Zhuhai well on path to modeling new kind of Smart City

A modern international, future-oriented ecological digitized Zhuhai model is to be completed by 2025 under the recently released 14th Five-Year Plan for Zhuhai to Become a New-Type "Smart City."

The plan states that policy, location, ecology, and cultural advantages as well as technology, data, labor, and capital resources position Zhuhai as an internationalized digital infrastructure demonstration zone. It is to model digitalized urban governance, digital life experience for all residents, new digital economy on the west bank of Pearl River Estuary, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao digital cooperation.

Envisioned by 2025 is improved digital infrastructure, wide variety of "smart" applications, digital governance, efficient online government services, inclusive digital public services, optimized soft environment for the digital economy, and closer cross-border digital cooperation.

5G Smart Government Remote Office in Zhuhai[Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

The new-type digital infrastructure will function under a "smart brain" powered by new-generation big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology. Numerous "smart" applications will tap into urban governance, livelihood service, digital economy, and cooperation.

Zhuhai currently leads the province in communication network infrastructure. Local optical fiber access reached a rate of 165.6 percent by the end of 2020, ranking first in Guangdong. All villages and major islands with more than 20 households are covered by optic fiber and 4G networks. Moreover, there are 6,590 5G base stations in the city and a dedicated channel for international internet data transmission in Hengqin.

In terms of Digital Government, more than 170 provincial, municipal, and district departments are integrated into an e-government extranet. The Zhuhai node of the Guangdong Government Affairs Data Center is active and the city is integrated into the Guangdong Government Cloud. Many local government affairs are processed online.

Revenue of the local integrated circuit design industry increased by 28.1 percent to 8.65 billion yuan ($1.34 billion) by the end of 2020. This was backed by 10 enterprises with operating revenue of more than 1 billion yuan ($155 million). Industrial sales ranked second in the Pearl River Delta and ninth in the country. Operating revenue of software and information technology service sectors increased by 4.4 percent year on year to 79.62 billion yuan ($12.3 billion).