Digital News

　　The On-site Interactive Area of the 8th Digital China Summit will take place from April 28 to May 4 at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Center, covering 56,000 square meters. A stellar lineup of participants—including leading central SOEs, Global Fortune 500 enterprises, China’s Top 500, and top industry players—has already confirmed attendance. The event will spotlight a rich array of cutting-edge technologies and groundbreaking innovations, offering a vivid look at how the digital economy is empowering industries across the board. Here’s a first look at the exciting highlights!

　　As DeepSeek ignites a new wave of AI, Fuzhou is offering its distinctive answer to the future of artificial intelligence—by building solid foundations and driving real-world applications. From its bold vision of becoming the “No.1 City for Digital Applications,” to launching the AI track of the Digital China Innovation Contest (DCIC), and now riding the momentum of the 2025 edition, Fuzhou is bringing intelligence to life across countless industries. It is weaving a robust, homegrown AI ecosystem that spans from computing infrastructure to industry-level implementation.

　　Contest as Catalysts: Building an Independent Computing Power Ecosystem

　　“If large AI models fail to take root in real industries, they will remain castles in the air,” remarked a representative from one of the participating companies, encapsulating the core challenge in AI development. While DeepSeek’s technological optimizations have helped ease concerns over computing power, an expert from the Fujian Artificial Intelligence Computing Center emphasizes, “The demand for computing power continues to grow. In the long run, self-reliance and controllability are the true solutions.”

　　Fuzhou’s Clear and Firm Choice: Contest as a Catalyst to Build an Independent Computing Power Ecosystem

　　Co-organized by Fuzhou Electronic Information Group Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Digital Fuzhou Group), Fujian Electronics & Information Group Co., Ltd., and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., the 2025 Digital China Innovation Contest – Artificial Intelligence Track is committed to advancing the diverse application and industrial implementation of domestic AI technologies. It captures the “longitude and latitude” of AI development by aligning innovation in computing power with forward-looking challenge design.

　　In this year’s contest, the Fujian Artificial Intelligence Computing Center provides participants with domestic computing resources and incentive vouchers, while the Ascend Community offers developer toolkits and educational resources—empowering participants with an end-to-end ecosystem from hardware to software. “This not only lowers the innovation barrier for small and medium-sized teams but also allows domestic tech capabilities to take root and grow through real-world practice,” commented Professor Guan Liwen, a competition expert and doctoral advisor at Tsinghua University.

　　Challenge-Driven Innovation: Bridging AI with Every Industry

　　Fragmented industry needs, a shortage of interdisciplinary talent, and the difficulty of validating domestic technologies in real-world scenarios—these common obstacles to AI implementation have been transformed by Fuzhou into “whetstones” for sharpening innovation through competition.

　　How can AI talent be steered toward driving intelligent innovation across industries? The Artificial Intelligence Track of the DCIC 2025 leverages independently developed challenges to bridge the gap between AI capabilities and the diverse needs of thousands of sectors.

　　The Artificial Intelligence Track of the DCIC 2025 features dual challenge categories for universities and enterprises, covering six major application scenarios, including agriculture, healthcare, and marine industries. All entries must be developed using domestic software and hardware platforms.

　　Xu Yang, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Division at the Information Technology Center of the China Electronics Standardization Institute and one of the contest’s experts, remarked that the varying AI demands across different industries pose higher requirements for the flexibility and adaptability of domestic ecosystems. By anchoring the contest in independently developed challenges based on domestic hardware and software platforms, this year’s contest is expected to spur innovations that transcend conventional technological paths, injecting fresh momentum into the development of a robust industrial AI ecosystem.

　　The university-level innovation challenges are designed to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Participants are invited to submit AI project proposals that showcase technological innovation, completeness of application, and practical feasibility. All entries must be developed on domestic AI software and hardware platforms and focus on key domains such as modern agriculture, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, cultural tourism, and smart ocean systems.

　　For enterprises, the challenges are divided into three categories: Industry Foundation Models & Algorithms, Industry Innovation Applications, and Industry Solutions. All tracks are grounded in domestic AI platforms and approach AI integration at different levels of innovation. By doing so, they aim to meet the fragmented, complex, and diverse needs of industry adoption, driving the development of intelligent products tailored to a broad spectrum of sectors.

　　Notably, the AI Track of DCIC 2025 has also established a dedicated investment review panel composed of leading venture capital firms, industrial investors, and domain experts.

　　During the finals, once AI projects are completed and launched, a panel of professional investors will provide expert evaluations and guidance. Promising innovations will receive support in funding, market integration, and commercialization services, accelerating the transformation of technological breakthroughs into real-world business applications.

　　Experts note that from the provision of indigenous computing power to the design of challenge-driven innovation and eventual commercialization, the contest—along with Fuzhou’s homegrown AI ecosystem—offers participants end-to-end support. Behind this lies Fuzhou’s sustained commitment to strengthening its independent AI ecosystem and building a complete industry value chain.

　　Fuzhou’s AI Ecosystem Shows Tangible Results: Insights from the DCIC

　　The true significance of the DCIC extends far beyond competition. By bringing venture capital institutions into the judging panel, the organizing committee has established a closed-loop system that connects technology, capital, and industry. This “support beyond the finish line” model is already producing tangible outcomes for Fuzhou’s AI ecosystem. “Building an independent ecosystem is not about replacement, but about coexistence,” noted one expert. Through a three-dimensional empowerment strategy of “computing power + challenge design + capital”, Fuzhou is not only nurturing homegrown AI talent, but also driving the deep integration of artificial intelligence with traditional industries.

　　While some cities are still caught up in the race to scale computing infrastructure, Fuzhou offers a differentiated approach: leveraging real-world applications to drive technological progress, and fostering innovation through ecosystem cultivation. The city’s AI development model mirrors the Min River that runs through it: there’s the strong current of computing power, the expansive riverbed of diverse industry scenarios, and the solid levees formed by policy, capital, and talent collaboration.

　　In recent weeks, a wave of AI-related good news has emerged from Fuzhou: This year’s Digital China Summit will showcase even more digital experience zones and application scenarios, including humanoid robot greeters, robotic dog flash mobs, and other AI-driven interactive experiences. An increasing number of immersive AI applications are being set up across the city, allowing citizens to engage with digital innovation firsthand. Fuzhou University recently launched an AI support platform based on the DeepSeek-R1 large model, introducing a range of campus-specific intelligent agents. Fuzhou-based company Star-Net has unveiled a private AI computing appliance powered by DeepSeek, offering robust AI capabilities to support the intelligent transformation of industries nationwide.