Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Anhui government discuss how to develop China Speech Valley over the next five years during a meeting in Beijing on July 31. [Photo/WeChat account: hefeigaoxinfabu]

A development plan for China Speech Valley, the first national industrial park to focus on intelligent speech and AI, was discussed during a meeting between the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Anhui government on July 31.

The two sides jointly established China Speech Valley in 2012 in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone, and plan to jointly boost its annual revenue to between 300 and 500 billion yuan ($43.2 to 72 billion) as part of the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

He Shushan, vice governor of Anhui, said China Speech Valley is expected to register 100 billion yuan by the end of this year and be home to over 1,000 enterprises.

During the meeting, six programs to develop China Speech Valley gained support from both sides, including a plan to build a national intelligent speech center, to promote advanced manufacturing in the AI field, and to help leading enterprises develop software projects.