Alibaba to Establish Regional Hub in Chongqing, Co-Building 'Smart Chongqing' Powered by City Brain

On January 11, Chen Min’er, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, and Tang Liangzhi, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Acting Mayor, met with Jack Ma, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group.

Municipal leaders Wu Cunrong and Wang Xiangang, Ant Financial Services Group Chairperson Peng Lei, Alibaba Group Technical Committee Chairman Wang Jian, Vice Presidents Hu Xiaoming and Wen Jia, and others attended the meeting.

Tang Liangzhi stated that Chongqing is striving to build a nationally significant intelligent industry base, a first-tier smart application demonstration city, and a pioneering demonstration zone for the digital economy. He expressed hope that Alibaba and Ant Financial would deepen their cooperation with Chongqing to jointly create a “Smart Chongqing” based on the “City Data Brain,” and collaboratively forge a bright future in the era of big data and intelligence.

Jack Ma stated that Chongqing is vibrant and holds broad prospects. We look forward to our cooperation with Chongqing and are confident in its future. Alibaba Group will focus on strengthening collaboration with Chongqing in areas such as modern finance, modern logistics, and modern innovation hubs, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

That afternoon, Chongqing Municipality signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Alibaba Group and Ant Financial Group to promote the innovative development of big data and artificial intelligence.

Under the agreement, Alibaba will establish a regional center in Chongqing to build a “Smart Chongqing” based on the “City Brain,” and deeply apply cutting-edge technologies such as big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence across three key areas: economic development, social governance, and public services.

It is reported that the two parties will deepen cooperation in the three major areas of economic development, social governance, and public livelihood services, jointly building a "Smart Chongqing" based on the "City Data Brain."

1. Lead economic transformation and upgrading with big data intelligence.Alibaba Venture Capital, in partnership with the Nan’an District Government and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), established the Feixiang Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Platform in Chongqing. Alibaba Cloud, together with its ecosystem partners, built an Industrial Internet Cloud Platform in Chongqing to drive the innovative development of the industrial internet. The collaboration also extends to innovation in areas such as intelligent connected vehicles, big data for the pig industry, new retail, financial cloud services, big data talent development, and new foreign trade.

2. Leverage big data and intelligence to enhance the level of public services.Alibaba Group and Ant Financial Group will help accelerate Chongqing’s construction of projects such as the “City Data Brain,” “Mobile Payment City,” “Deposit-Free City,” and the medical and health big data application platform, and carry out pilot cooperation on food safety big data.

3. Leverage big data and artificial intelligence to enhance social governance capabilities.Alibaba Group and Ant Financial will help accelerate Chongqing’s development of “Internet+” government services, smart online government platforms, and cloud-based service platforms for government procurement via the Internet, while exploring the implementation of the “Ant Forest + Poverty Alleviation” model in Chongqing.

At the signing ceremony, Alibaba Group and Ant Financial also entered into strategic cooperation agreements with multiple departments and entities, including the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Transport, the Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, the Municipal State Tax Bureau, the Municipal Local Taxation Bureau, Liangjiang New Area, Nan’an District, Rongchang District, Chongqing University, and Panda Car Sharing. The parties will deepen their collaboration in areas such as intelligent transportation, smart taxation, healthcare and wellness, and big data talent development.

Key Highlights of This Signing Partnership

Alibaba Group will establish the “Intelligent Chongqing Center” in Chongqing, exporting cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence to fully integrate into the city’s intelligent development initiatives—spanning from the internet sector to the real economy, from rural areas to urban centers, and from online to offline operations.

Alibaba Group will establish its regional headquarters in the Liangjiang New Area Service Trade Industrial Park and set up the “Smart Chongqing” Center. Alibaba Health will work closely with the Chongqing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission to create a new model of “Smart + Healthcare” services. Alibaba Cloud will collaborate with Chongqing University to jointly establish a “School of Big Data and Software,” offering educational programs and training in big data. Alibaba Group will partner with automotive manufacturers such as Lifan and Changan to develop intelligent connected vehicle products and build platforms for intelligent connectivity and shared mobility.

In the future, Alibaba will leverage artificial intelligence to assist Chongqing—the “Mountain City”—in designing and scheduling its public transportation networks, thereby alleviating urban congestion. Cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI technologies will integrate Chongqing’s “neural network,” enabling comprehensive real-time analysis of the entire city and automated allocation of public resources, thus establishing Chongqing as a benchmark for intelligent urban governance.