OPC ecosystem can help promote entrepreneurship

Editor's note: Enabled by the rapid development of artificial intelligence, one-person companies, or OPCs, are thriving in China, offering a new model of employment. Yao Jianhua, deputy dean of the School of Journalism at Fudan University, spoke to Oriental Outlook on the strengths of China's OPC sector and the challenges it faces. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

Contrary to what many people think, an OPC can involve more than one person. Depending on local policies across different cities in China, an OPC can have up to 20 employees in it.

The most important feature of an OPC is its approach to business. It is a smart model that is built on AI and involves collaboration between software and hardware.

The core competitive edge of an OPC lies in its founders' deep understanding of users' needs and market demands.

The OPCs which are able to identify unmet demands and leverage their technological capabilities to meet these demands are more likely to succeed in the competition.

Cities across China have established OPC communities to support the development of this new business model. Typical examples include the Zero Cube community in the Lin-gang Special Area in Shanghai, the ZGC AI North Latitude Hub in Beijing, and the Dagongfang AI hardware OPC hub in Bao'an district, Shenzhen.

These communities serve as platforms for OPC entrepreneurs to build connections, convert social networks into commercial resources and engage in flexible collaboration.

However, a lack of sufficient application scenarios remains a prominent challenge for the growth of OPCs. Some cities treat the local OPC community merely as a coworking space and a tool to attract investment, without offering enough opportunities for companies to deploy their products in the real world.

Also, although AI technology has lowered the threshold for individuals to start a business, OPC founders are predominantly young talents with specialized technical expertise, high academic credentials and work experience in tech firms or research institutions. A large number of ordinary workers still lack proficiency in AI tools and awareness of digital entrepreneurship. This might lead to the digital divide and imbalanced development, undermining the inclusive innovation that OPCs aim to promote.

Other challenges include heightened operational and financial risks for OPC founders who run their companies all by themselves, and security loopholes caused by the use of AI agents.

The government and the market should work together to promote the sound development of OPCs. Local authorities could formulate special policies aligned with the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), and roll out measures tailored to local industrial strengths.

They should refine rules for OPC governance and address regulatory loopholes, improve financial services to ease OPC founders' burdens, and build cross-regional public computing power platforms to provide low-cost and inclusive computing resources.

OPC communities should also focus on local industries and resources and upgrade their services. They should not only provide workspace and computing power for OPCs, but also offer other services, including matching demand with supply and promoting industrial collaboration.

To prevent the digital divide, local authorities should cooperate with tech enterprises, universities and industry associations to offer customized AI training courses to different groups of people, thus lowering the barriers to digital entrepreneurship.

Regulators should adopt an inclusive and prudent governance approach, using tools such as regulatory sandboxes to allow for experimentation and learning in OPC operations.