand matching to provide customized AI support for enterprises.

▲Chongqing Artificial Intelligence Public Service Platform officially launched. (Photo by Li Wenke, chief reporter of No.1 Eye TV-Hualong.com)

“This platform integrates the resources of professional institutions such as the Chongqing General Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and the Chongqing Academy of Information and Communications Technology. It can significantly lower the threshold for AI R&D and application, helping enterprises improve quality and upgrade development,” said a representative from the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

On the same day as the platform launch, a series of heavyweight policies were released. The Chongqing Implementation Plan for Promoting the Integration of the Digital and Real Economies and Advancing “AI+ Manufacturing” and its supporting Policies clarified the development path and support directions. These cover foundational AI support, scenario expansion, product iteration, and ecosystem building, forming a complete policy chain. Simultaneously, the First Batch of “Gaiting” Project List for the AI Bay was released to aggregate innovative resources for tackling key core technologies.

Capital is also flowing in. On March 23, the “Science-Technology-Industry-Finance Integration” Roadshow—”AI+ Manufacturing” Special Event was held, with 66 enterprises and 75 financial institutions matching on-site. They released a financing demand of 1.772 billion RMB, and financial institutions reached preliminary investment intentions of 530 million RMB.

Regarding technical supply, Chongqing announced a list of 101 “AI+ Manufacturing” service providers, introducing a group of “digital partners who understand both industry and technology” to bridge the “last mile” of AI implementation.

After being selected for the service provider list, we will accelerate the creation of an AI industrial digital-intelligent foundation to further lower the technical and cost thresholds for manufacturing enterprises, making intelligent transformation more inclusive and accessible,” said a representative from Humi Technology.

▲Smart workshop built by Humi Technology. (Photo courtesy of the company)

Scenario openness is equally sincere. The 2026 first batch of “AI+ Manufacturing” scenario requirement list was released, collecting 102 real needs from more than 20 key enterprises across the city, covering R&D design, production manufacturing, and supply chain management.

Notably, the Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology launched the “AI+ Manufacturing” section on the “Yuqi Jinfu” platform and will soon organize “Lighthouse Factory” cultivation activities to continue empowering industrial upgrades.

▲On March 23, the inaugural graduate student opening ceremony of Chongqing Artificial Intelligence College was held at Guangyangwan Campus. (Photo by Liu Zhao / No.1 Eye TV-Hualong.com)

Furthermore, Chongqing is accelerating the construction of an AI talent “reservoir”. On March 23, the Chongqing Artificial Intelligence Institute welcomed its first 450 graduate students. The institute will focus on the needs of Chongqing’s “33618” modern manufacturing cluster system, aiming to cultivate composite AI leaders who are “capable of theoretical breakthroughs and scenario implementation”.

From “bonsai” to “scenery,” and from “benchmarking” to “inclusive empowerment,” Chongqing is building a closed-loop industrial ecosystem with clear demand, strong supply, and active capital. This is driving “AI+ Manufacturing” from point-based breakthroughs toward holistic ecological evolution.

Cultivating New Forms of the Intelligent Economy: AI Activates “New Momentum” for High-Quality Development

“Artificial intelligence is accelerating its deep integration with the real economy, profoundly changing manufacturing production models and economic forms, and becoming a key variable for driving industrial upgrades and reshaping the global landscape,” said Wang Zhijie, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Chongqing’s path forward is clear: deepen the implementation of the “AI+ Manufacturing” action, promote the “Industrial Brain + Future Factory” model, empower the intelligent upgrade of the entire manufacturing process, promote the wide application of next-generation intelligent terminals and agents, and cultivate new forms and models of the intelligent economy to build a national AI application highland.

Specifically, with the “dual empowerment” of AI innovation and manufacturing applications as the main line, Chongqing aims to promote “intelligent industrialization” and “industrial intelligence”. This will empower the high-quality development of the “33618” modern manufacturing cluster system, creating new advantages in intelligent, green, and integrated industrial development.

By 2027, Chongqing strives to achieve a 90% penetration rate of digital R&D design tools and a 75% numerical control rate for key processes in large-scale enterprises. It aims to create a batch of typical AI application scenarios and build 30 industry-specific industrial brains, 40 future factories, and 40 national-level pilot and excellent intelligent factories.

Next, Chongqing will focus on four major directions:

Strengthening the Empowerment Foundation: Build a comprehensive capability enhancement system covering computing power, data, models, and solutions. This includes constructing high-quality industrial datasets, trusted data spaces, low-code development platforms, and agent development and testing platforms to bolster the technical supply side.

Cultivating Integrated Industries: Driven by scenario applications, focus on fields such as Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicles (ICNEVs), next-generation smart terminals, advanced materials, intelligent equipment, and software information services. This will encourage enterprises to transform AI capabilities into new product competitiveness.

Reshaping Manufacturing Models: Deepen the “Industrial Brain + Future Factory” production organization model. Through “Industrial Brain” central coordination and “Future Factory” terminal execution, promote the digital-intelligent upgrade of R&D, production, management, and marketing to spawn a new paradigm of advanced manufacturing.

Optimizing the Industrial Ecosystem: Supported by multi-dimensional systemic coordination, provide strong support for the deep integration of AI and manufacturing by cultivating professional service providers, building innovation platforms, strengthening talent teams, and enhancing industry-finance matching.

“From point-based automation transformation to self-adaptive factories capable of thinking, an industrial wave that makes intelligence inclusive is quietly occurring in Chongqing’s workshops,” remarked one expert at the conference.

“AI + manufacturing”, Chongqing is exploring infinite possibilities with a pragmatic attitude.

With a pragmatic approach, Chongqing is exploring the infinite possibilities of “AI+ Manufacturing”. As “Industrial Brains” become smarter and “Future Factories” become more prevalent, the combined force of policy, platforms, capital, technology, scenarios, and talent will enable this manufacturing stronghold to deliver a brilliant new performance in the era of the intelligent economy.

Source: Di 1 Yan TV – Hualong Net
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