(Yicai Global) Jan. 24 -- Chinese computer vision pioneer SenseTime Group has purchased a stake in state-backed industrial park developer Lingang Holdings to deepen their collaboration on smart facilities.

A unit of the camera equipment maker has bought a 1.3 percent stake in Shanghai-based Lingang to become its ninth-biggest shareholder, the corporate property developer said in a statement recently.

Lingang and SenseTime will team on areas including the digital economy, computer vision, and immersive interaction to advance the digital transformation of industrial parks, Shanghai Securities News reported today, citing insiders.

Lingang is the main developer of Lingang Industrial Area which was added to Shanghai's free trade zone in 2019 to advance the development of integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and aerospace.

The timing is strategic. Today, SenseTime announced that one of Asia’s largest artificial intelligence data centers, located in Lingang, has begun operations. The AI company invested CNY5.6 billion (USD884.5 million) in the project that started construction in July 2020.

SenseTime got listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last month, raising about HKD5.6 billion (USD719.2 million), the largest sum for a Chinese AI company so far. Before the initial public offering, the firm garnered USD5.2 billion via 12 funding rounds, according to its prospectus. The Hong Kong-based company was founded in 2014.

Lingang Economic Development Group Asset Management and persons acting in concert will hold 59.1 percent of the target firm after the transaction, down from almost 60.2 percent, according to the statement.

Lingang’s stock price [SHA: 600848] slid 3.8 percent to close at CNY15.02 (USD2.40) after climbing 3.8 percent on Jan. 21.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi