Guangdong’s Pioneering AI Digital Humans
Guangdong Province has emerged as a national leader in developing and deploying AI-powered digital humans across diverse sectors. The province’s companies and institutions have created realistic AI avatars serving in governance, education, agriculture, healthcare, finance, media, tourism, and more. In recent years, Guangdong has seen an explosion of 虚拟数字人 (“virtual digital humans”) enterprises – Guangzhou and Shenzhen alone host over 1,000 companies dedicated to digital humans. Digital humans have become one of the hottest AI application tracks nationwide, reflecting Guangdong’s broader leadership in China’s digital economy.
Guangdong has launched several “first in China” AI digital humans targeting public needs. For example, the province introduced the country’s first insurance AI digital human for rural areas, nicknamed “Explorer” (探险家), to assist farmers with agricultural insurance and advice. In 2024, health authorities unveiled the first full-body digital science doctor, kicking off a “Thousand Doctors Plan” to create 1,000 personalized virtual doctor avatars for public health education. Similarly, Guangzhou’s Industry and IT Bureau rolled out “Sui Xiaoxin” – the province’s first AI policy service avatar – to provide policy interpretation and Q&A for businesses. Sui Xiaoxin integrates large-model AI to explain government policies in plain language and answer inquiries, effectively becoming a 24/7 virtual policy consultant. These initiatives demonstrate how Guangdong is applying digital humans to public service delivery and social governance.
Across government departments, AI digital humans are being integrated as virtual assistants and service agents. Guangdong’s tax authorities, for instance, have deployed digital human assistants (such as “Sui Xiaoping” for personal income tax) to guide taxpayers through procedures via an interactive avatar. Municipal service centers leverage digital humans in areas like housing inquiries, job seeker assistance, healthcare guidance, and city information, enabling 24/7 “contactless” services. In Guangzhou, even labor unions have introduced “工会数字人” (union digital humans) at worker service stations – life-sized virtual agents who provide round-the-clock consultation to employees. Schools and universities are experimenting with AI tutors: e.g. Guangdong University of Foreign Studies piloted a dual-anchor news simulation with a digital human “Wang Xiaoxin”, and education tech firms teamed up with actor Daniel Wu to create an AI English tutor powered by a large language model (DeepSeek). These digital humans augment human staff by handling routine queries and offering personalized, on-demand interactions.
A wide array of Guangdong companies – from state media to tech startups – are building bespoke AI avatars for both internal operations and public engagement. Major telecom operators have pioneered hyper-realistic digital presenters: in 2023, China Telecom unveiled “Xinyi” (新 翼), a next-gen ultra-realistic avatar that hosted the company’s earnings conference and interacted with analysts in real time. Banks and insurers are deploying virtual customer service agents that can autonomously answer client questions. In media and entertainment, local broadcasters and studios have created virtual idols and newscasters: the Southern Finance Media Group introduced “Nanxi”, a 3D AI news anchor with lifelike facial expressions and voice, to deliver financial news. Guangdong Radio & TV’s virtual hostess “Yue Xiaoman” even ranked among China’s top 10 virtual streamers in 2024. Cultural institutions have likewise embraced digital humans – museums employ virtual guides like “Ai Wenwen” and “Ban Zhao” to interact with visitors and explain exhibits. In agriculture, a suite of AI personas nicknamed “Mr. Orchid” (兰先生), “Pineapple Jun” (菠萝君), “High-Intelligence Lychee” (高 智荔) and others act as intelligent virtual experts to assist farmers with crop cultivation, pest control, and marketing. Powered by large models and big data, these agricultural AI agents have improved yields and sales – for instance, “High-Intelligence Lychee” helped broker over 3 million jin of lychee transactions (worth 30+ million RMB) in one season.
As Guangdong pushes an “AI + everything” strategy, it also leads in formulating ethical and compliance standards for digital humans. In late 2024, Guangzhou issued China’s first live-streaming e-commerce compliance guideline explicitly covering AI virtual hosts. The guideline requires that virtual anchors be used only with proper licensing and that using anyone’s likeness for an avatar must have their consent. This pioneering regulation set a precedent nationally for managing the fast-growing trend of virtual influencers in e-commerce. Additionally, Guangzhou in 2025 initiated the drafting of a local application standard for AI digital humans in government service halls, aiming to normalize how digital employees operate in public offices. By proactively addressing governance (from IP rights to data security), Guangdong is ensuring that digital humans develop in a secure, transparent, and societally beneficial manner.
