Chengdu's Allure Through the Lens of the APEC Digital Week
From 16 to 29 July, the 2026 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting, along with a series of other events in the Digital Week, is being held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. This event not only serves as an important platform for advancing digital and AI exchange and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, but also acts as a window showcasing Chengdu’s innovation vitality.
According to the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, the event organiser, the Digital Week features various activities centred on four pillars: AI innovation, an exhibition of industrial achievements, the promotion of Tianfu culture, and economic and trade cooperation. These efforts aim to leverage the momentum of the meeting to drive high-quality growth in Chengdu’s manufacturing and digital economy sectors, while further strengthening its image as a digital, intelligent, and world-class city.
Why Chengdu? The answer lies in the strategic need to expand the Asia-Pacific digital economy footprint into the western region. For years, digital cooperation in the Asia-Pacific has been heavily concentrated in developed coastal areas. The fact that this meeting is being held for the first time in China’s interior represents a significant step in the regional cooperation landscape. By leveraging the national ‘Eastern Data, Western Computing’ project, Chengdu has developed secure and resilient digital infrastructure, equipping the city with the capacity to host high-level multilateral dialogues. This geographical shift from the ‘coastal frontline’ to the ‘interior heartland’ offers new coordinates and broader cooperation space, while promoting more balanced development and shared digital benefits across the Asia-Pacific region.
Chengdu also offers an ideal window into China’s innovation vitality in the digital sector. Historically, global perception of western China was largely limited to its natural resources, while its rapidly growing innovation capabilities received less attention. In 2025, Chengdu’s industrial enterprises above a designated size recorded operating revenue of 1.79 trillion yuan. The city has built two trillion-yuan industrial clusters in electronic information and equipment manufacturing, as well as 11 major industrial chains each with an output value exceeding 100 billion yuan, including artificial intelligence and aerospace. Chengdu has built over 80,000 5G base stations and formed a layered computing infrastructure system integrating ‘supercomputing, intelligent computing, general-purpose computing, and edge computing’, bringing its total computing capacity to over 20,000P. Meanwhile, the core AI industry in Chengdu has surpassed a scale of 150 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of approximately 39%. The city also ranked in the top tier as a ‘leading city’ in the China City AI Index Report.
Driven by the electronic information, AI, and digital cultural and creative industries, the added value of Chengdu’s core digital economy sector now accounts for over 15% of the city’s GDP. The Chengdu-produced animated film Ne Zha 2 set a new record in Chinese cinema history with box office revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan, serving as a benchmark for the integration of science and industry in Chengdu’s digital cultural and creative sector.
The ability to transform digital and intelligent technologies into tangible productivity improvements represents a form of ‘certainty’ that the recovering global economy urgently needs. For APEC economies, Chengdu offers not only market opportunities but also systematic solutions for technology application and multi-scenario validation.
Furthermore, Chengdu’s distinctive cultural charm and its open, inclusive city character add a human touch to what could be rigid technical exchanges. With a dual-airport aviation hub connecting the city to the world and an innovation ecosystem that embraces the global community, Chengdu embodies the principles of openness and cooperation in real practice. Through concrete actions, the city presents the Chengdu approach to connecting the world in the digital age.
Located in southwestern China, Chengdu is a major economic, cultural, and transportation hub for the country’s western region. With a history spanning over 2,300 years, the city is known worldwide for the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, giant pandas, and its cuisine. With a permanent population of over 21 million, Chengdu is served by two international 4F-class airports connecting it to destinations around the globe. In this city, ancient temples stand alongside financial, science, and technology districts, where tradition and modernity coexist harmoniously. Chengdu is a city that captivates visitors so much that they never want to leave.