Gansu Province in northwest China has been actively deploying “digital humans” (AI-generated virtual people) across many sectors. This initiative spans government services, education, healthcare, tourism, culture, media, and employment, transforming how services are delivered and cultural heritage is preserved. Lanzhou, the provincial capital, is emerging as a regional hub for digital human innovation, while the “East Data, West Computing” project is supercharging Gansu’s digital infrastructure (particularly in Qingyang). The following report details Gansu’s efforts and progress, and provides a timeline of key developments.
Government and Public Services Adoption
Gansu’s government agencies have embraced AI-driven virtual assistants to improve public services. County and city service centers are introducing AI digital employees as 24/7 “staff” to assist citizens. For example, Dunhuang became the first county-level government platform in Gansu to integrate an advanced large language model (DeepSeek) into its system in early 2025. By April 2025, Dunhuang’s municipal service center had officially “hired” an AI digital human as an interactive consultant, marking a new era of “intelligent+” governance. This virtual agent, appearing on a screen in the lobby, can converse naturally with visitors, answer questions, provide step-by-step guidance for permit processing, and even perform real-time policy Q&A. Residents reported that they can now get information “just by speaking to the machine, which responds instantly with exactly what they need,” greatly reducing wait times and streamlining bureaucratic tasks. DeepSeek (an AI large model developed in China) powers many of these services, enabling the government platforms to “think, answer, and handle affairs” in a human-like manner around the clock.
Beyond Dunhuang, the capital city Lanzhou quickly followed suit in integrating AI into governance. Lanzhou’s Data Bureau connected the DeepSeek AI system to the city’s official website in early 2025, launching a feature called “Lan AI Answer” on the portal. This functions as a smart online assistant for both residents and businesses, available 24/7 to field inquiries and perform intelligent searches of government information. By parsing user questions about public services or business policies, the AI instantly retrieves relevant regulations, required documents, application procedures, and deadlines, effectively acting as a digital clerk. This upgrade dramatically enhanced the responsiveness of egovernment in Lanzhou. Other cities in Gansu (like Jiuquan and Qingyang) also began piloting AI-driven consultation systems in government sites by mid-2025, signaling a province-wide trend of smart governance platforms.
Education and Healthcare Applications
The education sector in Gansu has started integrating virtual human technology to enrich teaching and training. Several vocational colleges and universities are experimenting with virtual instructors and interactive learning avatars. For instance, medical and science programs have introduced digital anatomy teaching systems and virtual lab assistants so students can practice with simulated 3D human models or receive tutoring from AI tutors. Lanzhou University and Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics are reported to be deploying virtual humans in classroom settings and research projects. These AI-powered avatars can deliver lectures or demonstrations in a consistent, engaging manner, and can answer student questions via a knowledge database. While still in pilot stages, such initiatives hint at how Gansu’s higher education is leveraging AI to supplement faculty and personalize learning.
The healthcare field is also seeing “smart healthcare” avatars emerge. Hospitals in Lanzhou have tested AI “virtual nurses” that can provide basic triage, remind patients about medication, and offer health advice through kiosks or mobile apps. In a notable case, a major hospital under the PLA (Joint Logistics 940 Hospital in Lanzhou) integrated the DeepSeek model into its systems in early 2025. This allowed medical staff to use an intelligent platform for tasks like drafting medical records, analyzing case data, and even assisting in diagnostic recommendations. Going forward, digital human health assistants could be used in Gansu for patient customer service or public health outreach (for example, answering common health questions online with a friendly human-like face). These efforts aim to alleviate staff workloads and make medical information more accessible to the public.
Tourism, Culture and Digital Heritage
Gansu is rich in cultural heritage and Silk Road history, and the province’s digital economy strategy specifically emphasizes virtual tour guides and historical figures to promote and preserve this culture. Tourist attractions and museums have begun introducing virtual guides that embody local historical or legendary characters. For example, the Tianshui Museum launched a digital human guide in April 2025 that interacts with visitors, explaining exhibits in an engaging way and answering questions about artifacts. Likewise, other museums and libraries in the province are creating AIpowered “digital docents” and librarians to assist the public. Gansu Provincial Library has tested an AI librarian avatar that can help catalog searches or recommend books via a chat interface, making library resources easier to navigate.