Guangzhou: A Hub of Multi-Sector Digital Human Innovation
As the provincial capital, Guangzhou has rapidly become a major hub for AI digital human applications, embedding them across virtually every industry. The city’s government services, media outlets, schools, hospitals, banks, retailers, tourism sites, and even live-streaming studios are embracing virtual humans to enhance efficiency and engagement. This flourishing ecosystem is supported by Guangzhou’s vibrant tech scene – numerous local companies are specializing in digital human tech, including firms like Quwan Group (趣丸科技), Virdyn (虚拟动力, focusing on motion-capture and real-time avatar interaction), Sailingly Tech (赛灵力, a startup in Guangzhou’s Huangpu district cloning hyper-real avatars), XRNew3D, and the city’s own media organizations (e.g. Guangzhou Daily). These stakeholders have launched a variety of AI-powered personas serving the public.
Guangzhou’s city agencies were early adopters of AI assistants. The “Sui Xiaoxin” policy digital human (released in April 2025) now greets users on the Guangzhou Industrial and IT Bureau website and WeChat, answering SMEs’ questions about subsidies, trade, and regulations. The Guangzhou Taxation Bureau created a friendly digital tax advisor “Sui Xiaoying” to teach taxpayers via online courses , and unveiled “Sui Xiaoping” as a virtual narrator for tax policy briefings. Even community-level offices use virtual receptionists to handle frequently asked questions on housing provident fund and social insurance. In late 2023, Guangzhou’s Haizhu District rolled out AI union avatars to staff worker service centers, allowing employees to consult an on-screen digital “officer” about labor rights and benefits any time of day. These digital civil servants complement human officials and extend service availability to 24/7.
The Guangzhou media industry has been transformed by digital humans. Guangzhou Daily and other outlets have featured virtual presenters to deliver news in interactive formats. Regionally, the ultra-realistic avatar “Nanxi” (by Southern Finance in Guangzhou) became one of China’s first AI news anchors, debuting on the group’s 7th anniversary with flawless on-camera presence. She can read financial reports from text and respond to studio prompts in real time. Guangzhou’s media firms also experiment with virtual idols and digital influencers: local marketing company Insight Brand unveiled “Jiang Xiaohuang”, a hyper-realistic virtual character integrated with a large AI model to engage young audiences in 2023. The city hosted the 2024 China Virtual Human Industry Conference and various AIGC forums, reflecting its status as an innovation hub. Notably, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rank in the top tier of Chinese cities for digital human development, according to industry indices.
Guangzhou-based institutions are using digital humans to enrich learning and preserve culture. In schools, AI tutors and holographic teachers have appeared – in late 2022, a “Mr. Yuan” virtual teacher in Qianhai gave a metaverse music class simultaneously to students in Guangdong and Hong Kong, demonstrating cross-border education in virtual reality. Guangzhou’s Open University and other colleges have studied using motion-captured virtual idols to host campus live streams and interact with students. On the cultural front, Guangzhou’s tech firms have collaborated with museums to create virtual docents. The Guangzhou company Frontop (Fantuo) Digital Creative built an avatar of Eastern Han dynasty scholar “Ban Zhao”, who now serves as a virtual guide and talk-show host in museum events. At the 2022 Museum Expo, the Ban Zhao avatar led a digital human live broadcast booth, conversing with experts about museum digitalization. Guangzhou’s “Ai Wenwen” avatar – a young female persona launched for the National Museum’s 110th anniversary – similarly engages online visitors with AI-driven narratives of artifacts. Such digital humans help make education and culture more interactive and accessible.
The city’s healthcare industry is tapping AI humans as well. In early 2025, a Guangzhou health-tech firm (Yirun Health) partnered with a community clinic to launch a “Smart Health + AI Digital Human” pilot – an avatar triage nurse that answers residents’ health questions and offers medical guidance. This was marketed as Guangdong’s first publicwelfare health AI project in a community setting. Meanwhile, Guangzhou’s banks and fintech companies are testing virtual customer reps. For instance, China Construction Bank’s Guangzhou branch introduced an AI virtual employee on its mobile app to handle basic customer service chats. The Guangzhou Women’s Insurance Co. has “hired” a digital human to explain policy terms to clients via video. These AI staffers provide instant responses and consistent service quality, augmenting the human workforce especially during off-hours.
