Chengdu, capital city of south-west China’s Sichuan province, is transforming into a smart city with the development and application of information technologies such as IoT, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence.

A total of 2539 intelligent street lamps made in Chengdu were used during the Beijing Winter Olympics, demonstrating the city’s technology strength.

Developed by Chengdu-based Sichuan Huati Lighting Technology, the lamps not only provide lighting services, but are also equipped with wifi, LED panels, charging piles, photovoltaic power generation and energy storing devices. They serve multiple functions, including 5G communication, environmental monitoring and intelligent transportation.

The lamps are also in operation in Chengdu. Based on the lamps, Huati has developed a series of smart city application scenarios and services. Its smart roadside parking system has been piloted in Chengdu’s Shuangliu district, and the smart greenway system has been applied in the city’s Jincheng Greenway.

Under the municipal government’s guidance to build a Smart Chengdu, an increasing number of intelligent technology products and smart city applications have been applied, changing people’s way of production and life.

Since July 2022, the first batch of eight autopilot taxis has been in demonstrative operation at the Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park, providing citizens with an intelligent driving experience.

In Chengdu’s Xindu district, Micronet Union Technology and China Mobile have jointly built Sichuan province’s first 5G smart factory demonstration project. Through the deployment of 5G smart applications, this factory realises innovation in intelligent manufacturing.

Through the digital management mode of drone plus intelligent agriculture, the Grain & Oil Modern Agriculture Park in Dayi county provides one-stop services for farmers in terms of farm management, agricultural supply purchases and operation of agricultural machinery.

To support the construction of Chengdu’s smart city, it is improving its digital infrastructure.

The National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu, the first of its kind in western China, will contribute to Chengdu’s smart city construction with computing ability. The Chengdu Intelligent Computing Center, the largest artificial intelligence computing centre in south-west China, will support the intelligent upgrading of various industries within the city.

In July, Chengdu established a smart city perception centre. It will build a smart city perception system through perception terminals, communication networks and management platforms.