The 17th China Smart City Conference opened in Changsha on July 18. A number of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) attended.

The conference was themed "accelerating all-around urban digital transformation, and promoting the high-quality development of smart cities". It aimed to facilitate in-depth exchanges and discussions among governments, businesses, academia, researchers, and application field.

The conference composes of one main forum and 17 sub-forums focusing on hot topics in related industries, providing participants with a wealth of knowledge and a platform for communication.

Since the first session was held in Guangzhou in 2001, the China Smart City Conference has witnessed the process of urban digital transformation, from online administrative services to AI-assisted decision-making. The application of emerging technologies has not only enhanced intelligent and refined urban management and services, but also promoted in-depth development and synergistic layout of related industries.

At present, China's smart city construction has entered a new stage of rapid development. Statistics showed that, by the end of 2023, all cities above the sub-provincial level, 91.6% of cities at the prefectural level and above, and 65.8% of county-level cities in China have actively expressed demand for smart city projects, and have carried out practical explorations. 

In recent years, Changsha has actively seized the opportunity of digital development, promoting "digital" as the biggest drive to empower and increase efficiency of high-quality development.
Changsha's digital economy aggregate has reached 450 billion yuan, entering the rank of the "new first-tier cities for digital economy". It was the only winner of the "City Award" at the 2022 Smart City Expo World Congress, and has been honored as "China's Leading Smart City" for three consecutive years.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunantoday