Written by 36Kr

“For elite founders, deciding whether to target the domestic or international market—where to raise funds, which users to serve, where to register the company—is a cautious decision. For grassroots entrepreneurs, there’s only one correct answer: go where the money is.”

“But to find the second wave, you needed to venture away from Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen—into less prominent places.

Take Yiwu, for example, a county-level city famous for its small commodity market, hardly associated with high-tech innovation. The winds of AI didn’t sweep into some investment committee meeting room or plush office building here. Instead, walk into a fancy restaurant, and you’d likely see young locals with tablets and wine glasses, demonstrating AI-generated product images for shopkeepers in a private room.

According to Tianyancha, the number of AI startups in Beijing and Shanghai declined on a percentage basis between 2023 and 2024, while it increased in non-first-tier cities such as Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, and Hubei.”