China Speech Valley debuts advanced artificial intelligence products in Hefei in July 2018. [Photo/IC]

Anhui province pledged to develop its intelligent voice industry by increasing the industry’s production value from 65 billion yuan ($9.68 billion) in 2018 to 80 billion yuan this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the provincial government set the goal at a conference in Beijing on April 2 and will jointly build an advanced industrial cluster for the development of voice-activated technology in Anhui province.

As  the only national industrial base focusing on intelligent speech and artificial intelligence, China Speech Valley in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone is regarded as the key in forming the industrial cluster.

In 2018, China Speech Valley attracted 433 enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 102 percent, and 16 companies of them each revenue exceeded 1 billion yuan.