AI drives boom in one-person companies nationwide

A one-person company owner works at an industrial park designated for OPC businesses in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on March 25. GENG YUHE/FOR CHINA DAILY

As artificial intelligence tools become cheaper, smarter and easier to use, they are helping more Chinese entrepreneurs turn personal expertise and online followings into one-person companies (OPCs), building lean businesses powered by digital platforms and AI-driven productivity.

For Wang Yao, founder of an OPC built around her online personal channel "Wiley", the appeal lies not in scale, but in flexibility and low risk.

Through social media content sharing personal growth, life abroad and cost-effective ways to improve productivity, Wang's channel has attracted over 100,000 followers on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, and has built a business centered on consulting services and brand partnerships.

"The company operates in a very healthy way because it has zero debt, low costs and high flexibility," Wang said, describing her business model as the monetization of "trust-based traffic".

Wang said more people are beginning to realize that entrepreneurship no longer necessarily requires large teams, venture capital or corporate backing.

"People are gradually discovering that you don't have to join a major company or pursue fundraising and IPOs," she said. "One person can still build a decent business through their own skills and influence."

The content creator added that the rapid development of AI tools has become a major factor behind that shift.

"I do not need to hire copywriters, designers or video editors. AI has taken on these roles. That keeps the marginal cost of running my OPC extremely low and allows me to test new content directions or business models with very low risk," she said.

"The growing abundance, accessibility and usability of AI tools are key to one person becoming a team," said He Xia, a former chief engineer at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Current AI tools can cover functions from software development and daily searches to image generation and audio-video production, and AI agents such as OpenClaw are also lowering the coding threshold and bringing opportunities for entrepreneurs with little technical background, said He.

The trend is now reshaping China's entrepreneurial landscape. According to the China OPC development trends report (2025-30) released by the Zhongguancun Talent Association in February, the number of OPCs nationwide had exceeded 16 million by June 2025, accounting for 27.4 percent of all enterprises in China.

In the first half of 2025 alone, China registered 2.86 million new OPCs, up 47 percent year-on-year and accounting for nearly a quarter of all newly registered businesses.

Still, analysts also cautioned that AI alone cannot guarantee long-term business success.

"Many people focus only on AI's impact on productivity while overlooking that in the 'human plus AI' model, the human remains the core competitive factor," said Zhou Guangsu, a professor at Renmin University of China's school of labor and human resources.

Zhou said that while AI can help entrepreneurs rapidly build products and applications, commercialization still depends heavily on business judgment, market insight and resilience under pressure.

Pan Helin, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said OPCs should not become a purely symbolic trend.

"What matters is substance over form," Pan said, adding that lowering transaction costs, improving the business environment and strengthening talent-support policies will be key to the sector's sustainable development.