The SMC: what to see at the Shanghai AI incubator visited by Xi Jinping

The Chinese president toured the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre on Tuesday to highlight the country’s vast potential in AI

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The facade of the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre. Photo: Wency Chen

Published: 10:00am, 1 May 2025

Chinese President Xi Jinping turned the spotlight on the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) development efforts during his recent tour of local incubator the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Centre (SMC).

“China boasts abundant data resources, a comprehensive industrial system, and vast market potential, providing a promising outlook for the development of AI,” Xi was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua during his visit on Tuesday.

Launched in September 2023 after just 38 days of construction, the SMC – located in Shanghai’s Xuhui district, near the Huangpu River – is focused on enterprises involved in the development of foundational AI models.

More than 100 companies have joined since the centre commenced operations, according to the SMC, showing the importance of local government support in fostering AI talent and innovation.

Foundational models, which are trained on massive data sets, provide scientists with a starting point to develop AI models and applications quickly and cost effectively. These are capable of performing a wide variety of general tasks such as understanding language, generating text and images, and conversing in natural language.

On the West Bund, the SMC’s location is known as a magnet for art lovers because of the area’s museums and galleries. Along with a trendy commercial centre that was launched last year, the incubator has become the latest attraction on the river bank.