Bei Ke Cai Jing·2026-01-14 14:57Core Insights - Alibaba's 1688 platform has over 1 million merchants, with more than 290,000 daily users engaging with AI products and technologies, indicating a significant increase in AI usage among merchants [1] Industry Trends - The report highlights that China's industrial sector is at a pivotal transition from digitalization to intelligence, where AI is not merely a technical application but a means to reshape operational logic and value distribution [2] - Four core challenges facing the industry include extreme fragmentation on the supply side, high non-standardization on the demand side, lengthy and inefficient decision-making processes, and the difficulty in reusing industry experience [2] Regional Development Patterns - The report identifies a regional pattern in factory intelligence characterized by "East High, Central Fast, West Broad," with eastern regions leading in digitalization, central regions experiencing the fastest growth, and western regions expanding their digital coverage [3] - Yiwu ranks first in national AI application activity, followed by manufacturing hubs such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Wenzhou [3]