Across China, a novel business model is rapidly emerging that removes headwinds for young entrepreneurs. AI has facilitated the rise of registered one-person companies (OPCs)—essentially allowing individuals to be the business themselves. Generative tools have made it easier than ever to launch a startup, and incubators are already seeing development potential.

According to a recent report by the Zhongguancun Talent Association in Beijing, metropolises such as the capital, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have increasingly become the top destinations for OPCs, particularly for their science and technology parks. Government support, a growing talent pool, and the popularization of AI are among the factors attracting one-person companies and helping them grow.

In Beijing's Haidian district, ZGC AI North Latitude Hub, an artificial intelligence industry community, is taking shape with the vision of building the world's top AI ecosystem.

Dong Bo, president of Kr Star Innovation, which operates the incubator, said the hub works closely with nearby universities to help graduates transition smoothly into the job market. He argues that the hub's resources and connections make it an ideal ecosystem for OPCs and scaling enterprises to develop their business models.

To empower them at various stages, the hub helps with company registration and legal consultation. Additionally, it organizes salons, industry exchanges, and technology-matching events with leading tech firms. Training courses on AI tool applications are open to internal and external participants, while regular events are held to bring businesses and investment institutions together. At present, over 20 OPCs reside in the hub.

According to the Zhongguancun Talent Association report, the number of one-person limited liability companies in China, primarily in the digital economy and service industries, exceeded 16 million nationwide as of June 2025. The number of newly registered OPCs reached 2.86 million in the prior six months, surging 47 percent year-on-year.

Wu Zhen is representative of the trend. As the founder of an intelligent virtual performance platform, he joined the hub in January. Introduced as a digital performance solution during the pandemic, the platform now supports a wide range of applications, including stage-based educational courses, motion capture, AI-generated short films, and AI virtual idols.

Wu said being an OPC allows him to retain creative control while outsourcing specialized and repetitive tasks to AI. It already helps him with copywriting and content generation, visual and video creation, basic software and web development, and other creative endeavors.

Wu said the core advantage of OPC lies in its speed and adaptability. Entrepreneurs must remain agile and iterative, especially in an era where AI makes any successful approach repeatable nearly instantly. "In the age of AI, what's truly scarce is not the ability to execute, but judgment, aesthetic sensibility, and long-term narrative vision," he said, adding that he believes the OPC model is here to stay.

Meanwhile, OPCs are prospering in other regions. In Y/OUR SPACE, a flagship offline developer hub and co-working community in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, a novel AI startup named Skillverse is quietly taking shape.

Founded by Mei Xiaodong, Skillverse is building an AI-powered app designed to solve the anxiety of not knowing one's true worth or potential in a market that threatens to make human labor obsolete. It acts as a diagnostic and growth platform that dissects a user's skills into a detailed, game-like "attribute panel", revealing latent talents and micro-competencies. "The ultimate goal is to help users understand their unique value and chart a path to enhance and monetize their abilities," said Mei.

AI is an invaluable partner for Mei, acting as CTO, designer, and engineer in the business operation so that the entrepreneur can focus on strategic decision-making. This synergy is embodied in Skillverse's development, where coding and user interface designs were co-created with AI.

"In an era where AI tools evolve faster than human learning, continuous skill development is the key to maintaining relevance," said Mei.

With a clear market vision, Skillverse is setting its sights on an international launch, targeting an annual recurring revenue of $1.5 million as its first milestone to validate the business model.

Yang Cheng and Chen Ye contributed to this story.