Guangxi AI enhances trade, farming, education

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.

The livestock and fishery industries are also experiencing a technological overhaul. Guangxi Yangxiang Group has developed an intelligent management system for pig farms that integrates AI visual recognition and precise feeding, allowing a single worker to manage 4,000 pigs.

In the border city of Dongxing, mangrove shrimp farming bases are employing AI water quality monitoring algorithms, enabling high-density breeding that yields 20 times the output of traditional methods while saving 90 percent of water resources.

To maximize the efficiency of these technologies, Guangxi has introduced innovative service models. A regional agricultural machinery platform uses satellite navigation and AI to match farmers with available equipment, facilitating operations across more than 620,000 mu of farmland.

In Qinzhou, an AI drone inspection model for lychee orchards has slashed planting costs by 700 yuan per mu. Furthermore, Guangxi has established a comprehensive digital supervision system covering 81,000 agricultural entities and a big data anti-poverty platform that dynamically monitors over 6.15 million people, shifting from manual to intelligent early warnings.

These proven agricultural technologies are increasingly finding a market in ASEAN economies. For instance, the Tudi AI model, which has been adapted to support the Vietnamese language, can generate pest control solutions within three seconds and has already been deployed in 30 smart agriculture projects across ASEAN.

To complement this booming digital and agricultural trade, Guangxi is heavily investing in smart border infrastructure to facilitate the physical movement of goods across the China-ASEAN corridor. At Youyiguan Port in Pingxiang, cutting-edge technologies have significantly enhanced cross-border logistics efficiency.

Recent data highlight the port's growing role as a crucial logistics hub. In the first eight months, total import and export value reached 513.6 billion yuan, marking a 31.2 percent year-on-year increase. The port imported 894,000 metric tons of fruit from ASEAN economies valued at 19.27 billion yuan.

Durian imports alone reached 620,000 tons, meaning two out of every five imported durians in the Chinese market now pass through this vital land corridor. On the export side, the port handles a diverse array of goods destined for ASEAN markets, ranging from intermediate goods like liquid crystal display modules and integrated circuits to consumer items.

To handle this massive influx of trade, customs authorities have implemented an intelligent inspection auxiliary system that automatically dispatches vehicles and manages queues. Drivers process procedures entirely online, which has reduced waiting times by 20 percent and boosted overall clearance efficiency by 40 percent. To ensure the rapid entry of imported fresh fruits, localized laboratories have slashed testing times from up to five days to under 36 hours, with a newly operational lab in Chongzuo doubling its daily sample testing capacity.

The port is also constructing a smart freight channel utilizing satellite navigation and 5G technology, with an estimated investment of 1.06 billion yuan. Designed to handle up to 2,880 containers daily, the facility features unmanned vehicles that transport containers through automated gates directly into transfer zones.

While AI is revolutionizing physical industries and cross-border logistics, sustaining this rapid economic transformation requires a robust pipeline of future-oriented talent. Consequently, the wave of AI-powered innovation is simultaneously reshaping the educational landscape across the broader region, ensuring that the workforce of tomorrow is equipped to maintain this digital momentum.

In remote areas where complex terrain limits educational resources, AI-powered smart classroom systems are becoming a game-changer. By utilizing teaching tablets and large interactive screens, educators can assign exercises and receive instant submissions. The systems analyze the results using big data, enabling teachers to identify students' weaknesses quickly and deliver tailored instructions.

Beyond basic classroom instruction, AI also enriches students' extracurricular experiences. At Tsinghua University Primary School, students participate in AI-assisted physical activities during break times, using hand gestures to activate smart sports equipment that tracks their exercise routines.

Furthermore, AI is making a significant impact on higher education and research. As tools like the Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek gain popularity, researchers at institutions such as Renmin University of China are using them to process massive datasets, design projects and collate literature.

Recognizing this paradigm shift, Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng announced plans on AI education in 2025. Consequently, primary and secondary schools in Beijing will soon offer at least eight class hours of AI instruction per academic year.

To ensure a sustainable digital future, Tang Liang, deputy director of the information center at the Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, emphasized the importance of establishing comprehensive policies on AI usage. By strengthening technological oversight and ethics education, the sector aims to guarantee that technological advancement goes hand in hand with ethical responsibility, paving the way for a healthy and robust AI ecosystem.