Known as China’s live-stream e-commerce capital, Guangzhou is leveraging digital humans in retail and tourism promotion. Many local e-commerce merchants use virtual influencers to host live sales streams. AI avatars can pitch products tirelessly and respond to viewer questions, boosting sales conversion. By 2025, nearly 50% of real estate agents in Guangzhou were using AI assistants to generate property tour videos and answer buyer inquiries after hours – one property AI agent “Xiao An” can greet customers and give 24/7 virtual house showings, improving lead capture rates. In tourism, Guangzhou has launched digital tour guides for scenic sites and museums. The “Lingmeixiang” avatar, introduced by a Guangzhou newspaper in 2023, serves as a virtual guide for folk culture museums in the Greater Bay Area. During large-scale events, Guangzhou showcases digital humans as well. For example, at the 2025 National Games (hosted partly in Guangdong), digital human volunteers were deployed in a special “Smart Sports” zone to provide information to visitors via interactive screens. Guangzhou’s Nansha District even hosted the GBA’s first all-virtual idol hologram concert in August 2025, featuring popular virtual singers performing via AR – breaking new ground in entertainment.
Guangzhou has been pioneering policies and standards to guide digital human use. Its 2024 live-streaming compliance checklist was the first local regulation in China to address virtual anchors in e-commerce. The city is actively ensuring that AI avatars adhere to advertising laws, personal likeness rights, and decency codes. Building on this, Guangzhou’s government service center is spearheading the drafting of a provincial standard for AI digital humans in public service (with work to conclude in 2026) to standardize how virtual agents are designed, evaluated, and integrated in government halls. By creating such frameworks, Guangzhou not only protects consumers and citizens but also accelerates the healthy growth of the digital human industry.
Overall, through strong government backing, thriving tech talent, and a culture of innovation, Guangzhou has become a microcosm of China’s “AI + Human” future. The city’s experience shows that when artificial intelligence is embedded in human-like form – with lifelike appearance, speech, and cognition – it can greatly enhance services, engagement, and productivity across domains. As one local tech executive noted, the goal now is to give digital humans not only a “beautiful face” but also an “interesting soul,” combining high-fidelity visuals with true intelligence and emotional resonance. Guangdong and Guangzhou are on the cutting edge of that journey, demonstrating how AI digital humans can amplify human capabilities and unlock new possibilities in the digital economy.
[Jan 2026]
2025
May 30, 2025 – Juchuang Video (矩创视频) announced it is exploring AI digital tour guides and virtual navigation services powered by large language models, after testing multiple mainstream AI models in-house.
May 24, 2025 – Guangdong Southern Telecom Planning & Design Institute filed a patent for a system that uses big data analytics and 5G networks to create emotionally expressive digital humans capable of natural interactions (patent application publication revealed progress in realistic avatar emotions).
May 15, 2025 – Guangdong University of Foreign Studies integrated an AI digital human named “Wang Xiaoxin” into a dual-anchor news broadcast simulation for journalism students, pioneering mixed reality teaching methods in journalism education (virtual anchor alongside a human anchor). Source: University news release.
May 12, 2025 – Guangdong Yinglong Law Firm launched Guangzhou’s first AI legal education digital human system. Two virtual legal instructors, “Xiao Peng” and “Xiao Luo,” now appear as on-screen avatars to explain laws and quiz users, as part of a smart legal education initiative in Guangzhou. Source: Guangzhou Justice Bureau bulletin.
April 25, 2025 – Guangzhou Municipal Industry and IT Bureau officially released the “Sui Xiaoxin” digital human, China’s first AI policy avatar in government service. Sui Xiaoxin provides policy explanations and intelligent Q&A for enterprises through a realistic human-like avatar, marking a new milestone in AI uptake in public administration. (Launched at an “AI Empowering SMEs Going Global” event in Guangzhou.)
Feb 26, 2025 – Yuan Fenshen (元分身, by Tuoyuan Zhihui) unveiled China’s first AI-powered onestop IP video creation platform, integrating its DeepSeek-R1 large model. This platform allows users to generate short videos with AI-synthesized virtual presenters, lowering the barrier for content creation. Source: Company press conference, Guangzhou.
