Nanchong, Sichuan: Moving towards the 'new' and forging the backbone of modern industry

On the afternoon of January 5th, the Information Office of the People's Government of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province held the third press conference of the Nanchong "Winning the 14th Five Year Plan and Accelerating the Construction of the Provincial Economic Sub center" series in the conference hall of the Nanchong Economic and Information Bureau, introducing the main achievements of Nanchong's modern industrial system construction during the 14th Five Year Plan period.

At the press conference, Yu Zhen, Director of the Economic and Information Technology Bureau of Nanchong City, introduced to the media the main achievements of the construction of the modern industrial system in Nanchong during the 14th Five Year Plan period, and answered questions from the media about the achievements of Nanchong in building circles and strengthening chains in recent years. Tang Humeng, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Bureau of Nanchong City, Lv Chong, Deputy Director of the Office of the National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zone Management Committee of Nanchong City, Zhao Wenju, Deputy Director of the Commerce Bureau of Nanchong City, and Xian Yongxian, Deputy Director of the Data Bureau of Nanchong City, respectively answered questions from the media about the strengthening of the main position of enterprise scientific and technological innovation, the construction of agricultural modernization industrial system, the expansion of foreign trade scale, and the cultivation of digital economy enterprises in Nanchong City.

It is reported that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, the city will deeply implement the concept of "industry oriented, industry leading", actively implement the breakthrough action of new industrialization, and focus on building a "3+2+3" modern industrial system - this path will make the industrial backbone increasingly strong and the development quality continue to be consolidated. Out of every 7 new energy commercial vehicles on the road nationwide, 1 is produced here; The chip resistor ceramic substrate and fiber optic ceramic plug produced by it have been successfully selected as national manufacturing industry single champion products; The PTA project with an annual output of one million tons has become the exclusive "chain core" for undertaking upstream key raw materials in the region. From cutting-edge achievements such as high-altitude zero carbon living quarters and M-LED new display chips, to traditional cuisine that sells well nationwide with the help of modern industrial energy, all demonstrate the distinct posture of this land's "moving towards the new".

Especially since last year, local policies, forces, and resources have been concentrated in the industrial sector, and significant results have been achieved through quarterly industrial project "competition and training" and innovative implementation of capacity utilization improvement actions. From January to November last year, the city's industrial tax revenue increased by 23.7% year-on-year, becoming the largest local tax source. During the same period, industrial electricity consumption increased by 7.2% year-on-year, and the tax electricity index reached 107.7, higher than the provincial average. A series of indicators confirm the vigorous vitality of the real economy, especially the industrial economy.

Behind this vitality is the upgrading and upgrading of industrial clusters. Focusing on industries and categories locally, promoting the strong rise of emerging fields such as electronic information, vacuum industry, and industrial mother machines. One of the new energy vehicle characteristic towns has been established as a national level technology enterprise incubator; Six industrial clusters have been included in the provincial-level characteristic industrial clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises; What is even more commendable is that the vacuum equipment industry cluster has achieved a "zero breakthrough" in the national level industrial cluster and successfully joined the "national team". In the field of hydrogen energy, which represents the future direction of energy, a complete industrial chain has been established from preparation, storage, transportation, refueling to application, and related power generation technologies have reached the international advanced level.

High quality enterprises are growing rapidly like mushrooms after rain. Last year, there were 75 newly added industrial enterprises above designated size in the month, setting the best level for the same period since the establishment of the Minglu database. The total number of "specialized, refined, special and new" enterprises at or above the provincial level has reached 139, of which 52 were newly added last year, setting a historical high in the number of new additions. Three companies have been selected for the national 5G factory directory. Through deepening campus local cooperation with well-known universities such as Sichuan University, Wuhan University, and University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, a number of projects such as the demonstration and application of the Zhongke hydrogen energy industry chain have been successfully included in the national unveiling and pilot demonstration, while projects such as the "Vacuum Chamber for Space Simulation" have been included in provincial major projects.

The platform level of the industrial park carrying the industry is also rapidly improving. At present, the industrial park covers an area of 91.5 square kilometers, with 4.125 million square meters of standardized factories and a utilization rate of up to 92%. We have created multiple national platforms, including 2 national green parks, 1 national demonstration base for new industrialization industries, 1 national innovation demonstration base for small and micro enterprises, and 1 national science and technology enterprise incubator park. One of the chemical industrial parks has been selected as one of the top 100 in China for two consecutive years, and a high-tech zone has passed the defense of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to create a national high-tech zone. Through a series of measures such as building virtual power plants, photovoltaic energy storage facilities, and striving for direct natural gas supply, the average price of industrial electricity in the park has decreased by 8.8% compared to the previous year, and gas prices have decreased by more than 7% year-on-year.