In a creative blend of folklore and technology, Gansu has developed digital cultural ambassador characters that personify aspects of the province’s heritage. One prominent example is “弱水” (“Weak Water”), a virtual character based on a mythical maiden from the Hexi Corridor legends. Weak Water was brought to life by a local cultural tech company in Gansu, using advanced 3D modeling (Unity engine) and AI to imbue her with personality. She represents the ancient “Weak River” of Gansu lore and wears traditional attire; her name alludes to the phrase “Weak water feeds the desert,” symbolizing the nurturing of civilization in Gansu’s arid lands. Weak Water has been used as a digital mascot to promote Dunhuang and Hexi culture to tourists – appearing in multimedia presentations and even interacting in real time during live events. In 2023, the character Weak Water won first place in a national culture-and-tourism metaverse innovation competition, highlighting Gansu’s leadership in digital heritage storytelling.
Another digital ambassador is “甘滔滔” (“Gan Tao Tao”), whose name incorporates “Gan” (for Gansu) and suggests the surging waters of the Yellow River (“tao-tao” meaning torrential). Gan Tao Tao is designed as a friendly virtual figure representing Gansu’s image – often used in publicity for local culture or public service announcements. These digital personas like Gan Tao Tao and Weak Water are embedded with local historical and cultural knowledge, allowing them to serve as virtual narrators for Gansu’s scenic spots, as well as hosts for cultural events or online tourism campaigns. For instance, the Zhangye Grand Buddha Temple – a famous historical site – now features a digital guide named “Yun Zhuo” (Princess Yunzhuo), developed in partnership with a tech firm. In a showcase event in 2024, Gansu’s Weak Water avatar “met” with the temple’s Princess Yunzhuo digital guide, creating a cross-temporal virtual interaction that delighted viewers and drew attention to Gansu’s blending of heritage with high-tech. These imaginative approaches not only enhance visitor experiences at cultural sites but also preserve intangible heritage in digital formats for future generations.
Media, Employment, and Other Applications
Local media in Gansu have also begun leveraging AI-generated anchors. County-level integrated media centers – essentially the modern local news hubs – have started to deploy virtual news presenters to deliver broadcasts. In September 2024, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture unveiled an AI news anchor named “静静” (Jingjing), who made her debut reporting on a major local Party meeting. Jingjing, the digital reporter, can read news scripts in a perfectly consistent manner and in multiple languages if needed, helping extend the reach of local news. Such AI anchors are expected to appear on more city and county media platforms across Gansu, complementing human journalists and ensuring news delivery around the clock.
Gansu’s human resources and employment departments are likewise experimenting with digital humans. The province launched an initiative called “100 Human Resources Directors Live Job Fair”, an online employment fair series where, starting in mid-2025, virtual human hosts moderate and livestream the events. These AI presenters can introduce job openings and interview employers or experts virtually. By June 2025, Gansu officially introduced digital human anchors for these recruitment livestreams, making the process more efficient and visually engaging for job-seekers. The virtual hosts (often stylized with professional attire and friendly demeanor) can handle repetitive announcements or Q&A, while human recruiters focus on substantive interactions with candidates. Gansu views this as a way to expand employment services to more people (especially younger, digitally savvy job hunters) in an appealing format.
Another noteworthy application is in public legal education and policing. In early 2025, Lanzhou’s Public Security Bureau deployed an “AI Police Instructor”, essentially a humanoid robot integrated with AI, to deliver safety and law lessons in schools. This interactive robot officer, connected to DeepSeek and other AI engines, gave lectures on anti-fraud, anti-bullying, and traffic safety to elementary students as part of their “first law class” of the semester. The children were excited to interact with the talking robot officer, who could answer their questions with an impressive knowledge base (fed by the AI model with legal FAQs and real case examples). The success of these sessions demonstrated how digital human technology (in this case a robotic form) can make public education more engaging and effective. It’s expected that Lanzhou and other cities will continue to use AI-driven figures for public awareness campaigns (from legal education to environmental protection), leveraging their novelty and consistency.
Finally, e-commerce and service industries in Gansu are exploring virtual employees for business. In August 2025, a “batch of AI digital employees” was launched nationally and Gansu companies were among the early adopters. These AI employees can take on roles such as online customer service agents, virtual shop greeters in livestream commerce, or data analysts working behind the scenes. Gansu’s digital economy blueprint explicitly encourages intelligent virtual employees to boost productivity in various fields. For instance, some local online retailers have started using AI-generated virtual influencers to showcase products 24/7 on livestream channels, interacting with buyers via preset scripts and AI chat responses. Although still nascent, this trend indicates Gansu’s businesses are keeping pace with AI innovations to enhance their operations.
