Southwestern China’s municipality of Chongqing will be developed into Asia’s largest smart city, said Hu Xiaoming, president of Alibaba Cloud Computing under China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Hu spoke during the Computing Conference 2018, held in Chongqing on Aug. 24. Alibaba Cloud Computing will offer comprehensive methods to boost the intelligentization of Chongqing, including cloud technology, artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things and block chain, he explained.

At the conference, Hu, together with an official from Chongqing municipality, launched a smart parking management system. The AI system, based on cloud computing, big data, and the internet of things, will enable citizens to gain access to the nearest parking spaces in the shortest amount of time, offering more convenient services regarding both spot-finding and payment.

Information of every parking lot in the city will be linked online, so the transportation department will have better control and planning of traffic, thus improving efficiency and easing traffic congestion.

Alibaba Cloud Computing also joined with China’s Center for Information and Industry Development under the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as with local government, to establish an online platform for enterprises.

The platform offers safe, efficient and low-cost solutions for enterprises. An auto part manufacturer based in Chongqing has already benefited from the system. Its lead time has been reduced by over 20 percent, and its overall quality has improved by 5 percent.

The platform will be connected to one million industrial devices in the next three years and help intelligentize over 4,000 enterprises within five years.

Alibaba Cloud Computing noted that it will also integrate intelligentization into each link of the tourism industry including catering, transportation, accommodation, entertainment and shopping. Smart applications and management will better facilitate guests visiting the city.

Hu added that his company will build a big data institute with the help of 14 universities in Chongqing, and train 3,000 big data professionals in the coming three years.