Провинция Шаньдун нацелилась на 10 000 AI-предпринимателей за три года

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of Shandong Province, together with 11 other government agencies, published the "Action Plan for Supporting the Innovative Development of AI OPC" in July 2026. The document establishes state support for a new type of business — entrepreneurship in which one person with AI tools replaces a traditional team of employees.

What is AI OPC

OPC stands for One Person Company. In the Chinese interpretation, this is not freelancing in the conventional sense: AI OPC means that an entrepreneur uses large language models, agents, and automation instead of hiring a team. Marketing, development, customer support, analytics — all handled by one person with AI.

According to the official portal of the Shandong provincial government, authorities intend to make this model a "new type of market entity" and nurture such entrepreneurs through infrastructure, incentives, and training.

Program Targets: 100, 1,000, and 10,000

The program is structured around three orders of magnitude:

• 100 specialized hubs — venues with clear functions and ready-made infrastructure
• 1,000 AI startups — technologically advanced companies with high growth potential
• 10,000 entrepreneurs — professionals who have fully transitioned to the OPC model
• 12 provincial agencies are jointly implementing the plan — from the industrial bloc to specialized agencies

Authorities are targeting three major cities — Jinan (the provincial capital), Qingdao, and Yantai. The hubs are planned to be established on the basis of already-operating facilities: digital economy parks, advertising technology parks, network audio-video broadcasting centers, and dual-use incubators.

"The goal is to build one hundred clearly positioned and functionally

rich specialized venues, cultivate one thousand technologically advanced entrepreneurial entities with high growth potential, and gather ten thousand outstanding AI OPC innovators," — as stated in the official action plan of the Shandong government.

Why This Matters for the Market

In 2024–2025, China recorded a sharp surge in interest in AI tools among individual entrepreneurs — especially in marketing, media, and software development. According to 36Kr, AI-powered "super solos" are one of the key trends in the Chinese labor market. Shandong, with a population of over 100 million, became the first region in the country to introduce a government regulatory framework for this model.

The focus on existing infrastructure is a deliberate choice: authorities want not to build new campuses but to load underutilized venues in existing parks. This reduces the program's cost and accelerates its launch.

What This Means

Shandong has effectively legalized the term "AI OPC" at the level of state policy. If even a thousand new companies of this type emerge within three years, other Chinese provinces will likely copy the model. For the global market, this is a signal: China is building institutional support for AI-powered "super solos" — not as a pilot, but as a full-fledged economic strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is AI OPC and how does it differ from self-employment?

AI OPC (One Person Company) is a legally registered single-person company whose owner uses AI tools instead of hiring employees. Unlike freelancing, an OPC entrepreneur carries limited corporate liability and can scale the business without growing a headcount.

Which cities in Shandong are participating in the program?

The program covers the three largest cities in the province: Jinan (the capital), Qingdao, and Yantai. New hubs will open not from scratch, but on the basis of already existing technology parks and incubators.