The rise of a city requires both industrial hard power and intelligent soft support.
When the calendar of 2026 is turned over halfway, Weifang, an industrial hub, will sprint towards the trillion yuan GDP target in the first year of the 15th Five Year Plan with a growth rate of 6.4% in the first quarter. On July 16th, the Shandong Province Artificial Intelligence Empowered Advanced Manufacturing Industry Integrated Chain and Fixed Chain, and the Weiyang University Empowered Trillion City Activity was held in Weifang. This is a profound questioning of the logic of urban development: in the wave of industrial transformation, how can Weifang transform the "heavy foundation" of its manufacturing industry into a "light leap" momentum? The answer lies in the two-way rush between "artificial intelligence" and "the power of universities".
The competition in the manufacturing industry is essentially a competition between efficiency and precision. Weifang has built a solid foundation with all 31 major categories of manufacturing, as well as 5 billion dollar industrial clusters including power equipment and high-end chemicals. However, in the traditional production mode, process adjustments rely on the "sharp eyes" of experienced workers, and data silos constrain the improvement of total factor productivity. This "experience driven" model has reached its ceiling in today's pursuit of ultimate efficiency.
The intervention of artificial intelligence is breaking this shackle. From Hongrun Petrochemical's "Refining Intelligent Torch Big Model" to Weichai Power's national high-quality dataset, Weifang's practice is proving that the essence of AI empowerment is a cognitive revolution: transforming implicit experience into explicit data and connecting discrete information into system intelligence. It is not simply "installing machines" in the factory, but a digital reconstruction of the entire production process and management chain.
Industrial upgrading is rooted in talent. Weifang is an educational city with a huge resource pool of 480000 students. But for a long time, the structural contradiction of "the industry lacks suitable people, and students lack suitable positions" has been a hidden pain that restricts transformation.
The activity on July 16th clearly outlined the "Weifang Plan" to solve this contradiction: "School in Factory" and "Factory Colonel" moved from concept to entity, and a group of projects such as Haomai Industrial College and Weichai Modern Industrial College signed contracts, marking the transition of school enterprise cooperation from shallow grafting in the form of "order classes" to root integration in the form of a "community of shared destiny". Talent cultivation is no longer just talk on paper, but is tempered into steel in real production scenarios.
In addition, the ten "real money and silver" policies launched by Weifang constitute a complete closed loop covering "talent introduction, talent cultivation, talent utilization, and talent retention". From a 50% bonus for enterprise investment in industrial colleges to a 30% tax credit for industry education integrated enterprises, these institutional designs reflect the clear understanding of urban leaders: talent ecology is not simply a policy pile up, but an ecological cultivation linked by shared benefits. When the laboratories of universities are directly connected to the workshops of enterprises, and when the research topics of professors originate from the pain points of production lines, the "four chain integration" of education chain, talent chain, industry chain, and innovation chain has the most solid landing point.
Moving towards a trillion dollar city is not only a leap in economic aggregate, but also a leap in urban energy level. Weifang's ambition lies not only in maintaining the "basic foundation" of the manufacturing industry, but also in creating a "new track" through the deep empowerment of artificial intelligence.
The unveiling of platforms such as the embodied intelligent robot training ground and the advanced manufacturing digital transformation Shandong base during the event sends a strong signal that Weifang is trying to upgrade artificial intelligence from an "auxiliary tool" to a "core engine" and seize its position in the future industrial landscape. The recently released Weifang City Action Plan for Empowering Industrial Development with Artificial Intelligence clearly proposes that by 2027, the core industry scale will exceed 10 billion yuan, and 2 to 3 nationally influential "Weifang samples" will be created. This reflects a strategic consciousness: in the new round of technological revolution, the key to urban competition lies in whether they can transform their industrial scene advantages into "experimental fields" and "training grounds" for the landing and application of artificial intelligence.
History never waits for those who hesitate. When algorithms enter factories and classrooms move to the front line, Weifang's trillion dollar journey is a grand narrative about "upholding integrity" and "innovation". It upholds the foundation of manufacturing industry and creates a new era of digital intelligence empowerment and talent development for the city. Although the road is far, the journey is approaching; Although things are difficult, they will be done. The path of advancement in this city may be writing a thought-provoking "Weifang answer sheet" for the future of Chinese manufacturing.
