China's cities court AI filmmaker Zhu Zhili

Zhu Zhili's experience two years ago was simple: Shenzhen was the one clear choice for an AI film studio, thanks to its tech ecosystem. That has changed. He now fields calls from officials in cities and industrial parks across China, from major metropolitan areas to smaller localities, each making the same pitch to host his AI film business.

The courtship is notable because it runs in the opposite direction from the usual site-selection story, where a company shops for incentives. Here, the officials are doing the calling, and Zhu says the approaches come every day. The article does not name any city, subsidy or agreement, so it is unclear whether the interest reflects a broader push or is concentrated around a small set of known AI filmmakers.

What the outcome hinges on is whether any of these pitches converts into an actual move or a new facility. For AI filmmakers and small AI production studios, the volume of inbound interest may give them more leverage in choosing a base, though the body offers no terms to judge that by. The next thing to watch would be a named city or a concrete commitment from Zhu, neither of which the article provides.