A recent investigation has revealed that a digitalization project in Qujing, Yunnan Province, has ended in failure, with a government-backed app attracting an average of just 60 daily active users despite a total investment of nearly 50 million yuan.

The "Digital Qujing Operations Center," which was responsible for building the city's "Urban Brain" and the "Qujing Tong" app, now sits empty. A street survey conducted by reporters found that most local residents were unfamiliar with the "Qujing Tong" application.

According to the Qujing Municipal Data Bureau, the app's daily active user count hovered around 60 as of the end of 2025. The project originated in 2021 when local officials, impressed by Hangzhou's successful "Urban Brain" governance model, initiated a bidding process to attract corporate investment. This led to the restructuring of the Qujing Digital Economy Company, with the government jointly developing the "Urban Brain" through service procurement.

Lacking internal technical expertise, local authorities delegated technical validation and solution leadership to an external enterprise. The company proposed a comprehensive "Urban Brain" plan, even though government officials were unclear about how such a system should actually be implemented.

After its completion, the "Urban Brain" failed to generate user adoption. The "Qujing Tong" app saw negligible usage, and the "Unified Network Management" platform also fell short of expectations. Despite this, the local government continued to pay nearly 30 million yuan in operating fees for three consecutive years.

In 2025, a disciplinary inspection team from the Qujing Municipal Committee identified that the "Urban Brain" project posed a risk of wasting fiscal funds. Consequently, the Qujing government decided to cease payments to the operator, and the Municipal Data Bureau terminated its contract agreement with Qujing Digital Company, officially ending the "Urban Brain" project.

In March 2026, "Qujing Tong" was fully removed from major mobile app stores, permanently discontinuing all services. In total, the project consumed 29.7 million yuan from the municipal fiscal budget and 17 million yuan from local state-owned enterprises, bringing the total local investment to 46.7 million yuan.