What happened
A People's Daily commentary recalls an interview in Guangzhou's Haizhu district, where an official spoke excitedly about the local AI industry. Revenue from vertical large language models grew from 10 million yuan to 100 million yuan to 1 billion yuan between 2023 and 2025.
The commentary credits Guangzhou's eight years of steady work, beginning with plans laid in 2018, and links the city's rise to similar stories in Hefei's new materials push, Chengdu's film hub, and Hangzhou's 'six little dragons.'
It also points to Shenzhen's composed approach to embodied-intelligence competition, Hefei's long-running nuclear fusion efforts, Chengdu-made animation, and Beijing's expanding biomedicine network as examples of patient industrial cultivation.
Why it matters
The piece argues that a rich industrial 'spring garden' is not an accident. It grows from strategic foresight, honest assessment of local capabilities, and persistence through difficult stages rather than impulsive chasing of trends.
The message is relevant for policymakers and investors alike: sustainable industrial ecosystems come from enabling conditions where both small niche players and large leaders can flourish together.
Key facts
Haizhu district's vertical large language model revenue rose from 10 million yuan to 100 million yuan to 1 billion yuan between 2023 and 2025.
Guangzhou began planning its AI strategy in 2018 and, after eight years, saw its industry enter the first tier.
The commentary cites Hefei's new materials sector, Chengdu's film industry, Hangzhou's 'six little dragons,' Shenzhen's embodied intelligence, and Beijing's biomedicine transformation as parallel cases.
What to watch next
Whether more cities adopt a 'step back, aim higher' approach when new technology waves emerge.
Whether regional industrial borders continue to dissolve, as seen in Beijing's R&D-to-manufacturing links with Tianjin and Hebei.
Whether patient ecosystem-building becomes a more common measure of success than short-term investment headlines.