How “New Infrastructure” Is Accelerating Smart Community Development in China

In November 2008 IBM introduced the “Smart Earth” concept, sparking a global wave of smart‑city construction. In recent years, China’s digital‑city initiatives have risen to a strategic level, and under the current “new infrastructure” momentum, smart cities and smart communities have become focal points.

Most cities’ smart‑community development remains in its infancy, with limited coverage and insufficient technical facilities and management, leading to low efficiency and inadequate services during the pandemic.

During the Two Sessions, NPC deputy and Suning Holdings chairman Zhang Jindong urged that government and enterprises cooperate closely, promote systematic planning for smart communities, and break down barriers between consumption, entertainment, and daily life scenes to meet residents’ growing service demands.

“New infrastructure” provides a fast‑track for smart‑community development, with government‑enterprise collaboration being the key to breaking the impasse.

The evolution of smart communities is closely linked to information technology and digital‑economy foundations, progressing from 4G, mobile payments, and smart retail to today’s 5G and IoT. While still exploratory, the rollout of “new infrastructure” injects substantial resources, propelling smart communities onto a development fast lane.

Current ecosystems are fragmented: numerous participants lack unified standards for hardware, software, and services, resulting in scattered development and ineffective integration. Without addressing this, smart communities will remain at a basic service level.

Zhang recommends a top‑down design that creates a community‑centered service life circle, encompassing elderly care, medical, education, government services, shopping, logistics, and seamless coordination with city‑management functions.

This aligns with the core idea of “new infrastructure.” Strengthened cooperation between government and industry will continuously refine the smart‑community core, produce detailed systematic plans, and accelerate the overall realization of smart cities.

Breaking information and scene barriers to build a “one‑hour life circle” is essential.

Under the accelerated “new infrastructure,” smart communities will not only reflect traditional infrastructure upgrades but also deliver higher value and better experiences, offering comprehensive, on‑demand services that satisfy all daily needs in a single platform.

Zhang stresses the need to unify intelligent standards across industries, improve policy environments, innovate mechanisms, and support diverse demonstration and application scenarios.

Companies such as Alibaba, Suning, and Meituan are leveraging AI, big‑data technologies, and O2O models to deeply embed services within community scenes, providing comprehensive, convenient, and innovative experiences for billions of consumers.

Suning, for example, has been integrating consumption scenes with offline businesses, rapidly deploying cross‑industry, cross‑scene, and service‑integrated community formats. Its internet stores like Carrefour and Suning Mini‑Shop bring shopping, services, and entertainment together. During the pandemic, initiatives such as unmanned delivery and the free “Suning E‑Home” community management platform exemplify multi‑party cooperation in building smart communities.

Zhang concludes that, guided by “new infrastructure,” improving policies, innovating mechanisms, and supporting diverse scenarios, while strengthening forward‑looking, guiding R&D and innovation, will accelerate industry integration, break scene barriers, and achieve an integrated, full‑scene operation management system for smart communities.