XtalPi Inc. (2228.HK) and Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (“Hengjian Holdings”) have announced plans to establish the Greater Bay Area “AI+” Technology and Industry Innovation Consortium. This initiative aligns with China’s national “Innovation Consortium” strategy, leveraging XtalPi’s “AI + robotic automation” technology and uniting capital resources with leading enterprises across the industry chain. The project aims to build a world-leading R&D infrastructure and innovation ecosystem, fostering the clustered development of strategic industries and accelerating digital and intelligent transformation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and globally. It will establish the GBA as a global hub for AI research infrastructure, driving the future of AI-powered pharmaceuticals, new materials, renewable energy, and robotics.
The Innovation Consortium, a task-oriented, systematic innovation framework proposed by China, emphasizes enterprises as the primary drivers of technological innovation, with government guidance to tackle major technological challenges. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision underscores the need to “strengthen enterprises as innovation leaders, aggregate innovation resources, and support enterprises in forming innovation consortia to undertake major national science and technology projects.” Against this backdrop, the collaboration between XtalPi and Hengjian Holdings aims to break through barriers in AI algorithm computing power and large-scale robotic applications. By leveraging advanced AI and robotics, the project will create critical infrastructure for new productive forces in pharmaceuticals, materials, energy, and agriculture, accelerating the discovery and deployment of globally impactful innovations.
The project will establish world-class public experimental facilities and innovation platforms, digitizing and intelligentizing R&D to overcome traditional technological bottlenecks and enhance enterprise AI innovation and industrial transformation. The consortium will provide end-to-end services from R&D to production, fostering collaboration across the industry chain and enabling biotech, materials, energy, and robotics companies to incubate, establish, and grow in the GBA, injecting sustained innovation momentum into the region’s role as a global innovation powerhouse.
Over the next decade, project stakeholders plan to channel billions in investments to build the consortium’s physical infrastructure and public laboratories, creating AI R&D infrastructure with advanced computing power and large-scale robotic clusters. The initiative includes procuring XtalPi’s extensive robotic workstation clusters and related equipment, with XtalPi overseeing the construction and operation of the public labs. As the consortium evolves, the scale of automated labs will expand, aiming to meet the rapidly growing global demand for AI for Science R&D.
As a government-recognized leader in “AI + robotic automation,” the first specialized technology company listed under Hong Kong’s Chapter 18C, and a global leader in AI for Science, XtalPi is rooted in the GBA with a global outlook. It drives industry transformation and builds next-generation infrastructure for AI for Science. In this consortium, XtalPi will leverage its expertise in AI and automation, collaborating with partners to create a globally leading AI research hub in the GBA, positioning Guangdong as a key innovation source for global drug and material industries.
Hengjian Holdings, a major strategic investment platform and provincial state-owned capital operator under the Guangdong government, is committed to “serving national strategies and empowering industrial upgrades.” It supports Guangdong’s 20 strategic industry clusters by accelerating growth in critical chains, links, and enterprises through capital operations and financial services. In this collaboration, Hengjian Holdings will support XtalPi and project stakeholders through its RMB 10 billion Guangdong Innovation Consortium Fund, fostering upstream and downstream enterprises via mergers, acquisitions, and minority investments. By integrating financial and technological innovation, the fund, in partnership with XtalPi, will accelerate high-potential projects in healthcare and materials, unlocking broader industrial and commercial opportunities.
The GBA “AI+” Technology and Industry Innovation Consortium will solidify the region’s strategic position in global biopharma, materials, energy, and robotics industries, injecting vitality into innovation ecosystems. By fostering deep technology-industry integration, the project will drive comprehensive upgrades across the industry chain, contributing to global innovation ecosystems and establishing the GBA as a globally influential AI industry hub.
About Hengjian Holdings
Established in 2007, Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding Co., Ltd. is a wholly state-owned enterprise under the Guangdong SASAC, serving as a major strategic investment platform and provincial capital operator. Committed to Guangdong’s strategic deployments, it drives industrial clustering and transformation through diversified capital operations. Its core businesses include equity management, fund investment, and capital operations, with over 30 wholly-owned or controlled subsidiaries. Holding a domestic AAA credit rating and high ratings from global agencies, Hengjian had total assets of RMB 486 billion and net assets of RMB 220.9 billion as of September 2024, making it one of Guangdong’s largest and most robust state-owned groups.
