Author | Yuan Fang For more financial information | BT Finance Data Pass The main text contains 2,831 characters and is estimated to take 9 minutes to read.

Behind the 'Five-Trillion-Yuan City' lies Beijing's quiet rise and steadfast position as China's AI Capital.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics released economic data for 2025, revealing that the city's gross regional product (GDP) reached RMB 5,207.34 billion, up 5.4% year-on-year, marking a historic entry into the 'five-trillion-yuan club.' Beijing has not only set a new economic benchmark but also showcased remarkable momentum in new quality productivity amid structural transformation. The most striking achievement is its quiet rise and steadfast position as China's AI Capital.

For a long time, Hangzhou and Shenzhen have been widely regarded as the twin engines of China's AI development: the former has nurtured large models such as Tongyi Qianwen through Alibaba's ecosystem, while the latter has incubated numerous AI unicorns by leveraging its hardware manufacturing and capital vitality. However, as generative AI enters the deep waters of industrialization, Beijing has unexpectedly built an AI ecosystem that is difficult to replicate, thanks to its fourfold advantages in talent density, scientific research depth, industrial concentration, and policy height, becoming the true 'heart of China's AI.'

1

Behind the 'Five Trillion Yuan': Technology Services as the Core Engine

Beijing's GDP surpassing five trillion yuan was not driven by traditional industrial expansion or real estate but by robust support from high-end services and the digital economy. Data shows that in 2025, the added value of Beijing's tertiary sector reached RMB 4,477.69 billion, accounting for 86.0% of GDP and growing 5.8% year-on-year, far outpacing overall growth. High-tech services, including information transmission, software, IT services, scientific research, and technical services, made particularly outstanding contributions.

This structural feature provides a natural foundation for the development of the AI industry. Unlike manufacturing-based cities that rely on hardware shipments, Beijing's economic growth logic has shifted to a closed loop of 'knowledge creation—technology transfer—service output.' AI, as a typical intelligence-intensive industry, relies heavily on high-quality data, algorithmic talent, and computing infrastructure throughout its entire lifecycle of R&D, training, deployment, and application—all of which are abundantly available in Beijing.

More critically, Beijing's 'five trillion yuan' milestone is not an isolated figure but forms a positive cycle with the scale of its AI industry. According to official statistics, in 2025, the scale of Beijing's core AI industries approached RMB 350 billion, with 2,400 related enterprises, both accounting for about 50% of the national total. This means that for every RMB 15 of Beijing's GDP, RMB 1 comes directly from the core AI industry; when considering the indirect contributions of AI-empowered finance, healthcare, government services, education, and other sectors, its economic impact is even more significant.

If Hangzhou defined the early form of AI through e-commerce scenarios and Shenzhen through hardware manufacturing, Beijing is defining the future height of AI with a complete innovation chain of 'basic research—technological breakthroughs—industrial implementation.'

Beijing boasts a high concentration of top talent, forming a 'global hub for AI scholars.' Within a few square kilometers centered around Zhongguancun, Tsinghua Science Park, and Raycom InfoTech Park, there are 41 universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Beihang University; 206 national-level research institutes, such as the Institute of Automation and the Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and 67 national key laboratories. Such density is extremely rare globally. Data shows that Beijing is home to 148 scholars ranked in the global top 2,000 in AI, accounting for 40% of the national total and far surpassing other cities. These scholars are not just paper producers but also serve as entrepreneurial mentors, technical advisors, and strategic scientists, continuously providing intellectual support to AI enterprises.

Moreover, Beijing leads the nation in autonomous control of core technologies and large model ecosystems. By the end of 2025, Beijing had registered 162 large models, accounting for nearly 30% of the national total, covering general-purpose large models (e.g., Zhipu AI's GLM, Baichuan, MiniMax), industry-specific large models (e.g., healthcare, finance, legal), and vertical tool models. Notably, Zhipu AI, spun off from Tsinghua University, successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026, becoming the 'world's first AI large model stock,' marking the first time a Chinese large model company gained recognition from international capital markets. Even DeepSeek, headquartered in Hangzhou, has two-thirds of its core R&D team based at Raycom InfoTech Park in Beijing, highlighting Beijing's siphon effect on high-end AI talent.