Jan 19, 2025 – Yirun Health Industry (Guangzhou) Co. launched Guangdong’s first community healthcare project combining “Smart Health + AI Digital Human.” A virtual health advisor avatar was deployed at Longjin Community Health Service Center in Guangzhou to offer residents medical guidance and chronic disease management tips, as a public welfare pilot. Source: Southern Daily report.
Jan 2, 2025 – Tuoyuan Zhihui (拓元智慧, Guangzhou) raised 100 million RMB (≈ $13.7M) in a Pre-A financing round to advance its AI digital human technology. The company, known for its “YuanFenshen” digital clones, announced plans to expand applications in consumer engagement, entertainment, and retail sectors.
2024
Dec 30, 2024 – Beijing Yiqiyuan Visual Technology (北京市亦奇元影视) showcased its ultra-realistic digital human solutions that blend interactivity and visual fidelity for metaverse experiences. Their lifelike avatars are being used to transform user experiences in entertainment and online education (demonstrated at a Guangzhou tech forum). Source: Tech.ifeng news.
Dec 20, 2024 – The Guangdong AI General Virtual Teaching and Research Office was established during the 2024 Lingnan Science Forum in Dongguan. This is China’s first provincelevel collaborative platform for research and curriculum development on virtual digital humans, aiming to unite universities and enterprises in advancing digital human technology.
Dec 18, 2024 – At a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao tech forum, experts noted that digital humans are now the most popular AI track in mainland China. Guangzhou and Shenzhen were highlighted for having 1,000+ virtual digital human enterprises each, topping all Chinese cities in this emerging industry. (The forum underscored Guangdong’s six-year streak leading China’s digital economy growth.)
Dec 10, 2024 – Juchuang Video announced progress in AI digital tour guide development. The company is leveraging large models to create virtual guides for tourist attractions and VR navigation, and it demonstrated a VR-based digital tour guide service at a Guangzhou event.
Dec 3, 2024 – iiMedia Research released its 2024 ranking of China’s top 10 virtual live-streamers. “Yue Xiaoman,” a virtual hostess developed by Guangdong Radio and Television, ranked #10 nationally. (Yue Xiaoman is known for co-hosting variety programs and e-commerce streams, exemplifying Guangdong’s success in virtual idols.)
Dec 2, 2024 – The Southern Talent Development Research Institute in Guangzhou showcased China’s first digital human veteran affairs officers. Under guidance from the Guangdong Provincial Veterans Service Center, they created virtual veteran service avatars to help ex-military personnel navigate benefits and services – a first-of-its-kind digital human application in social services. Source: Nanfang Daily.
Nov 8, 2024 – Guangzhou Market Supervision Bureau issued the nation’s first live-streaming ecommerce compliance guideline explicitly covering AI digital humans. The guideline, a “Live-streaming Operations Compliance Checklist,” requires virtual anchors to be legally licensed and forbids using a person’s likeness without consent. This set a regulatory precedent to ensure virtual influencers operate within legal and ethical bounds.
Oct 28, 2024 – Shenzhen Xiaoyi Zhichuang Technology Co. held its 2024 AI Agent Product Launch in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone. The company unveiled new digital human “AI agents” capable of autonomous interaction, targeted at cross-border business services in the Greater Bay Area. Source: Guangdong Macao Daily.
Oct 5, 2024 – Guangzhou Institute of Science and Technology researchers announced an AI-driven system for video game NPCs (non-player characters) that can alleviate player anxiety. Powered by large language models, these smart NPCs in a therapeutic game adjust dialogue and support players’ mental health – showcasing a novel use of digital human AI in wellness gaming. Source: Guangzhou Daily.
Sep 24, 2024 – Guangdong’s health sector launched its first fully-fledged digital human for medical science popularization. Modeled on a renowned local physician, the avatar delivers engaging health education videos. At the same time, the “Thousand Doctors Plan” was initiated – a three-year project to create 1,000 virtual science-popularization doctors with individualized looks and voices. These AI doctors will produce 10,000+ health education clips to be disseminated province-wide.
Sep 5, 2024 – Guangdong Open University reported successful R&D on a real-time interactive virtual idol for campus live-streaming. By combining optical motion capture and inertial sensors, they enabled a virtual mascot to mimic human movements and interact with students during live online events, improving engagement in remote learning. Source: China Education Daily.
