How AI and Industrial Internet Are Shaping China’s New Infrastructure Boom

The WISE x City New Engine summit, held on May 19‑20, brought together experts from AI, industrial internet, retail, healthcare, and government to discuss the opportunities and challenges of China’s new‑infrastructure strategy.

36Kr Vice President Dai Wenzhe emphasized that investing in artificial intelligence and industrial internet will yield greater returns as these sectors become core enablers of future growth.

Wang Junjie, Director of Suning Retail Technology Research Institute highlighted that new infrastructure offers unlimited possibilities for retail, especially in post‑COVID recovery, emphasizing digital transformation, standardized fresh food, traceability, and seamless online‑offline integration.

Lin Jialiang, Managing Director of Zhongke Chuangxing noted the shift from “big‑picture” to “comprehensive” city‑brain intelligence powered by AI, enabling finer‑grained data analysis and higher accuracy in pandemic‑related population screening.

Lin Hua, Vice President of Fourth Paradigm explained that AI’s high‑dimensional data processing can move from focusing on the top 20% of data to analyzing full‑scale datasets, achieving up to 93% accuracy in targeted screening.

Ruo Jianfeng, Vice President of Haojing Technology outlined four essential elements for industry digital upgrade: scenario integration, data‑driven operations, algorithmic empowerment, and optimal compute resources.

Speakers stressed that new infrastructure is not only hardware (5G, data centers) but also software, requiring tight hardware‑software synergy to improve city efficiency, smart‑city services, and industrial internet adoption.

Challenges for industrial internet include difficulty of technology implementation, the need for deep vertical integration, and delivering core value that customers cannot live without.

Future directions mentioned include 5G‑enabled high‑definition video, AR/VR, drones, cloud robotics, remote control, machine vision, and AGV systems, as well as the use of edge computing, identifier resolution, and blockchain for end‑to‑end traceability.