Hefei's China Speech Valley becomes national innovation hub

The Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone, also known as China Speech Valley – located in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province – is regarded as being a crucial innovation platform for the intelligent speech industry in the country.

As the first national industrial base focused on artificial intelligence, China Speech Valley has transformed the industry through the establishment of platforms and the construction of ecosystems, providing key support services to enterprises.

Tech giant Huawei, the global user of intelligent terminal voice technology, sources it from iFlytek, which is based in China Speech Valley.

To date, the zone has amassed over 30,000 patents, with a growth rate of around 47 percent between 2015 and 2022.

Over the past decade, it has shaped its technological innovation advantage through a platform mindset. It has built national-level innovation platforms, such as the National Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence Open Innovation Platform and the National Intelligent Voice Manufacturing Innovation Center.

Overall, China Speech Valley has continuously maintained its international leadership in intelligent voice technology and is said to have made breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technologies such as image recognition and cognitive intelligence.

In the last five years, it has won over 60 world championships in various international competitions in the AI field.

Indeed, last year China Speech Valley achieved its goal of being home to over 2,000 enterprises and total revenue hit 205 billion yuan ($28 billion).