South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is rapidly emerging as a pivotal hub for artificial intelligence integration, leveraging its geographic proximity to Southeast Asia to export advanced digital infrastructure and transform traditional industries.
By establishing cross-border computing networks and applying AI to sectors ranging from agriculture to logistics, the region is reshaping the economic landscape of the China-ASEAN corridor. At the forefront of this digital expansion is Runjian Co Ltd, a technology enterprise that recently secured a landmark $200 million overseas order for its AI token services.
In an exclusive interview, Zhao Hua, vice-president of Runjian, noted that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations share immense complementary potential in the AI sector. While China possesses a mature industrial ecosystem and large-scale model capabilities, ASEAN members offer vast market demand as their enterprises upgrade from basic digitalization to intelligent applications, particularly in new energy, manufacturing and agriculture, Zhao said.
To meet this demand, Runjian has pioneered a cross-border digital service delivery model. Through its Wuxiang Yungu Token Factory in Nanning, the regional capital, computing resources are deployed domestically while overseas clients initiate large-model reasoning requests via open application programming interfaces. Clients are billed based on the actual number of tokens consumed.
Zhao pointed out that the facility integrates green energy, 800-volt high-voltage direct current and micro-channel liquid cooling technologies, reducing overall costs by more than 20 percent and boosting capacity by 700 percent. Currently, the factory handles a throughput of 200 billion tokens per hour, with a medium-term target of 2 trillion.
Benefiting from Nanning's approval in 2026 as one of China's pilot cities for international data cooperation, Runjian is actively promoting cross-border data processing. The company now boasts over 240 overseas employees and has delivered more than 80 computing and data center projects across ASEAN. Zhao emphasized their development path: leveraging research and development from top-tier Chinese cities, integrating systems in Guangxi and deploying applications in ASEAN.
This seamless cross-border data flow is supported by Guangxi's robust telecommunications infrastructure. The Nanning International Communications Gateway boasts 15 cross-border optical cables, ensuring a low latency of 20 to 30 milliseconds to major ASEAN nodes like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Beyond token services, Runjian recently signed six ASEAN computing network infrastructure projects worth over 250 million yuan ($37.5 million), ranging from upgrading traditional data centers in Indonesia to providing comprehensive security systems in Malaysia.
Guangxi's AI ambitions extend far beyond exporting computing power; the region is actively utilizing intelligent technologies to revolutionize its own traditional sectors, creating successful models that are now being introduced to neighboring countries.
In the agricultural sector, production is shifting from relying on weather conditions to data-driven management. In Chongzuo, the country's first smart sugarcane farm utilizes Internet of Things monitoring and intelligent irrigation systems to increase land utilization to 95 percent while cutting water and fertilizer consumption by over 20 percent. Similarly, in Hengzhou, a major jasmine production base, 180,000 mu (12,000 hectares) of flower fields have been integrated into a digital platform. Farmers can now use a mobile application to photograph their crops, allowing an AI system to diagnose pests and diseases with 99 percent accuracy.