Digital Infrastructure: “East Data, West Computing” and Telecom Partnerships
Supporting Gansu’s digital human and AI ambitions is the massive “East Data, West Computing” project (东数西算工程), a national strategy initiated in 2022. This strategy aims to rebalance China’s data and computing resources by routing the ever-growing data processing needs of the eastern megacities to new data center hubs in the energy-rich west. Gansu was selected as one of the key western hubs, and the city of Qingyang in eastern Gansu is the province’s focal point for this initiative. Qingyang is geographically well-situated with a stable climate and abundant land – ideal for large data center clusters – and it has access to renewable energy (wind, solar) from the surrounding region to power these facilities sustainably.
Under the “East Data, West Computing” program, a national computing network hub has been established in Qingyang. By late 2023, Qingyang’s new data center cluster (sometimes branded as the “Western Computing Valley”) saw major progress. In August 2023, Phase I of the Qingyang data center park was completed and put into operation, providing about 1,664 server racks and over 20,000 petaflops of computing capacity available for remote use by clients in the east. This rapid buildout – the first servers went live only a year after construction started – marked a significant milestone: Gansu now hosts critical infrastructure that serves cloud computing and big data needs nationwide. By early 2025, the Qingyang data center cluster had expanded to over 10,000 racks installed (across 11 separate data center buildings) with an aggregate computing power exceeding 100,000+ P (a remarkable growth that underscores China’s commitment to the westward data strategy). Clean energy integration is a highlight of this project: the data centers utilize advanced energy management, including onsite energy storage that banks excess renewable power during strong wind/solar periods and releases it during peak demand, yielding a very low PUE (power usage effectiveness) for efficiency.
Partnerships with major telecommunications and tech companies are driving this digital infrastructure expansion. China Telecom, for example, took charge of building the Qingyang “intelligent computing center” and has continually invested in scaling it up. By late 2024, China Telecom started construction on an even larger AI compute center in Qingyang (Phase II), slated to add thousands more racks to support AI model training and other high-performance computing tasks for clients across China. China Mobile’s Gansu branch likewise set up its own cloud computing facility in the Qingyang hub and launched a “Mobile Cloud DeepSeek Appliance” – essentially providing DeepSeek AI services on a turnkey hardware-software stack for enterprise and government customers in Gansu. These collaborations ensure that not only is the hardware in place, but also the AI platforms like DeepSeek are optimally deployed on local servers (for security and speed), benefiting Gansu’s push to utilize AI in everyday services.
By virtue of the East Data, West Computing program, Gansu now has top-tier computing resources on par with coastal tech centers, which underpins all its digital human applications. Lanzhou and other cities can leverage Qingyang’s data centers for AI processing tasks, enabling smoother performance for virtual humans and related services. Moreover, telecom companies have rolled out high-speed 5G networks across Gansu’s cities and even rural areas, forming the connectivity backbone for AI systems to function in real time. For instance, China Telecom Gansu held a technology innovation conference in May 2025 where it showcased over 40 cutting-edge solutions, including several digital human projects. This demonstrates the close cooperation between the province and telecom providers in turning AI from concept into reality at the grassroots level. Such investments and alliances are helping bridge the urban-rural digital divide – even remote counties in Gansu can deploy AI public service kiosks or telemedicine with the robust network and cloud support available.
Lanzhou: A Growing Hub of Virtual Human Innovation
As the capital city, Lanzhou concentrates many of these initiatives and has positioned itself as a hub for digital human development in northwest China. In January 2024, Lanzhou opened the “Nexthuman Digital Human Joint Development and Delivery Base (Northwest Region)” – a new R&D center created in partnership with a Hangzhou technology company. This base serves as a platform gathering experts and developers to innovate in digital human technologies and to build customized virtual human solutions for clients in the region. The presence of such a facility in Lanzhou signals a strategic commitment to become a manufacturing center for AI virtual characters, whether for entertainment, education, or enterprise use. Local universities and institutes in Lanzhou collaborate with this base, ensuring a pipeline of research and talent focused on AI avatars, motion capture, speech synthesis, and other relevant fields.
