Visitors watch a man experiencing the AI technology at the AI Town in Hangzhou on July 9. [Photo/cztv.com.cn]

The China (Hangzhou) Artificial Intelligent (AI) Town was inaugurated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on June 9 in a demonstration of the city's ambition to spearhead the technology of the future.

The AI town, located in the core zone of Hangzhou's Future Technology City, is adjacent to the Alibaba Group headquarters, Zhejiang University and Dream Town, covering an area of 3.43 square kilometers.

"The town focuses on AI technological innovation," said Chen Xialin, a local official. "Using big data, cloud computing networking technologies, the town is committed to inviting champion enterprises engaged in the fields of robotics, smart wearable devices, drones, virtual/augmented reality and new-generation chips research and development to form a high-end AI industry cluster."

Since July 2014, Hangzhou has made the development of AI its top priority.

The AI industry has continually heated up ever since Alpha Go beat Chinese Go prodigy Ke Jie in May this year. Its contributions to Zhejiang's economy have aroused wide concerns. According to local reports, Hangzhou currently outnumbers Shenzhen in AI enterprises, ranking fourth in China.

On the opening day of the AI town, some 15 platforms including Zhejiang University-Alibaba Frontier Tech Research Center, Baidu (Hangzhou) Innovative Center and more than 90 innovative enterprises moved in.

"The AI industry is expected to reach over 50 billion yuan ($7.34 billion) in the province. Hangzhou AI and Ningbo smart economy will develop into two ten-billion-yuan industry bases to lead the future development of Zhejiang province," said Yuan Jiajun, deputy secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Zhejiang province.