Civil workers on duty at Jincheng's smart coordination center. [Photo by Tian Fei for China Daily]

In the 1,700-square-meter hall of Jincheng's administrative center, a 155-sq-m display screen hanging on the wall displays data and images relating to the Shanxi city's management.

Near the screen, dozens of civil workers are on duty, which includes answering calls to the 12345 city hotline, receiving requests for administrative approval and handling affairs relating to healthcare and community management.

This establishment is called Smart Jincheng Coordination Center, the first intelligent urban management and operational center for a prefecture-level city in Shanxi province.

Founded in 2019, the center has developed more than 20 applications for city management and is called "the brain of Jincheng city", according to local officials.

Through a 5G network, cloud computing and big data processing facilities, the center has collected more than 700 million pieces of information in areas including population, business entities and macroeconomic statistics, officials said.

Through more than 4,300 5G base stations, it has branched out to every corner of the city.

Residents can now feel the convenience brought about by the smart city system, any time and any place. Checking traffic information, paying bills for water, gas and electricity, and applying for administrative services can all be handled online.

The benefit of a smart city management system can also be felt in the remote villages.

Wang Jianfei is a head of a rural farming cooperative in the village of Tielu. Every day before getting to work, he takes out his smartphone and clicks an e-farming icon.

"Our farms are no longer the conventional ones you find elsewhere," Wang said. "They are digitalized farms."

He explained there are a lot of sensors around the farms to monitor things like air temperature, soil moisture and fertility. "They are connected to the city's agriculture bureau, where experts analyze the data and give us suggestions on farming through the phone app."

In addition to city management, digitalization is also popular in the local business community.

Jingang Group, a local steelmaker, has developed a whole-process digital platform for various operations.

"Through an integrated system for production and sales, our product delivery period can be shortened by 15 percent compared to several years ago," said Chen Guanghai, a company executive. "Digitalization has also led to a 5 percent increase in production efficiency and a 2 percent improvement in product quality."

Coal producers in Jincheng are now using digital technologies to upgrade their mining shafts. There are a total of 151 intelligent smart mining shafts under construction, with 69 becoming operational.

Jincheng's digitalization move is backed by 10-plus local companies specializing in digital technology development.

Anheng, a digital tech company in Jincheng, for instance, has built a data safety operational platform to serve the needs of governments and institutions.

The number of digital tech companies is expected to grow substantially in the years to come as the city is planning for the construction of 10 digital-related industrial parks.

Wang Tianxiao contributed to this story.