From Shenzhen to the nation, China accelerates smart city development

In Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, smart services have become part of daily life. Drones can deliver food within 10 minutes of ordering. At hotels, robots deliver meals directly to rooms. Self-driving buses operate on fixed routes.

Shenzhen will open the world's first robot 6S shop by the end of July 2025, offering comprehensive services such as sales, maintenance and upgrades of robots. The city is also set to build a pilot "robot theater" and "robot district." 

"In the district, visitors will get to experience services, such as robot massage, robot moxibustion therapy, robot-made jianbing (Chinese crepe), robot barbecue, robot-operated pharmacies," said Zhao Bingbing, the director of Shenzhen Longgang District Artificial Intelligence (Robotics) Administration.

A pioneer in smart city development, Shenzhen was awarded the City Award at the 2024 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on November 7, 2024. Selected from among 429 candidate cities across 64 countries and regions, the city's achievement highlights China's outstanding strength and immense potential in smart city development.

The SCEWC jury committee concluded that Shenzhen demonstrates comprehensive innovation achievements and outstanding solutions across key areas, including technology, transportation, energy and environment, governance, industry and economy, livability, and inclusiveness. 

And Shenzhen is not the only smart city in China. The country has made steady progress in building smart cities over the past few years, and the impact is visible across the country.

"Currently, nearly all cities at or above the prefecture level in China have established digital urban management platforms. Many of these cities have been upgraded with smart technologies, significantly enhancing the cities' capabilities of intelligent urban governance," said Han Song, an official with China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

For instance, at a leading enterprise in new energy equipment in Huizhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, an automated warehouse operates with high efficiency. Where a workshop once required around 50 workers, it now needs only three or four, according to Duan Yajie, general manager of one of the company's subsidiaries. "The smart automated warehouse system helps save overall floor space, increases efficiency by around 40 percent, and reduces costs by about 30 percent," he told CGTN.

Chongqing's Digital Urban Operation and Governance Center in southwest China serves as the city's "urban brain," integrating previously scattered data to provide a clear view of key indicators, such as water, electricity, gas, communications, bridges, tunnels and pipelines. It enables comprehensive monitoring, analysis, and precise management across multiple sectors.

In Qingdao City in eastern China's Shandong Province, over 50 municipal departments and more than 600 units have been integrated into an intelligent command and dispatch system through the city's operation management service platform.

In Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, the combination of grid-based governance and digital empowerment has further enhanced the precision and quality of cultural and tourism services.

While focusing on building urban "central brains," cities across China are also accelerating upgrades in local communities, particularly in old urban residential areas. Smart services such as elderly care and parking are being integrated to provide residents with more precise, diverse, and timely services.