To advance China’s strategy of empowering new industrialization with artificial intelligence (AI) and enhance small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) adoption of cutting-edge AI and robotics technologies, the SME Development Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with XtalPi Inc. (2228.HK). The partnership will implement the “AI+” initiative, leveraging frontier technologies to drive continuous innovation, integrating common technologies to meet industry demands, and fostering deep fusion of AI and robotics with traditional industries. Together, they aim to nurture future industries and contribute to the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.
The signing ceremony took place in Beijing, attended by Ong Qiwen, Director of the MIIT SME Development Promotion Center, and Dr. Ma Jian, CEO of XtalPi, who signed the agreement on behalf of their organizations. This marks a pioneering effort by the Center to collaborate with a private technology enterprise, connecting cutting-edge technology with industry needs. Leveraging the Center’s service network, spanning 31 provincial platforms, 169 city-level platforms, and over 1,780 national, provincial, municipal, and county-level SME public service institutions, XtalPi’s vertical AI models tailored for specific industries will deliver efficient, intelligent, and sustainable solutions to SMEs across diverse sectors, building a technological moat, enhancing core competitiveness, and sparking innovation and vitality in SME development.
The collaboration will harness XtalPi’s expertise in integrating AI, robotics, and other frontier technologies with industrial applications, combining the strengths of both parties in research, industry, talent, and data. This partnership will drive deep applications of AI and robotics across industries, advancing new industrialization and high-quality industry development.
On one hand, leveraging XtalPi’s proprietary AI and robotics drug discovery platform, the partnership will introduce a new paradigm of AI and experimental automation, helping SMEs in biopharmaceuticals, chemical materials, and consumer goods elevate their digitalization levels. This will promote AI-powered intelligent manufacturing across broader industrial sectors, enabling SMEs to achieve technological leaps and scale expansion.
On the other hand, the partners will co-build an SME innovation and development empowerment platform, focusing on industrial clusters nationwide and targeting sectors like cosmetics, biopharmaceuticals, advanced materials, and agricultural technology. By applying AI and automation to break through traditional R&D paradigms, they will incubate innovative products and drive intelligent industrial transformation.
This collaboration underscores the dynamic interplay between frontier technologies and economic development, holding profound significance for exploring AI’s role in economic growth and industry applications. XtalPi has pioneered breakthroughs in biopharmaceuticals using quantum physics, AI, and robotics, and is expanding into new materials, renewable energy, and other future industries.
Moving forward, the partnership will focus on integrating AI technologies with product applications, reshaping traditional industry development through AI and robotics super agents, and fostering future industries. By addressing common innovation needs in industrial clusters, the partners will jointly create a collaborative ecosystem for SME digital transformation, restructuring the operational logic of industrial clusters with AI technologies.
At the signing event, the “Qingfeng Rongzhi” youth cadre AI industry study program was held concurrently. Dr. Ma Jian, CEO, Dr. Lai Lipeng, Chief Innovation Officer, and Dr. Zhang Peiyu, Chief Scientific Officer of XtalPi, engaged in in-depth discussions with over 40 young cadres from MIIT’s Science and Technology Department and the Center on topics including “Trends in Super AI Development and Competition,” “Exploring Super Agent Application Scenarios,” and “AI-Powered Frontiers in Chemistry and Materials.”
About MIIT SME Development Promotion Center
The MIIT SME Development Promotion Center, also known as the China SME Development Promotion Center, is China’s only national-level comprehensive service institution dedicated to SME development. Established in 1986 under the guidance of former national leaders like Zhu Rongji, the Center has, over the past three decades, supported national SME authorities, built a robust nationwide SME service system, and promoted international SME exchanges and cooperation, establishing itself as a leader in China’s SME service ecosystem.
