The inaugural AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference took place from June 29 to 30 in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, focusing on the emerging concept of one-person companies (OPCs) as a new form of smart economy in the AI era. The event, which drew around 400 delegates from government departments, industry associations, financial institutions, AI enterprises, and OPC startup operators across the country, aimed to foster innovation pathways and cross-industry integration strategies. This gathering is expected to significantly boost Hangzhou's ambition to become a national benchmark hub for AI+OPC entrepreneurship.
The conference program included an opening ceremony and two parallel breakout sessions. During the opening segment, several key launches and milestone ceremonies took place. Official releases included the 2026 national OPC development observation report, Hangzhou's 2026–2028 action plan and supporting policies to build a national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub, and a catalog of actionable AI+OPC application scenarios. Attendees also received an in-depth interpretation of the specifications for AI-enabled OPC community services and evaluation.
Multiple landmark initiatives were announced, including plaque awarding for Hangzhou's priority AI+OPC incubation communities and dedicated observation sites, the official launch of the AI+OPC Community Alliance initiative, and a kickoff marking the official construction of the national AI+OPC entrepreneurship hub. These steps are designed to create a supportive ecosystem for OPCs, which are seen as a vibrant engine for economic vitality and high-quality development.
The open forum session featured keynote speeches from distinguished industry and academic leaders, including Pan Yunhe, former executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Zhejiang University; Liang Gui, former executive vice governor of Jiangxi Province and ex-director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and Zou Ling, head of Hong Hub, Shangcheng District's single-member unicorn startup acceleration community. They shared cutting-edge insights from varied perspectives.
A panel dialogue followed, bringing together representatives from Moshu OPC Community (Beijing E-Town), the School of Future Science and Engineering at Soochow University, Qingju Hub · Future Digital Intelligence Port (Shangcheng District), and Puhua Capital for in-depth industry exchanges. Concurrent events included an OPC capital-industry matchmaking salon, a symposium on industry-education integration for AI-powered OPC sectors, and a national exchange forum for AI+OPC community practitioners.
OPC has emerged as a vibrant new engine driving economic vitality and underpinning high-quality development. Against the backdrop of a new development era, the inaugural Hangzhou AI+OPC Innovation and Development Conference united OPC innovators nationwide. Drawing on the creative energy of millions of independent super-individual operators, the event delivered sustained digital momentum to fuel Hangzhou's super-individual economy, while rolling out replicable local practices and actionable Hangzhou solutions to advance high-quality growth of smart economies nationwide.