June 26, 2024 – Several Guangdong cross-border e-commerce companies revealed that virtual digital humans have become integral to their operations. Lifelike AI hosts in livestreaming sales and customer service contributed to Guangdong’s cross-border e-commerce trade value exceeding ¥843.3 billion in 2023. (Digital humans help these firms run 24/7 multilingual sales sessions, driving exports.) Source: Shenzhen Special Zone News.
July 21, 2024 – Guangdong’s agricultural sector showcased a matrix of AI-driven “digital farmers.” Projects like “Mr. Orchid” (兰先生, China’s first orchid expert AI), “Pineapple Jun” (菠萝 君, an AI for Xuwen’s pineapple industry), “High-Intelligence Lychee” (高智荔, for Gaozhou lychee farmers), and “Puning Meimei” (普宁美梅, for Puning green plums) were all launched, providing intelligent crop advice and marketing help. These digital humans, along with the “Explorer” insurance AI avatar, form a unique “AI+Agriculture” matrix in Guangdong that is boosting productivity and rural innovation.
June 9, 2024 – Sailing Power (赛灵动力, Guangzhou) developed an AI-powered virtual guide for the Guangdong Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum. Using a large language model, the avatar guide can conduct immersive tours of the museum, explaining exhibits in multiple languages and answering visitor questions, all with natural speech. Source: Guangzhou Cultural Heritage Dept. release.
June 3, 2024 – The Early Lingnan Exploration Project in Guangdong leveraged digital human tech to reconstruct ancient humans. Researchers created a virtual avatar representing Guangdong’s earliest known inhabitants (based on the 5,000-year-old Modaoshan archaeological findings) to “bring history to life”. The digital ancient human can move and speak about Neolithic culture, offering an educational interactive exhibit. Source: Yangcheng Evening News.
May 18, 2024 – At the 20th China (Shenzhen) Cultural Industries Fair, Guangdong cultural enterprises showcased digital humans “Ai Wenwen” (AI文文) and “Tong Gujin” (同古今). These avatars, embodying young cultural ambassadors, interacted with attendees and promoted Lingnan heritage, demonstrating how “Culture + AI” is enhancing heritage preservation.
May 17, 2024 – A forum on integrating digital humans into the cultural industry featured Guangdong companies like Frontop (凡拓数创) and others. Frontop described improvements to virtual idols such as KuGou Music’s mascot “Shanbao”, highlighting advancements in motion capture and real-time rendering that make virtual performers more realistic and expressive. Source: Southcn.com news.
Mar 30, 2024 – Guangdong Jinfu Technology Co. (广东金赋科技) filed a patent for a “Virtual Digital Human File Streaming Method and System.” Published in Dec 2024, the patent describes a system for streaming high-fidelity digital human animations with low latency, indicating new technical breakthroughs in avatar delivery over networks. Source: CNIPA patent database.
Mar 11, 2024 – Shanghai Gaotu (Gaotoo) & Yashi Education launched an AI English learning course featuring Hong Kong-American actor Daniel Wu as a digital human English teacher. Using the DeepSeek large model, they created an AI chatbot “Smart Azhu” with Daniel Wu’s likeness and voice to serve as a conversational tutor. This campaign (marketed in Guangdong as well) sparked debate on the effectiveness of celebrity AI tutors in education.
Feb 18, 2024 – At the Shenzhen International LED Expo, multiple Chinese tech firms (incl. Mobvoi) introduced digital human solutions powered by large models like DeepSeek. These included AI-driven virtual anchors, smart customer-service avatars, and “digital employee” prototypes – all demonstrating how large language models can give digital humans more autonomous conversational abilities. Source: Shenzhen Economic Daily.
Feb 17, 2024 – The Shenzhen LED Exhibition also saw companies (e.g. Mengpai Group) integrating DeepSeek AI into their cloud platforms to deploy digital humans for marketing. Visitors experienced virtual salespersons that could engage customers in natural dialogue and AR holographic hosts presenting products, highlighting the convergence of AI and XR in Guangdong’s tech scene. Source: SZNews.com report.
Feb 9, 2024 – A research study from Shantou University Business School (Guangdong) found that AI influencers build user trust through four key factors: a human-like appearance, a sense of autonomy, high-quality advice, and interactive engagement. The study, based on virtual idol fan surveys, indicated that well-designed digital humans can foster strong audience loyalty and credibility. It provided academic validation for the booming virtual KOL (key opinion leader) market.
