Insights from my visit to “Nan A” Centre for China-ASEAN industrial collaboration.
When your host’s introduction links “the research capacity of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (GBA) to be value-added to in Guangxi, and then applied to industrial applications in ASEAN”, you know someone’s getting serious about the ‘real economy’ application of AI. (北上广研发+广西集成+东盟应用 – “广西集成”).
Then, when you realise where your’e standing was an empty lot 18 months ago, and the construction of the 20,000m2 state-of-the-art ai facility was completed in just 90 days!, you kind of get the gist that this is not just another digital showroom soiree. AI is a big deal.
Nan A supercomputing Centre and ASEAN AI Collaboration Hub Nanning
Stepping through the 1/2 dozen halls showcasing the current practical applications of AI in industry, this new “Digital Silk Road”(数字丝绸之路 ) really hits home.
“A closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future”.
Leveraging Guangxi Autonomous Regions Natural Advantage
The idea for Guangxi to be the ‘first stop’ for ASEAN countries to conduct artificial intelligence co-operation with China stems from Guangxi’s unique geographical advantages
- Guangxi’s Beibu Bay is a major throughport into the South China Sea
- A gateway to the Southwest of China
- Next door to Guangdong, Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA)
- Neighbouring Vietnam, facing Southeast Asia
- Multilingual and Multicultural
Strategic positioning
Guangxi’s new (2026-2030) 15th Five-Year Plan sets out consolidating the region as a strategic “land-sea, mountain-sea, river-sea, border-sea connection”, and to promote high-quality marine economic development.
The combination of artificial intelligence and the blue economy is a reflection of Guangxi’s pursuit of a differentiated development path.
As a western coastal province, Guangxi has to compete extra hard against more well-known 1st-tier cities to the East and North.
Even since my visit in December neighbouring Hainan Island Province just launched its uber-competitive island-wide Free Trade Zone Policies.
Guangxi ZAR has chosen to utilise its location proximity to ASEAN as a core strength and is doubling down on it.
An keen Eye on AI
With an eye on future trends, a couple of year’s back Guangxi’s Government focussed on the emerging field of artificial intelligence applied to industry (the real economy). From the establishment of a special task force to the intensive introduction of new policies to accelerate high-quality development, Guangxi has demonstrated its determination to not only catch up, but to lead.
The impressive new Nan A Centre sits within a whole new planned district (Wuxiang), South of the Yong River, in the Southeast of Nanning. Expressway to airport, (with now a 3rd Terminal under construction), the city has high-speed rail, metro links, expressways, yada, yada.
The Centre sits within a newly designated 8 km2 economic development zone in Nanning.
Multiple branch centres are being established in ASEAN countries and cities in Mainland China.
The Centre is the core carrier for Guangxi to build a bridge of AI cooperation oriented to ASEAN and at the China-ASEAN Expo in September this year, (which is DEFS worth a visit), the Centre announced 51 new projects, with 16 led with ASEAN countries.
So as not to feel too special they also shared that since their opening in July 2025 they had hosted 48 delegations, 1,180 people, from 10 ASEAN countries and other foreign countries.
Next door, the “Wuxiang Cloud Valley AI Intelligent Computing Industrial Park”, has been built with 5000 Pflops already, scaling to 40000 P. ( BTW, Australia has 80!)
When fully completed, this will be a huge computing hub radiating across ASEAN.
This article is an exert from Anthony Coles Advancing the Green Economy series of informative and highly detailed Green & Blue Economy research from China, where Anthony is based. Read the Full Article.
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