Industry plays a vital role in economic development. At the beginning of the 2024 Chinese New Year, Guangdong has not only implemented a series of strategic emerging industry projects but has also been planning to create an industrial technology innovation center with global influence. In Guangdong, a relay race towards high-quality development, accelerated cultivation of new productive forces, and accumulation of new momentum for future development has been initiated.

Tackling major challenges in enterprise innovation

The key to developing new productive forces lies in technological innovation. What is the current status of Guangdong's technological innovation? The independently cultivated "Zhongxing No.1," a new prawn variety, has broken the monopoly of foreign sources, while Asia's first deepwater jacket platform "Haiji One" has been put into operation. Furthermore, the production milestone of 6 million new energy vehicles was achieved by BYD. Meanwhile, China's first purely commercial photomask production line, Guangdong's first silicon carbide production line, and two 12-inch wafer manufacturing lines have been put into operation. These examples epitomize the strength of technological innovation in Guangdong.

What are Guangdong's strongest abilities in innovation? For a long period of time, the strong innovation capability of enterprises has always been a prominent advantage of Guangdong's industries. According to data from the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, approximately 90% of research institutions, researchers, R&D funds, and patent applications in Guangdong come from enterprises. Furthermore, it is estimated that there will be over 75,000 high-tech companies and more than 76,000 science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the province.

The path to innovation also lies in attracting talents. Implementing incentive policies catering to talents introduced in cooperation platforms like Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha, and Hetao, as well as Shenzhen being selected as a pilot city for national sci-tech talent evaluation reform, are both measures taken by Guangdong to attract talents. As of now, 277 provincial-level new R&D institutions have gathered 23,000 full-time researchers, providing services to approximately 120,000 enterprises.

Enhancing industry competitiveness through manufacturing upgrading

Industry is the main field for applying innovation, where the "world's factory," Guangdong, is demonstrating strong vitality. By 2023, the added value of industries above the designated size in Guangdong is expected to reach 4.13 trillion RMB, with a year-on-year growth of 4.4%, while the added value of 20 strategic industry clusters accounts for 40% of GDP. Among them, the added values of new energy vehicles, integrated circuits and optoelectronic devices have grown by 83.3%, 23.8%, and 17.9% respectively. With the rise of numerous new and traditional industries, Guangdong's confidence in industry advancement is solidified.

Emerging industries such as intelligent manufacturing and digital services are driving the cross-domain integration of traditional industries. In the Zhongshan production base of Hongrita, a Hong Kong-funded enterprise, the production process of the digital and intelligent workshop for health products, from feeding, part processing, to transportation, can be achieved without human operation, all in a fully automated manner, even with the lights turned off.

The "green revolution" sparked by technological innovation has continuously increased the environmental friendliness of the "Made in Guangdong" products. For example, the western area of the Midea Industrial Park in Foshan has transformed itself into a carbon-free park through process optimizing, equipment upgrading, and the use of green energy.

A set of data reveals the industrial changes brought by technological innovation across the province: in terms of digital transformation, around 5,000 enterprises above designated scale in Guangdong have successfully achieved digital transformation in 2023 through industrial cluster digital transformation projects; in terms of green transformation, comprehensive green manufacturing has been implemented, with the creation of 400 national-level green factories, 11 green industrial parks, and 80 green supply chain management enterprises.