This Beijing hub is home to 10 major AI labs driving China’s tech ambitions
- Zhongguancun has 9,000 hi-tech companies
- These include Chinese search engine and AI champion Baidu and social media giant Sina Corp
Zhongguancun is often referred to as China’s equivalent to Silicon Valley, thanks to its heritage as an innovation hub encompassing the country’s top two universities and a number of incubation centres for start-ups.
Established 30 years ago, the area is the birthplace for some of the country’s best-known technology firms as well as China headquarters for many international players.
Today, Zhongguancun is home to about 9,000 hi-tech companies, including Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence champion Baidu, social media giant Sina Corp, as well as regional headquarters for global giants like Microsoft and Google. Nearly half of the country’s 70 unicorns – start-ups with a valuation of US$1 billion or more – are located in the area.
Zhongguancun is also at the epicentre of a wider effort by Beijing municipal authorities to encourage the development an AI industry, part of the country’s broader efforts to gain supremacy in a technology that has been called the fourth industrial revolution.
Here is a list of 10 AI labs in Zhongguancun (in alphabetical order).
1. Baidu Research
Situated inside Baidu Technology Park in the northwest of Beijing’s Haidian district, the centre is the heart of the company’s research and development efforts in AI, complemented by similar facilities in Silicon Valley and Seattle.