Several “firsts” in Lanzhou highlight its leadership. Lanzhou was one of the first cities in western China to employ AI anchors for public recruitment drives, as mentioned earlier, and to utilize an AI police robot instructor in schools. The city’s businesses are experimenting with virtual salespersons in livestream commerce, and its media outlets are planning their own AI news presenters. Lanzhou’s vibrant tech ecosystem – which includes start-ups and state-owned enterprises – is increasingly centering on AI. For example, Lanzhou hosts an annual innovation forum where in 2025 digital human startups demonstrated ultra-realistic virtual idols and service avatars. The city’s academic institutions have also launched programs blending AI, new media, and design to support the burgeoning digital content industry (Lanzhou University’s journalism school, for instance, has introduced a course on virtual human production in collaboration with Tencent).
Lanzhou’s advantage is that it brings together these threads: strong computing support (being close to Qingyang’s hub), government backing, research capabilities, and a mandate to modernize services for its population of over 4 million. By leveraging the provincial and national support, Lanzhou is fast becoming a test bed for integrating digital humans into daily life – from a virtual guide at the Yellow River Iron Bridge tourist site, to a digital clerk on the municipal hotline, to an AI lecturer at a local college. The city’s experiences will likely serve as a model for other parts of Gansu (and China’s lessdeveloped regions) on how to smartly adopt AI human replicas in a culturally sensitive and practical way.
[Jan 2026]
2025
August 6, 2025: The world’s first batch of AI digital employees debuted in China, with Gansu among the regions rolling out these virtual workers at scale. This marked an inflection point where numerous digital employees simultaneously “started work” across industries, signaling comprehensive expansion of AI staff in offices, customer service, and other roles.
July 28, 2025: Gansu media reported on the challenges of digital human intellectual property (IP), discussing cases where high-tech virtual characters did not fully align with traditional culture and audience expectations. This reflective coverage highlighted the gap between cuttingedge AI creations and the need for cultural resonance, prompting local creators to better integrate Gansu’s cultural elements into digital human IP development.
July 27, 2025: The Lanzhou-Qingyang Chamber of Commerce partnered with Shenzhen’s Lingren International Investment Holding to host an AI technology promotion meeting in Lanzhou. The conference focused on digital human development and investment opportunities, connecting Gansu’s initiatives with coastal tech investors and showcasing projects like virtual anchors, AI customer service bots, and immersive cultural avatars to potential backers.
July 25, 2025: Jiuquan City (in western Gansu) launched a comprehensive “digital intelligence innovation practice” program with the DeepSeek large language model as the core engine. This initiative introduced AI-driven public service upgrades in Jiuquan – including smart city management and virtual assistants in citizen service halls – aiming to modernize local governance through AI.
July 23, 2025: (Related to the above) Jiuquan’s new innovation practice went live with an AI digital human consultation system at the city hall. Residents in Jiuquan could now interact with an on-screen virtual agent to get answers on government services, mimicking the Dunhuang model. This made Jiuquan the second locality in Gansu to fully deploy a DeepSeekpowered digital human for public consultation.
June 27, 2025: Gansu Province kicked off the fourth season of its “100 Human Resources Directors Live Job Fair – Warm Heart Action.” This session formally introduced digital human anchors to host the livestreamed job fairs. The AI anchors, with natural voice and demeanor, presented job listings and facilitated discussions, providing a novel experience for participants and demonstrating Gansu’s commitment to smart employment services.
May 13, 2025: China Telecom Gansu held its 2025 Ecological Conference and Technology Innovation Achievement Exhibition in Lanzhou. Among over 40 cutting-edge tech achievements on display, digital human applications were featured prominently – including virtual customer service representatives, an AI financial advisor avatar, and the Lanzhou “Lan AI Answer” government assistant. This signaled telecom companies’ support in mainstreaming digital humans as part of Gansu’s tech ecosystem.
April 12, 2025: The Tianshui Museum officially launched its digital human docent, offering visitors a new “smart museum” experience. The virtual guide can narrate the museum’s exhibits (such as Tianshui’s famed Qin Dynasty artifacts and folk art) and interact through touchscreens or voice queries, making museum visits more interactive and informative. This event marked a milestone in cultural institutions adopting AI in Gansu.
April 8, 2025: Dunhuang’s AI digital humans formally started work in the city’s government service center. This rollout – the first of its kind in Gansu for a government office – ushered in an “intelligent+” era of public service. The AI digital clerk in Dunhuang greets visitors and handles queries at the front desk, significantly improving efficiency and showcasing how AI can enhance convenience for citizens.