2023
Nov 19, 2023 – Southern Finance Media Group (based in Guangzhou) unveiled “Nanxi,” its first ultra-realistic 3D virtual news anchor. Debuting on the group’s 7th anniversary, Nanxi was introduced alongside a comprehensive brand upgrade of Southern Finance’s media products. As a hyper-real avatar capable of live facial expression and real-time newscasting via Metahuman technology , Nanxi represents a breakthrough in new media innovation.
Sep 23, 2023 – Guangdong Insight Brand Marketing Group launched “Jiang Xiao Huang,” a hyperrealistic virtual character integrated with a large AI model. Marketed as a “virtual KOL,” Jiang Xiao Huang can autonomously generate content and interact with fans. The project showcases Guangdong marketers’ adoption of AI avatars to engage younger consumers in novel ways (e.g. Xiao Huang’s livestreams and social media interactions are partly AI-driven).
Aug 25, 2023 – Shenzhen SK Electronics Co. revealed a new mini-LED holographic glass for displaying digital humans in three dimensions without headsets. The technology produces realistic 3D projections of virtual presenters, viewable with the naked eye. It was demonstrated with a virtual greeter avatar, hinting at near-future uses like holographic receptionists and performers. Source: Shenzhen High-Tech Fair release.
Aug 22, 2023 – Shenzhen University students won attention at the 9th China International “Internet+” College Innovation Contest with their “Living Heritage” project, which used digital humans to preserve intangible cultural heritage. They created animated virtual figures of folk artisans and historical characters that can demonstrate crafts and tell stories, a creative blend of AI and cultural preservation that resonated with judges. Source: Guangzhou Daily.
Aug 9, 2023 – China Telecom made waves by having a digital human host its mid-year results presentation. The avatar “Xinyi” (新翼) – a next-gen, ultra-realistic digital human – emceed the entire earnings briefing and live Q&A session. This marked the first time a major telecom firm used an AI digital human in an official investor event, showcasing the technology’s maturity in speech, lip-sync, and on-camera presence.
July 29, 2023 – Hushida AI (护视达, headquartered in Guangdong) introduced an advanced platform for creating personalized virtual assistants from real people’s likenesses. Using only a 3-minute voice sample and 5-minute video of a real person, their system can generate a digital human clone that speaks in the person’s voice and mimics their expressions. This technology is being used for virtual customer service and “digital employee” pilots in Guangdong. Source: 36Kr report.
July 14, 2023 – China Unicom Online hosted the “Starry Sky Plan 2023 – AI Digital Human Special Symposium” at Guangzhou Bio-Island. Industry leaders discussed the latest AI avatar innovations and unveiled a “Starry Sky” initiative to incubate 100 AI digital human startups in the Greater Bay Area. The symposium underscored Guangzhou’s role as a gathering point for virtual human talent and investment. Source: People’s Posts & Telecom News.
July 13, 2023 – Tianyancha business data showed 687,000+ registered companies in China related to “digital humans,” with over 106,000 new registrations in just H1 2023. Guangdong led all provinces in the number of digital human enterprises, reflecting its dominance in this sector’s geographic distribution. Guangzhou’s ecosystem of AI studios, XR companies, and content creators was highlighted as a key contributor to these statistics.
May 19, 2023 – Southern Metropolis Daily launched “Lingmeixiang,” the first virtual tour guide for folk museums in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. Lingmeixiang (玲美湘) is a cheerful female digital docent who can guide visitors through museum exhibits via a mobile app or onsite AR kiosks, narrating cultural stories bilingually. This initiative won acclaim for enhancing museum accessibility across the GBA. Source: Nanfang Plus.
Apr 8, 2023 – China Mobile’s Shantou Branch in Guangdong debuted a GPT-powered virtual customer service avatar “Chao Zhixing” (潮知行) at the Chaoshan International Textile Expo. This AI digital human can handle customer inquiries about telecom services in the local Chaoshan dialect and in English, showcasing the use of large language models to enable multi-lingual, regionalized virtual agents. Source: Shantou Daily.