Beijing's industrial cluster effect is significant, with multinational giants and local startups thriving together. Around Zhipu AI's headquarters, tech giants such as NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo have established R&D centers or AI labs. It is estimated that the total market value of companies gathered in this area exceeds USD 20 trillion. This hybrid ecosystem of 'giants + startups + universities' ensures rapid iteration of cutting-edge technologies while promoting talent mobility and knowledge spillover. For example, NVIDIA provides top-tier GPU computing power, Tsinghua University contributes algorithmic theories, and startups handle scenario implementation, forming an efficient and collaborative innovation network.

2

From 'AI City' to 'Smart Capital'

The development of the AI industry relies on two key infrastructures: computing power and institutional frameworks. Beijing leads in both areas.

In terms of computing power, Beijing has built a nationally leading intelligent computing cluster. By 2025, the city's intelligent computing supply capacity reached 42,000 PFlops (quadrillion floating-point operations per second), equivalent to 42 quadrillion calculations per second. This scale not only supports the training needs of local large models but also lowers innovation barriers by providing access to small and medium-sized enterprises through the 'Beijing AI Public Computing Power Platform.' Meanwhile, Beijing actively promotes the adaptation of domestic chips, supporting domestic computing power ecosystems such as Cambricon, Hygon, and Ascend to enhance industrial chain resilience.

At the policy level, Beijing has implemented the 'AI Plus' action plan since 2023, constructing an institutional environment through multiple dimensions, including financial support, scenario openness, data circulation, and ethical governance. For example, it established a RMB 10 billion AI industry fund, offering subsidies of up to RMB 50 million for large model R&D; opened high-value scenarios in government services, transportation, and healthcare for enterprise testing; and promoted the establishment of the nation's first mechanism for AI training data rights confirmation and trading. This 'market + government' dual-drive model effectively accelerates the transition of technologies from laboratories to markets.

Beijing's rise as the AI Capital represents more than just economic indicators. It signifies the victory of a new urban development paradigm—replacing physical capital with intellectual capital, factor input with innovation-driven growth, and standalone breakthroughs with ecological collaboration.

Amid sluggish growth in traditional industries, Beijing has achieved intelligent upgrades in the service sector through AI empowerment. For example, in finance, AI risk control models have helped reduce bank non-performing loan ratios by 30%; in healthcare, AI-assisted diagnosis systems cover 80% of the city's top-tier hospitals; in urban governance, AI traffic scheduling has improved morning peak travel efficiency by 15%. These applications not only enhance urban operational efficiency but also create new employment and consumption scenarios.

More importantly, Beijing's AI development model is highly replicable and influential. Its 'university—research institution—enterprise—government' quadruple innovation mechanism provides a blueprint for other cities. For instance, Shanghai has followed Beijing's example to build Zhangjiang AI Island, while Chengdu has created the Tianfu New Area AI Ecological Park, both emphasizing talent introduction and scenario openness.

3

How to Maintain the 'Number One City' Status?

Despite its significant advantages, Beijing still faces multiple challenges. First, talent competition is intensifying, with Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and other cities offering higher salaries to poach AI engineers. Second, computing power costs remain high, making long-term training unaffordable for small and medium-sized enterprises. Third, large models suffer from severe homogenization, lacking truly differentiated products. Fourth, data security and ethical issues are becoming increasingly prominent, requiring a more robust governance framework.

In response, Beijing needs to continue its efforts by strengthening basic research, supporting universities in frontier areas such as embodied AI and neurosymbolic systems; promoting deep integration of AI with industries, expanding application scenarios in manufacturing, energy, agriculture, and other real economy sectors; and building an open and inclusive AI governance system that balances innovation incentives with risk prevention.

Beijing's rise as a 'five-trillion-yuan city' reflects China's high-quality economic development, while its simultaneous emergence as the 'AI Capital' indicates that new quality productivity is reshaping the core logic of urban competitiveness. While other cities are still competing on GDP growth rates, Beijing has quietly shifted the track (track) to 'intelligent density' and 'innovation concentration.'

Looking ahead, as global AI competition enters the 'application implementation' phase, whether Beijing can translate its scientific research advantages into industrial strengths will determine whether it can evolve from an 'AI highland' to a 'benchmark of intelligent civilization.' It is foreseeable that on the journey toward 2030, Beijing will not only continue to lead China's economy but also, as the 'AI Capital,' participate in defining the next decade of global AI development.

This article is an original piece by BT Finance and may not be used, reproduced, disseminated, or adapted without permission. Infringement will result in legal action.