April 7, 2025: Gansu media featured an in-depth interview with Zhang Yalin, Executive Director and General Manager of Suiyuan Intelligent Technology (Qingyang) Co., Ltd. He discussed the company’s AI innovations in Qingyang, including applications of digital humans in local industries. The interview shed light on Qingyang’s growing tech sector – from virtual customer service agents for local businesses to AI training for government staff – underlining the city’s role in Gansu’s AI roadmap.
March 29, 2025: Huang Zeyuan, the Party Secretary of Qingyang City, paid an official visit to Yitian Intelligence, a leading local AI firm. He inspected their AI digital human livestreaming system which can generate virtual hosts for e-commerce and promotional events. The visit underscored official support for AI startups and the intent to use digital humans for boosting Qingyang’s digital economy (for instance, helping farmers sell products via virtual hosts online).
March 6, 2025: The Baiyin City Human Resources and Social Security Bureau hosted a DeepSeek intelligent training conference for its staff and related agencies. This training focused on how to apply large AI models and digital humans in social services and administrative work. Attendees learned hands-on about using an AI digital assistant (“DeepSeek Assistant”) for tasks like policy explanation, data analysis, and even simulating customer interactions – laying the groundwork for Baiyin to adopt digital humans in public-facing roles.
February 24, 2025: Dunhuang became Gansu’s first county-level government platform to fully integrate the DeepSeek artificial intelligence model. On this date, the Dunhuang City “政务通” platform upgraded to an AI-powered system, creating an intelligent public service portal that “can think, answer, and handle affairs.” This meant citizens could use a web or WeChat interface 24/7 to get instant answers and processing for various services, thanks to the AI’s language understanding and database access. It was a landmark achievement demonstrating Gansu’s lead in grassroots governance innovation.
2024
September 1, 2024: The Linxia City Integrated Media Center introduced its AI digital news anchor “Jingjing.” Debuting during coverage of the 7th Plenary Session of the 15th CPC Committee of Linxia, Jingjing delivered news bulletins flawlessly, making Linxia one of the first areas in Gansu to have a virtual anchor in its local news lineup. This event demonstrated the maturity of text-to-speech and animation technology in creating life-like news presenters and garnered public fascination with the “robot newscaster.” (Notably, Jingjing’s image and voice were designed to reflect the local culture while maintaining broad appeal.)
January 23, 2024: The Nexthuman Digital Human Northwest Delivery Base was officially established in Lanzhou. Jointly built by a local Gansu tech firm and a partner from Hangzhou, this base set up a dedicated R&D and production facility for ultra-realistic 3D virtual humans. Its launch provides Lanzhou and the broader northwest region with a specialized platform to develop new digital human technologies, train talent, and accelerate the deployment of virtual employees in various sectors.
2023
Late 2023: Gansu’s focus on digital cultural innovation bore fruit as the virtual character “Weak Water” – inspired by a famous Gansu legend – won top honors in a China culture-tech innovation contest. The award recognized Weak Water as an outstanding example of a virtual cultural ambassador. Around the same time, Gansu authorities included plans for intelligent virtual tour guides and historical figure avatars in provincial tourism development programs. These plans encouraged scenic areas and museums to adopt digital humans (like Gan Tao Tao and others) to create immersive visitor experiences. By the end of 2023, several pilot projects were underway to integrate such virtual guides in tourist attractions, setting the stage for the numerous rollouts seen in 2024–2025.
August 2023: Phase I of the Qingyang Data Center cluster (Gansu’s national computing hub for “East Data, West Computing”) was completed and went live. This initial phase provided about 1,600+ server racks and over 20,000 P (petaflops) of computing capacity to the national integrated compute network. The speedy completion (in just under a year of construction) and commissioning of this facility marked Gansu’s tangible leap in digital infrastructure, enabling it to support AI and big-data operations for clients nationwide and powering local digital projects (like AI government services) with robust back-end resources.
2022
April 12, 2022: Speech technology giant iFLYTEK established a wholly owned subsidiary in Lanzhou called “iFLYTEK Smart Super Brain (Gansu) Artificial Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd.” The new company’s registered business scope covered AI research and services including 5G communications tech, signaling a strategic entry of iFLYTEK into Gansu. This move, early in Gansu’s AI journey, provided a boost in expertise for local projects – from voice recognition systems in government hotlines to possibly co-developing Gansu-accented AI news anchors. It also reflected Gansu’s openness to outside high-tech investment as it began ramping up its digital economy and talent base in line with the national AI development wave.