Zhejiang Province Releases the Action Plan for Cultivating AI Application Service Providers (2026–2028): No Fewer Than 500 Providers in the Resource Pool by 2028

Source: Zhejiang Economic and Information Technology Department | Digital Economy Division (Artificial Intelligence Division)

An artificial intelligence application service provider (hereinafter referred to as a service provider) refers to an enterprise or institution that, around the intelligent needs of user units, provides services such as AI solution consulting and planning, delivery and implementation, operations management, and security governance.

In order to thoroughly implement the Opinions of the State Council on Deeply Implementing the "Artificial Intelligence+" Initiative, implement the deployment requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's special action for cultivating AI application service providers, and address the AI application needs of various fields of our province's economy and society, this plan is hereby formulated to implement the AI application service provider cultivation action. I. Overall Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all subsequent plenary sessions, anchored to the overall goal of "building a highland for AI innovation and development," adhering to application-driven development, market leadership, integrated empowerment, open collaboration, and security as paramount, we will cultivate a team of AI application service providers that understand industries, are proficient in technology, know security, and are skilled in operations.

By the end of 2027, the number of application service providers in the province's service provider resource pool shall be no fewer than 300, with 50 professional-level service providers and 10 navigator-level service providers cultivated, forming a multi-tier echelon with a reasonable structure, orderly division of labor, and collaborative innovation.

By the end of 2028, the number of application service providers in the service provider resource pool shall be no fewer than 500, with 100 professional-level service providers and 20 navigator-level service providers cultivated, forming an AI application service ecosystem with all-factor collaboration, full-chain connectivity, and full-scenario coverage, possessing the AI application service capability to serve the whole province, radiate across the country, and face the globe. II. Cultivate a Multi-Tier Service Provider Echelon

1. Expand diverse cultivation paths. Facing the AI application needs of various fields of the economy and society, around links such as consulting and planning, delivery and implementation, operations management, security governance, and supporting services, expand diverse cultivation paths and grow the number of service providers. Focus on supporting digital service providers and Zhejiang data merchants to accelerate the deep integration of AI technology and service capabilities, transforming and upgrading a batch; encourage leading manufacturing enterprises to export AI application capabilities, deriving and spinning off a batch; support AI-native enterprises to actively expand application services, incubating and fostering a batch; promote productive service enterprises such as scientific research and industrial design to apply AI technology to reconstruct service models, developing a batch across boundaries; deepen regional exchanges and cooperation, attracting and landing a batch.

2. Establish a service provider resource pool. Guide eligible enterprises and institutions to register in the pool, establish and improve files on pooled service providers, and sort out and form a list of service provider capabilities. Formulate a full-cycle dynamic management mechanism for the service provider resource pool, establish a comprehensive evaluation system, build a closed-loop working mechanism of service provider surveying, pooling, filing, selection, evaluation, publication, and removal, regularly publish the list of service provider capabilities, and improve service provider service quality. Strengthen connection with the national AI application service provider resource pool online platform and strengthen information sharing and application.

3. Build a tiered cultivation system. Research and formulate classification and grading standards for service providers, and build a "basic level—professional level—navigator level" tiered cultivation system. Grow the number of basic-level service providers, support enterprises with AI application service capabilities to actively develop lightweight, quick-impact application solutions for industry, industrial, or scenario needs, and guide them to pool and file. Refine and optimize professional-level service providers, support the development of large-scale AI application service capabilities for specific fields, specific industries, and specific scenarios, focus on accumulating industry professional knowledge in deeply cultivated fields, carry out research on vertical models, dedicated agents, etc., and achieve specialized and systematic development. Expand and strengthen navigator-level service providers, consolidate the supporting capacity of model or agent platforms, improve the toolchain system, jointly build service ecosystems with upstream and downstream, lead technical research, actively participate in open-source contributions, and build navigator-level service providers with comprehensive service capabilities, ecosystem leadership capabilities, and transformation-driving capabilities.

4. Form application service teams. Support navigator-level service providers and qualified professional-level service providers to lead the formation of "AI application service teams" of types such as "model-data resonance" and "computing-power-electricity synergy," jointly with upstream and downstream units such as hardware manufacturers, software developers, and research institutions, to build integrated solutions. Through organizing supply-demand matchmaking, supporting consortium project applications, and opening public scenarios, guide service teams in collaborative research and implementation. Support navigator-level AI application service providers to lead the establishment of AI-enabled application platforms, gather service provider teams and solutions, and build a one-stop service system. III. Improve the Level of Full-Chain Service Supply

5. Improve key technology innovation capabilities. Organize and implement the province's "Spearhead" and "Leading Goose" projects, facing key technologies such as multimodal data fusion, multi-agent collaboration, and software-hardware adaptation, support qualified service providers to lead the formation of innovation consortia to carry out innovation research. Coordinate and make good use of innovation carriers such as national AI application pilot testing bases and technology-based enterprise incubators, provide service providers with basic conditions such as technology research and development, testing and verification, and pilot testing maturation, and accelerate solution innovation.

6. Improve integrated innovation service capabilities. Encourage service providers to improve their integrated application capabilities for basic software and hardware products such as secure and reliable operating systems, databases, and AI training and inference chips, encourage the development of comprehensive solutions integrating models, agents, intelligent equipment, embodied intelligence, etc., and improve software-hardware integration service capabilities. Support service providers in carrying out business model innovation, strengthen frontline deployment and implementation and continuous operations capabilities, and develop new models such as effect-based billing and pay-after-use.

