Mayor Kang Gijeong Meets President Ma Yanming: "Strengthening Cooperation"
Positive Signals for 'AI Phase 2'... "Aiming to Become Asia's AI Hub"
Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung visited Zhejiang University, a leading Chinese university specializing in artificial intelligence talent development, on the afternoon of the 25th (local time). He discussed cooperation plans for AI talent development with President Ma Yanming and took a commemorative photo afterward. Provided by Gwangju City
Gwangju City has officially launched a global initiative to become not only the center of artificial intelligence (AI) in South Korea but also an AI hub for Asia. Following the establishment of a friendly partnership with Hangzhou, the heart of China’s AI industry, Gwangju has now opened the door to full-scale cooperation with Zhejiang University, renowned as a cradle for AI talent development, thereby accelerating the creation of a global AI ecosystem.
This is seen as a strategic move that comes amid a series of positive developments for the AI industry, including the exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the “AX Demonstration Valley,” the core project of Gwangju’s AI Phase 2 initiative, which has a total project cost of 600 billion won.
On the 25th (local time), Mayor Kang Gijeong and the Gwangju City delegation visited Zhejiang University in China, where they met with President Ma Yanming and other officials to agree on expanding cooperation for AI talent exchange between universities in Gwangju and Zhejiang University. Zhejiang University, an elite institution and a member of the “C9 League”-China’s version of the Ivy League-is a key hub of the university-centered startup ecosystem, having produced founders of leading Chinese AI unicorns such as DeepSeek and DeepRobotics. Approximately 300 Korean students are currently enrolled at Zhejiang University.
During the meeting, President Ma Yanming stated, “I am well aware that Gwangju is building itself as Korea’s AI hub. We hope to share Zhejiang University’s advanced information technology with Gwangju and to facilitate exchanges so that more students from Gwangju can benefit from our educational resources.”
Mayor Kang Gijeong, referring to recent visits by Zhejiang University students to Gwangju, said, “The success of the AI industry depends on talent, and the example of Zhejiang University clearly shows that universities must be at the center of the startup ecosystem. We hope to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields such as culture and science, and as we are in an era where talents from diverse disciplines are converging, we look forward to enabling talent exchanges with Zhejiang University as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, starting with this cooperation with Zhejiang University, Gwangju City plans to accelerate the creation of a “virtuous cycle AI ecosystem” that attracts world-class AI talent and enables them to contribute to revitalizing the regional economy through entrepreneurship and growth. Furthermore, similar to Zhejiang University’s joint curriculum initiatives, Gwangju is also considering discussions with local universities to introduce a “mandatory AI literacy course” for all students, thereby strengthening basic AI competencies across all departments.
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