An agreement signing ceremony for building iFlytek's AI base in Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone is held in Hefei. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

Leading Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm iFlytek plans to build an AI research and development and production base (Phase I) with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($315,126,454) in Hefei.

The base will be located in the Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone where iFlytek is headquartered. iFlytek and the zone government have recently signed an investment cooperation agreement for building the Phase I project of the base.

The Phase I project will cover about 250,000 square meters, and will focus on business-related matters of iFlytek headquarters such as the application of AI in education and smart city construction, consumer business, a core R&D platform, and an AI open platform.

The project is expected to help attract more upstream and downstream enterprises from the AI industry to the zone and give a boost to the development of the tech industry in Hefei and Anhui province.