ChinaBetsonAI‘One-PersonCompanies’toBoostEmployment

China’s local governments are placing a new bet on bolstering employment and driving innovation: the AI-powered “one-person company.”

Distinct from traditional self-employment or freelancing, these entities — known locally as OPCs — are defined by a single founder utilizing a suite of artificial-intelligence tools to manage the entire business chain, from product development and marketing to customer service. Proponents argue these firms offer advantages in asset efficiency, rapid iteration, and growth potential.

The trend gained official traction when Beijing’s Haidian district, home to the Zhongguancun technology hub, released the capital’s first OPC service plan on Dec. 8, 2025. Since then, major commercial centers including Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen have rolled out similar initiatives.

Cities are tailoring their support to align with local industrial strengths. In the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, the Nanshan district’s “Model Camp” has adopted a strategy covering both software and hardware, targeting content creation and potential embodied AI sectors. Neighboring Bao’an district, known for its manufacturing base, is focusing on “hard” entrepreneurship, requiring projects to demonstrate hardware capabilities.

Meanwhile, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area is prioritizing “super individuals” in content generation and data intelligence, while the Chengdu High-tech Zone has established a dedicated community for digital cultural creativity.

Infrastructure and funding form the backbone of these policy directives. Government-backed industrial parks have evolved from offering simple rent subsidies to building comprehensive ecosystems. Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, for instance, provides qualified teams with two years of low-cost office space.

More significantly, its facilities consolidate seven key service platforms within a single building — covering computing power, data access, compliance and open-source resources — aiming to create a seamless supply chain from algorithm development to product deployment.

On the capital front, state funds and state-owned enterprises are entering the fray. The Shangcheng district of Hangzhou plans to establish a specialized OPC sub-fund with a target size of 1 billion yuan ($140 million). In Suzhou, the high-tech zone is leveraging its state-owned financial platform to build a capital service system designed to support these micro-enterprises throughout their lifecycle.

Access to computing power, a critical resource for AI models, has become a standard offering in these incentive packages.

Shenzhen’s Longgang district is promoting the interconnectivity of computing infrastructure and opening vertical large models in fields such as healthcare and architecture. In Beijing, the Yizhuang development area is issuing up to 300 million yuan annually in vouchers for computing, data, and models. In Hangzhou, an entrepreneur community named Honghu Hui has released an “OPC-OS,” an operating system designed to integrate and schedule computing resources for solopreneurs.

Local authorities are also streamlining administrative hurdles. Shanghai’s Xuhui district has introduced policy packages for startups that include outsourced financial, legal and human resources services, offering free bookkeeping and legal aid to top-tier startups. Shenzhen’s Longgang district has set up a specialized consultation window, allowing entrepreneurs to complete business registration within three working days.

The ultimate test for these one-person companies remains the ability to bridge the gap between theoretical AI applications and market demand.

“For OPC support, the most important thing at this stage is to provide orders and commercial scenarios,” said Wang Nuo, a partner at Wanxi Holdings. Wang, who focuses on early-stage AI investments, operates the “I have demo” platform, which has incubated 10 startups following the OPC model.

Addressing this need, Shenzhen’s Bao’an district launched an OPC innovation community this month, opening up major industry scenarios to entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the Huaqiangbei electronics markets in Shenzhen’s Futian district are leveraging their supply chain dominance to support rapid prototyping. A local official noted that the district’s ecosystem can support a rhythm where a product is designed in the morning, prototyped by the afternoon, mass-produced the next day, and exported within a week.