Emergence of Smart Economy: Expanding Growth Opportunities in Q1 Economic Trends

On April 28, 2026, the Beijing branch of Xinhua News Agency reported on the rapid emergence of a new form of intelligent economy, emphasizing its importance in expanding growth opportunities. As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to unlock the potential of traditional industries, it simultaneously fuels innovation in emerging and future sectors.

This year, the government highlighted the goal of creating a new model for the intelligent economy, marking AI as a crucial factor contributing to high-quality economic growth.

Emerging Technologies and New Models

During the 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, over a hundred humanoid robot teams participated. Notably, many of these robots demonstrated autonomous navigation capabilities, achieving results that surpassed human limits.

The racecourse reflects a significant industrial transformation. Zhao Wen, a senior engineer specializing in humanoid control algorithms at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, noted that last year’s competition required human pilots to assist the robots, relying on external interventions in complex conditions. In contrast, this year, several companies’ robots successfully completed the entire course independently, thanks to advancements in embodied intelligence.

This year’s trends further underscore the vitality of new, intelligent models and business formats. The AI video generation model Seedance 2.0 gained global popularity, while OpenClaw sparked a “lobster farming” craze, and the concept of “one-person companies” quietly emerged across various regions. The ability of intelligent agents to drive explosive growth in large model applications has also significantly increased the consumption of tokens.

By March of this year, the average daily token usage in China exceeded 140 trillion, marking a more than 1000-fold increase from 100 billion at the beginning of 2024. This new economic paradigm, termed “token economy,” is rapidly taking shape around metrics, utilization, accounting, and value conversion related to tokens.

During interviews, frontline enterprises expressed their strategic focus on seizing opportunities within the token economy. For example, Zhongke Shuguang recently launched its first wireless super node, scaleX40, which can significantly enhance token output capability in typical inference scenarios. Additionally, the three major telecommunications operators are transitioning from “traffic management” to “token management.”

According to Zhu Guang, a senior engineer at the China Industrial Internet Research Institute, “the new intelligent models and business formats represent a novel economic paradigm birthed by intelligent technology, with their output, employment, innovation density, and business model transformations directly reflecting the original value of the intelligent economy.” He emphasized that upcoming sectors such as model services, computing power scheduling, data operations, and applications of intelligent agents will form the core links in the transformation of intelligent economic value and business cycles.

Building a Strong Green Engine for Computing Power

The scale and efficiency of computing power are pivotal in determining the pace of intelligent economic development. This year’s government report emphasized implementing large-scale intelligent computing clusters and strengthening nationwide integrated computing power monitoring and scheduling.

Both policy and industry sectors are actively promoting a shift toward sustainable and innovative computing power, establishing a robust engine for intelligent economic growth.

In the vibrant spring season, the China Mobile (Gansu, Qingyang) data center park has implemented a green electricity aggregation and direct supply scheme, continuously delivering clean energy to the data center. This initiative transforms “watts” into “bits,” creating a model for economic growth driven by green energy.

According to Yu Zhiwei, deputy general manager of the computing power division at China Mobile Gansu, “The park is equipped with a 200,000-kilowatt wind and solar green energy base, with green energy accounting for over 80%.” He noted that one petaflop of computing power can save millions in electricity costs annually, showcasing a market-driven and sustainable cost advantage.

Simultaneously, China’s largest scientific intelligent computing cluster has been operational at the national supercomputing internet core node in Zhengzhou, Henan. The Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center is also being established, focusing on space-based AI chips to promote “computing power in space.” The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is conducting research on computing power and electricity collaboration policies and standards to expedite the integration of source networks and green energy.

As of the end of March, China’s intelligent computing power scale reached 1882 EFLOPS, with over 70 major computing power channels established to enhance connectivity in the computing power “highway.”

More policy initiatives are expected to further propel the systematic and high-quality development of the computing power industry. The National Data Bureau will vigorously advance the computing power and electricity collaboration project, aiming to ensure that new computing facilities at hub nodes utilize over 80% green energy. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will support pioneering research in space computing technology and explore innovative services such as “computing power banks” and “computing power supermarkets” to lower the barriers and costs for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Stimulating a Chain Reaction for High-Quality Development

The reciprocal relationship between innovation and market demand is becoming increasingly evident, generating a chain reaction that drives high-quality development.

According to Gao Yingmiao, deputy director of the Informationization and Software Industry Research Institute at the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute, “The demand for ‘artificial intelligence+’ is rapidly transmitting through the intelligent industry chain, with its driving effects becoming more pronounced.” In the first quarter, value added in sectors directly associated with AI production and application saw significant growth: electronic materials manufacturing increased by 32.5%, integrated circuit manufacturing by 49.4%, and intelligent equipment manufacturing by 16.9%, extending further upstream to provide raw materials and energy support in the chemical and power industries.

From enhanced industrial quality inspections to precision agriculture, from remote diagnostics in smart healthcare to efficient logistics, the intelligent economy is opening new avenues for development across various sectors.

Looking ahead, the National Development and Reform Commission plans to expand effective investments in “artificial intelligence+” infrastructure and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology aims to release a series of high-value “artificial intelligence+” scenarios, exploring typical applications and building a range of specialized intelligent agents and new intelligent terminals. The National Data Bureau will continue to empower AI innovation with data, implementing a new round of high-quality data set construction initiatives. These efforts will further transform AI technological advantages into industrial and market benefits.

Gao Yingmiao concluded that the current development of the intelligent economy is multi-faceted, with China benefiting from policy support, a comprehensive industrial system, robust digital infrastructure, and an enormous market. The new form of intelligent economy is poised to foster emerging industrial pathways, reshape production factor structures, and empower traditional industries to upgrade, becoming a critical force in cultivating new productive capacities and facilitating high-quality development.