TIANJIN — Early morning at a science park in Tianjin, groups of young people streamed into the shared office space, booted up their laptops and kicked off their workday. Among them is Wang Haoquan, an entrepreneur in his 20s and founder of a cultural technology company.

His company is a typical one-person company. Empowered by artificial intelligence tools, Wang handles the entire business chain from video creativity, editing and production to online promotion single-handedly, providing digital marketing services for local merchants.

"Not long after its establishment, the company had already secured clients and achieved preliminary profitability," he said.

In recent years, youth entrepreneurship in China has taken on the characteristics of "light asset and high intelligence". Represented by OPCs, the lightweight entrepreneurship model has emerged in large numbers, becoming a key window into China's innovation vitality.

Differing from the traditional solo startup model, OPC refers to a business form where individuals can complete the full closed commercial loop from product research and development to market launch with the support of AI tools. AI agents help individual entrepreneurs complete multiple work processes that previously required team collaboration. Their joint efforts greatly reduce the barriers to entrepreneurship, allowing more young people to participate.

Since the end of 2025, more than 20 new OPCs — covering fields such as cross-border e-commerce, software development and AI content production — have been registered in the Huayuan science park in Tianjin Binhai High-tech Industrial Development Area.

Though run by individual founders, these companies form a collaborative network in the shared space, where individuals from different backgrounds can exchange technologies and creative ideas in real time to complement each other's resources.

"I majored in art and lack sufficient knowledge in programming and other technical fields, but the OPC founder at the desk opposite is a senior programming expert. When encountering tricky technical problems, we can just look up and communicate face to face," Wang said, noting the vibrant entrepreneurial atmosphere in the community.

"This model retains the flexibility of individual entrepreneurship while possessing certain collaborative advantages," said Sun Lei, head of the park's operator. The platform has formed a service system from initial incubation to enterprise acceleration, providing support for enterprises at different stages of development.

This new trend has caught the attention of local governments across China, with Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jiangsu province and other cities rolling out supportive policies. Longgang district of Shenzhen has issued a policy consultation document for OPC development, with "zero-cost startup" as the core highlight, attracting global AI agent developers and OPC entrepreneurs.

Tianjin Binhai High-tech Industrial Development Area has introduced policies such as office space subsidies and computing power cost support, providing a maximum annual subsidy of 300,000 yuan ($44,250) for OPCs to offset certain costs.

"The development of AI is reshaping the entrepreneurial landscape and we must seize this new track," said Chang Xinyue, director of the new economy bureau of Tianjin Binhai High-tech Industrial Development Area.

The "high intelligence" feature of Chinese youth entrepreneurship is becoming more prominent as a result of technological advancements. In the industrial system of the Haihe laboratory of brain-computer interaction and human-machine integration at Tianjin University and Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, enterprises are developing cutting-edge technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, combining neuroscience and AI for applications in health and other fields.

Industry insiders point out that the new generation of entrepreneurs relies more on knowledge and technological innovation. The technical content and growth potential of the enterprises are substantial, despite their modest size. This innovation-centered entrepreneurship model is becoming a driving force in industrial upgrading.

XINHUA