Chengduๆ้ฝ
Photo from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA).
Western China's AI-OPC hub. The city action plan (Mar 2026) targets 20 OPC communities, 100 innovative products and 100 demonstration scenarios by end-2027 โ with the lowest cost base among all leading OPC cities.
Best value pick for cost-conscious founders: substantially lower rent and living costs than the coast. General WFOE path for foreigners; the province (Sichuan) is building 30+ OPC communities under its own 2026โ2027 plan.
Policy support by dimension
The Chengdu action plan (26 Mar 2026) drives AI OPC development with a 'double-100' project (100 innovative products + 100 demonstration scenarios); the first OPC community capability list and scenario list were published on 17 Apr 2026.
Action plan, Mar 2026 โChengdu coordinates compute access, scenario landing, government services and finance for OPCs, moving solo founders from 'single-soldier combat' to shared infrastructure.
Action plan, Mar 2026 โProjects that win official challenges (ๆญๆฆ) and pass acceptance receive a subsidy of up to 15% of total project funds, capped at ยฅ10M per project โ one of the largest single-project ceilings in the country.
Action plan, Mar 2026 โThe plan aims for 20 OPC communities by end-2027; the Tianfu TยทOPC community is the flagship, with an OPC financial product push and ecosystem enablement initiatives launched in Apr 2026.
Action plan, Mar 2026 โGeneral WFOE and work-permit path. Chengdu's advantage is cost: office space, talent and daily life are significantly cheaper than Tier-1 coastal cities, stretching runway for bootstrapped founders.
Sichuan province issued its own AI OPC action plan (16 Apr 2026) targeting 30+ OPC communities by 2027, adding provincial-level scenario and funding support on top of Chengdu's city plan.
Province plan, Apr 2026 โRegistration, bank account and bookkeeping โ handled by our team.