7. Enhance AI application service capabilities in manufacturing. Guide service providers to focus on the "415X" advanced manufacturing clusters, promote deep integration of large models with industry knowledge bases and industrial mechanism models, build high-quality datasets in the industrial field, and develop vertical industry large models and small models for segmented scenarios. Relying on initiatives such as "Model-Data Resonance" and "Industrial Data Foundation," promote the opening of achievements such as scenarios, data, models, and agents to service providers through forms such as API calls or trial channels. Focus on cultivating service providers that understand both AI and industrial knowledge, and that both understand scenario application needs and have successful cases.

8. Enhance outbound service capabilities. Support regions with the conditions to establish and improve comprehensive outbound service systems, providing service providers with supporting services such as target market policy research, compliance certification, and localization adaptation. Promote benchmark products and solutions of service providers. Relying on cooperation mechanisms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and BRICS, leverage the roles of the China-Africa Digital Technology Cooperation Center, the China-Arab States AI Application Cooperation Center, etc., to promote the overseas implementation of high-quality AI application projects. Encourage service providers to go global in coordination with upstream and downstream enterprises, carry out technical exchanges and project matchmaking relying on cooperation mechanism platforms, and promote the overseas implementation, promotion, and large-scale application of AI application services.

9. Enhance security and compliance governance capabilities. Guide service providers to embed management requirements such as cybersecurity, data security, ethical governance, and business compliance into the entire process of R&D, deployment, and operations. Establish a notification mechanism for AI security risk incidents, and promptly push security risk information to service providers. Encourage service providers to participate in the formulation of AI security governance standards. Guide service providers to strengthen intellectual property protection and services, strengthen data compliance governance, implement classified and tiered data management, and standardize the entire process of training data collection, processing, and use. IV. Strengthen all-round support and safeguards

10. Deepen precise supply-demand matchmaking and publicity and promotion. Establish a scenario supply-demand matchmaking mechanism, promote the strengthening of connections between the service provider resource pool and the scenario library, explore the use of AI technology to intelligently match scenario demand lists with service provider capability lists, and improve supply-demand matchmaking efficiency. Promote government departments, state-owned enterprises, etc. to actively open up "AI+" scenarios, support service providers in participating in "AI+Manufacturing" scenario open calls, carry out joint research on major scenarios and common needs, and form a batch of benchmark application service cases. Make good use of major platforms such as the World Internet Conference, the Yunqi Conference, and the Global Digital Trade Expo, as well as activities such as "AI+Manufacturing" Zhejiang Tour, hold special matchmaking meetings for AI application services, and promote the dissemination of typical scenario solutions.

11. Strengthen multi-dimensional data use safeguards. Deepen innovation in the authorized operation mechanism for public data, and, on the premise of ensuring data security, support qualified service providers in participating in the development and utilization of public data. Relying on platforms such as urban trusted data spaces, the Hangzhou Corpus, pilot testing bases, open source communities, and Shuzhitong, explore data revenue distribution mechanisms and promote the open sourcing of high-quality datasets to service providers. Support service providers in participating in the construction of trusted data spaces and high-quality datasets for key industries. Encourage qualified regions to reduce the cost of data governance and data use through methods such as "corpus vouchers."

12. Strengthen inclusive computing power supply. Coordinate computing power resources across the province, accelerate the construction of key intelligent computing cluster projects, improve the computing power interconnection system, strengthen the construction and operation of Zhejiang regional nodes, advance the metropolitan millisecond computing action, and strengthen computing-network coordination safeguards. Implement intelligent computing cloud service pilots, promote models such as "cluster + cloud" and "scheduling computing via cloud," and cultivate "intelligent computing cloud enterprises." Increase policy support such as "computing power vouchers" and "Token vouchers" to reduce computing costs.

13. Strengthen support from open source sharing platforms. Advance the construction of open source communities for models, data, etc., continuously strengthen support for foundation models, development tools, high-quality datasets, etc., guide service providers to make good use of open source resources, and reduce costs for data governance, algorithm training, model deployment, agent development, etc. Promote service providers' participation in open source community construction, undertake open source projects, and accelerate the implementation and application of open source projects relying on open source activities such as "Zhejiang Source Ecosystem."

14. Strengthen talent cultivation. Encourage universities, vocational colleges, and leading service providers to jointly build AI training bases, actively cultivate interdisciplinary talents who understand both technology and industry, explore and study evaluation methods for new occupations such as Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) and agent orchestrator, and strengthen training for emerging occupational groups related to AI application services. Deepen the reform of the "university (institute)-enterprise dual appointment" system, promote talent exchanges between relevant universities and service providers, and facilitate technological breakthroughs and achievement transformation.

15. Increase policy safeguards. Give play to the coordinating role of the Provincial Leading Group for High-Quality Development of Manufacturing (Digital Economy), improve the work system, strengthen departmental coordination and regional linkage, and form a joint force for advancement. Coordinate various policy elements, support the advancement of the "AI+" action, and promote the improvement of service capabilities of AI application service providers. Deepen industry-finance cooperation, innovate financial products and services, and promote application innovation and dissemination.

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