The effect of industrial integration is increasingly prominent. The local government actively promotes integrated development around the integration of secondary and tertiary industries. There are 251 large-scale agricultural product processing enterprises, including 3 national leading enterprises. The cumulative capacity of various storage and cold chain logistics facilities has exceeded 230000 tons, and the low-temperature processing rate has reached 25%. Two economic development zones have been rated as provincial-level agricultural product processing parks, and one cross electric industry park has been rated as a provincial-level growth park.

The driving force behind this series of changes is a systematic thinking called 'building circles and strengthening chains'. Taking this as a guide, the core lies in building a strong innovation chain, activating the capital chain, and cultivating a strong talent chain around the industrial chain. In the industrial chain, the automotive parts industry chain has strengthened its resilience by launching new vehicle models, implementing power battery projects, and attracting 54 component companies; Effective extension of the chemical and textile industry chain; The high-end equipment industry chain has emerged as a rising force. On the innovation chain, a 260 million yuan innovation special fund pool has been established, and multiple industry university research platforms and innovation research institutes have been jointly built with universities. The first batch of 15 research and development projects have been set up in the fields of electronic information, artificial intelligence, and medical engineering intersection, and 20 research and development projects have been set up in the field of new materials, with plans to build a national low altitude economic innovation center. In the capital chain, we have implemented the policy of "using investment to guide investment" and established seven industrial funds. From January to November last year, the balance of industrial loans increased by 14.3% year-on-year, with manufacturing loans growing by 26.2%. In the talent chain, we have sorted out the list of scarce talents and implemented the policy of "bringing talents into enterprises". We have recruited 110 master's and deputy senior professional title talents for enterprises and promoted the physical operation of characteristic industry colleges.

Strengthening the dominant position of enterprises in technological innovation is another key lever. Through precise cultivation, the number of high-tech enterprises in the local area has rapidly increased from 109 five years ago to 283, with a growth rate of 159.6%. Accumulatively undertaking over 600 national and provincial science and technology plan projects, receiving support funds of 239 million yuan. We have established 46 municipal key laboratories, built 84 provincial-level and above innovation platforms, and successfully obtained approval to establish provincial-level artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zones. Through the establishment of joint special projects between departments and cities, deepening five-year cooperation with universities in Chengdu and Chongqing, and holding major science and technology docking activities, more than 650 enterprise technology requirements have been released and 312 key technical problems have been solved.

The position of agricultural "ballast stone" is more stable. The local government adheres to the foundation of agriculture and has built 5.78 million mu of high standard farmland, with a stable grain planting area of over 8.5 million mu and a yield of over 3.2 million tons. The annual output of live pigs exceeds 5.6 million heads. Around the production supply chain, deep processing chain, brand value chain, and factor support chain, we have built 800000 acres of commodity vegetable bases, 800000 acres of late maturing citrus bases, and 300000 acres of sericulture bases, cultivating 272 leading agricultural enterprises at or above the city level. The practice of the "Global Organic Demonstration Zone" has been selected as a typical global case, and the regional public brand has attracted 375 enterprises to join. Two products have been selected for the national brand plan. The compiled price index for late maturing citrus and silk helps to grasp market pricing power.

The pace of opening up to the outside world is firm and powerful. After breaking through the billion yuan mark in 2023, the total import and export volume of foreign trade will reach 13.82 billion yuan in 2024, which is 3.9 times that of the end of 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 40.3%. The foreign trade work has received provincial government supervision and incentives for two consecutive years. There are 156 foreign trade enterprises with actual achievements, and trading partners spread across 166 countries and regions. Continued implementation of open platforms: The pilot zone for coordinated reform of free trade has completed 40 reform tasks; The bonded logistics center has achieved a total of 4.27 billion yuan in import and export through its closed operation; After the approval of the Cross border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone, the cumulative transaction volume reached 16.56 billion yuan. The international logistics channels are constantly expanding, and international trains bound for Europe and Southeast Asia have achieved stable operation, with a total value of about 1 billion yuan in goods transported by trains and international truck trips.

The new track of digital economy for the future is being carefully laid out. The total added value of the core industries in the local digital economy has ranked fifth in the province, with 151 core enterprises above designated size. Next, we will adhere to the "dual wheel drive" of external attraction and local cultivation, with the construction of digital economy industrial parks, the implementation of major "smart city" projects, and the establishment of data groups as the starting points, striving to form a development pattern led by more than 3 leading enterprises and supported by more than 200 core enterprises above designated size by 2027.

The horn of the new journey has been sounded. Local authorities have stated that they will continue to grasp the current development status and direction, gather joint forces, carry out in-depth actions to improve production capacity utilization, accelerate chain extension and supplementation, build circles and strengthen chains, promote characteristic industries to move towards high-end, intelligent and green development, and continuously enhance their visibility and attractiveness as industrial development highlands and factor cost depressions. (Yi Qinghai, Tang Min)