“Using artificial intelligence, our team can identify urban land use changes and development simultaneously, helping managers make scientific urban plans and making city operations smoother and more efficient,” said Thawatchai Boonlert (transliteration), a professor at Mahasarakham University in Thailand, on March 30. He noted that his team plans to leverage Guangxi’s opportunity to build a core hub for “AI+Smart City” cooperation with ASEAN, and enter the China-ASEAN National AI Application Cooperation Center (referred to as the South A Center), allowing their project outcomes to be more widely applied in the ASEAN market.
Scene from the technical exchange conference of the 2026 “AI for All: China-ASEAN” Super League (A-League)— “Smart City” Development and Innovation Competition. (Photo by Lin Hao)
The technical exchange conference of the 2026 “AI for All: China-ASEAN” Super League (A-League) — “Smart City” Development and Innovation Competition was held on the same day in Nanning, Guangxi. The project developed by Thawatchai Boonlert’s team won a third prize in the university category of the competition.
During the event, Laos-China Electric Power Investment and Development Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement with the Guangxi Urban-Rural Planning and Design Institute to jointly build a smart rainwater resource utilization project in Laos. Dethsongkham Thammavong, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Transport of Laos, stated in his speech that promoting the application of AI technology in regional urban construction is crucial to strengthening cooperation between ASEAN countries and China. Laos hopes to collaborate with Guangxi to improve the quality of urban-rural planning, enhance disaster warnings, optimize urban waste disposal and sewage treatment solutions, and promote smart urban development.
Leang Monyrith, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction of Cambodia, noted that the entries in this competition demonstrate the potential of AI in areas such as smart buildings, community services, and urban governance. Cambodia hopes to conduct joint research with relevant teams, implement pilot projects, and promote smart city construction through professional training.
Some cooperation projects signed at the event. (Photo by Lin Hao)
Xu Xianhui, Vice Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that Guangxi and ASEAN share common concerns and needs in the face of challenges to urban development such as climate change, urban waterlogging, and environmental pollution. Guangxi is willing to work with ASEAN nations to deepen cooperation in key areas such as smart city technology breakthroughs, interoperability of standards and regulations, and sharing of application scenarios, so as to accelerate the promotion and application of smart city achievements.
Guangxi will also intensify its “AI+” initiative, focusing on key areas such as urban health checks, urban renewal, and property services, encouraging increased R&D investment from all sectors of society and speeding up the efficiency of transforming achievements into practical applications.
Guests present awards to competition winners. (Photo by Lin Hao)
It is reported that the Guangxi A-League – “Smart City” Development and Innovation Competition is China’s first “AI+Smart City” special competition targeting ASEAN countries. It encourages participants to use AI technology to solve difficult problems in urban construction and governance. A total of 1,382 entries were received, with 252 winning awards. The competition is notably international in character, professionally relevant, and efficient in translating results into practice. In addition to Chinese participants, finalists also came from ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. A total of 86 application scenarios or products in the housing and urban-rural development sector have been put into practical use, and a number of companies have settled in industrial parks, bridging the “last mile” from innovation to real application.
Yang Lvfeng, Director of the Guangxi Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that in the future, the competition will continue to build a regular exchange platform, promote more Chinese smart technologies and Guangxi smart solutions to be implemented in ASEAN, and help Guangxi become a core hub for China-ASEAN smart city cooperation. (Reporters: Lin Hao, Wang Yizhao)