Apr 4, 2023 – iiMedia Research hosted the 2023 (2nd) China Virtual Human Industry Conference and AIGC Innovation Forum in Guangzhou. The conference gathered over 1,000 attendees and featured product releases from over 30 companies. Key trends discussed included the convergence of AIGC (AI-generated content) with virtual idols, and Guangzhou’s plans to build an “industrial cluster” for digital humans and metaverse content. Source: iiMedia report.
Feb 27, 2023 – At the Future Business Exhibition and Conference (FBEC), Hisense’s AR/VR division head Wu Lianpeng presented trends in virtual space and digital human interaction. Using case studies from Guangdong, he demonstrated how mixed reality and AI avatars are changing customer engagement in retail and theme parks. His talk underscored the region’s thought leadership in XR applications of digital humans. Source: Southern VR news.
Jan 1, 2023 – Chinese media noted that over 570,000 virtual human-related enterprises existed nationwide by the end of 2022, with Guangdong hosting the most. Virtual idols made splashy appearances at New Year’s Eve galas – including some co-produced by Guangzhou firms – signaling the breakthrough of virtual entertainers into mainstream events. This momentum carried into 2023, solidifying Guangdong’s reputation in the virtual idol economy. Source: CCTV Year-end Special.
2022
Dec 11, 2022 – In Shenzhen’s Qianhai district, a virtual teacher “Mr. Yuan” (袁老师数字人) conducted a metaverse music class linking students in Guangdong and Hong Kong. This marked the first cross-border educational meta-class using a digital human in the Greater Bay Area. Students wearing VR headsets were taught music theory by the lifelike avatar in a shared virtual classroom, highlighting a new model of distance education.
Nov 26, 2022 – Mobvoi Inc. (出门问问) showcased its latest virtual human technologies at the China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen. It introduced the “Yuan 365” platform (元创岛) – a 3D virtual content creation SaaS that integrates modeling, motion capture, and AI voice to let users easily create virtual live-stream avatars. Mobvoi’s booth allowed attendees to generate a custom digital host and experience running a virtual live broadcast , underlining efforts to democratize virtual human creation.
Nov 14, 2022 – Tuoyuan Zhihui (拓元智慧) debuted its “YuanFenshen” virtual digital human at the Zhuhai Airshow. The avatar, a digital clone of a real aerospace expert, appeared at the Aerospace Ruike Laser booth to present product info and conduct live reporting on the airshow. This demonstration of a digital human as a trade show presenter, in a major aviation expo, signaled virtual humans’ potential in professional and STEM fields.
Oct 7, 2022 – JD Cloud announced a suite of industrial digital human services spanning six major business scenarios: retail, finance, news broadcasting, smart parks, customer service, and healthcare. Leveraging its Yanshi AI platform, JD Cloud’s digital humans had by then transitioned from lab demos to real-world deployments, including virtual shop assistants in e-commerce, a virtual bank teller (the nation’s first “transactional” digital employee in Jiangnan Rural Commercial Bank) , and a virtual news presenter for JD’s media. The move reflected JD (which has a large presence in Guangzhou) scaling up AI avatars for enterprise use.
Sep 8, 2022 – At the 9th Museum and Technology Expo (郑州博博会), Guangzhou’s Wenbo Circle community and Frontop Digital Creative jointly launched a “Wenbo Digital Human Live Studio.” It featured the ultra-realistic cultural avatar “Ban Zhao” co-hosting live sessions with museum experts. Ban Zhao – designed as an ancient Han dynasty scholar – engaged the audience in discussions on digital heritage, illustrating how virtual humans can bridge traditional culture and interactive media.
Sep 1, 2022 – Giantstep Inc. (视涯科技) revealed twin sister virtual idols “Kori” and “Bri” (科莉/布 莉) as a special VFX concept. These avatars boast high-end visual effects and were designed to star in films and advertisements, exploring the boundary between CGI characters and AI-driven digital humans. Their unveiling in Guangzhou underscored the blend of movie-grade VFX with AI interactivity in next-gen virtual stars. Source: Giantstep press.
Jul 14, 2022 – Baidu released “Du Xiaoxiao,” a new generation virtual avatar, which quickly shot to #1 in a national Virtual Human Business Value ranking. (Guangdong contributed heavily to the virtual human rankings, with several Guangdong-born virtual idols in the Top 50.) This highlighted the commercial potential of digital humans – from virtual brand ambassadors to livestream hosts – and foreshadowed an intensifying “virtual human race” among China’s tech giants and startups. Source: Baidu AI report.