China Unicom rallies AI, manufacturing synergy to drive new industrialization at WAIC

China Unicom hosted a forum to showcase its latest push to empower new industrialization through AI at the ongoing 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai.

China Unicom Chairman Dong Xin outlined the telecom giant's threefold role: supplier of computing-network infrastructure, practitioner of application scenarios, and builder of industrial ecosystems.

According to Dong, China Unicom is advancing a new "Agent+Token+AI Cloud" model under its "six networks" strategy, strengthening next-generation communication and computing networks.

In Shanghai, it has deployed 5G private networks into manufacturing sites and operates the Lingang 10,000-card-level intelligent computing center to support industrial token creation, transmission, storage, and application.

Through its Gewu industrial internet platform and Yuanjing MaaS platform, China Unicom has connected over 14 million devices, accumulated more than 100 terabytes of industrial datasets, cultivated over 75 industrial large models, and launched over 150 intelligent agents. The company has established benchmark projects with partners including COMAC and Shanghai Electric, and will continue exploring embodied intelligence and swarm intelligence to turn tokens into tangible value.

China Unicom unveiled the upgraded Gewu Universe platform, evolving from device connectivity to a fully intelligent ecosystem, and initiated the "Gongfu Yangtze River Delta" action to integrate industrial teams across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, delivering unified solutions and services to accelerate the flow of data, models, and platform resources regionally.

Dong said China Unicom will stay focused on connectivity, computing, services, and security, creating more benchmarks to accelerate new industrialization and contribute to China's manufacturing strength.