BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - Government officials from China's eastern economic powerhouse Jiangsu highlighted plans to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure and upgrade manufacturing on Saturday, after President Xi Jinping urged the province to take the lead in developing technology-driven growth.
Jiangsu is China's second-largest provincial economy and one of its most important manufacturing and export bases.
The province generated about 14 trillion yuan ($2 trillion) in output in 2025, making
its economy larger than countries such as Spain and central to Beijing's push to sustain growth and industrial competitiveness amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions with the West.
• Jiangsu governor, Liu Xiaotao, a leader of the province's delegation to China's National People's Congress, said on Saturday the province has more than 1,500 artificial intelligence companies and ranks second nationwide in computing capacity, with 66 large AI models and 283 algorithms registered with regulators
• Wu Yonghong, a transport-sector official, said Jiangsu would deepen "AI plus" transport initiatives, developing about 50 pilot applications using AI to improve infrastructure management and logistics services
• Zheng Haitao, mayor of Jiangsu's Yangzhou, said AI was already being applied across local manufacturing, with 186 smart production lines built in sectors including automotive components and environmental equipment
• Zheng said Yangzhou was introducing incentives, including computing subsidies and AI talent programmes, to attract companies and build a local AI ecosystem
• President Xi is himself a deputy to the Jiangsu delegation and regularly joins its deliberations. Speaking to Jiangsu lawmakers on Thursday, he urged the province to lead the country in developing "new quality productive forces", Beijing's term for economic growth driven by tech innovation
• Xi's comments were further underscored on Thursday in China's 15th five-year plan, which mentioned AI over 50 times and included a detailed "AI plus" action plan aimed at embedding the technology across China's economy and society
• China's National People's Congress is attended by around 3,000 deputies from provincial and regional delegations that include officials, executives, academics, and workers. These deputies discuss and pass legislation and policy priorities during the annual parliamentary session in Beijing
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Tom Hogue)
