Innovation Leading, Transformation and Quality Improvement, Overseas Development - Manufacturing Industry Chapter of Mid year Economic Research Tour - Scale | Manufacturing | Economy

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 18 (Xinhua) - Innovation Leading, Transformation and Quality Improvement, and Overseas Development - Manufacturing Industry Chapter of Mid year Economic Research Tour

Xinhua News Agency reporter

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on the 17th, the added value of industries above designated size in the first half of the year increased by 3.8% year-on-year, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the first quarter, and overall maintained stable growth.

Recently, Xinhua News Agency reporters went to Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Chongqing and other places to conduct research and saw a group of manufacturing enterprises on the spot, leading by innovation, transforming and improving quality, and expanding overseas, pushing forward and striving towards high-quality development. They truly felt the confidence, confidence, resilience, and potential of economic development.

Under pressure, industries climb high and move against the trend

At Sanbao Group Co., Ltd. in Zhangzhou, Fujian, the reporter saw a special type of steel bar - corrosion-resistant steel bar. This is one of the company's flagship products, successfully opening up the blue ocean in the industrial field.

"Fujian is a major maritime province with many coastal buildings. The service life of corrosion-resistant steel bars is more than twice that of ordinary steel bars, and the production cost is only one-third higher than ordinary steel bars," said Lin Jun, Secretary of the Party Committee of Sanbao Group.

Faced with challenges such as weakened demand, falling prices, and rising costs, China's steel industry has been under significant pressure since the beginning of this year. Many steel companies are adapting to changes, increasing quality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. This has also become a microcosm of the current pressure on China's manufacturing industry.

Currently, the global economic recovery is weak, with major economies suppressing high inflation, tightening monetary policies, and exacerbating global demand contraction. The Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for June was 47.8%, marking the fourth consecutive month on month decline. Domestic demand needs to be further restored. In June, the Purchasing Managers Index of China's manufacturing industry was 49%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, but it is still in a contraction range.

In this context, it is not easy for China's manufacturing industry to achieve steady growth. In the first half of the year, among 41 major industrial sectors, 26 industries with a scale above achieved growth in added value, with a growth rate of 63.4%. The automobile manufacturing industry, railway, shipbuilding, aerospace, and other transportation equipment manufacturing industries, as well as the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry, are showing good growth momentum.

Since the beginning of this year, a number of stable economic policies have continued to show their effects, and various regions have intensively launched measures to support the development of the manufacturing industry. It is with the support of policies and the efforts of various sectors of the industry that the industrial economy has maintained a momentum of recovery and development. The growth rate of added value of industrial enterprises above designated size in the first half of the year accelerated compared to the first quarter, with year-on-year growth rates of 3.5% and 4.4% in May and June, respectively, showing a trend of monthly recovery.

"The overall growth of industrial production has remained stable, the structure is optimizing, new driving forces are gradually strengthening, and the quality of development is steadily improving." Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, said that in the first half of the year, the added value of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by 6.5% year-on-year, contributing 53.9% to the growth of all industries above designated size, strongly supporting the recovery of industrial production.

The steel plate enters and the whole vehicle exits, and one heavy-duty truck is produced every 4 minutes, of which one-third is an electric heavy-duty truck. At the Sany Heavy Truck Super Factory in Changsha, there are only 110 staff members in a 220000 square meter factory, which increases the information efficiency by 10 times compared to traditional factories.

"Although the market faced some pressure in the first half of the year, it is expected that the growth rate will further accelerate in the second half." Wang Yi, Deputy General Manager of Sany Heavy Truck Electrification Company, said that with the continuous promotion of major project construction in the second half of the year, he is confident in achieving the goal of a 1.5-fold increase in annual sales.

Journalist research has found that in the context of weak demand, the manufacturing industry is constantly moving towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, with a clear trend of leading new demand with new driving forces.

Entering the corporate museum of ANTA Group, products rich in "black technology" such as "tonnage level" weightlifting shoes, "hydrogen" running shoes weighing only 99 grams, and "ice shark skin" that can prevent cutting on the Winter Olympics field are overwhelming.

"Setting up five major R&D centers globally and recruiting a large number of sports science PhDs to join..." Focusing on industrial development is the greatest confidence. "Li Ling, Vice President of ANTA Group, said that in recent years, she has successively acquired international brands such as Feile and Yamafen, achieving a transformation from" going global "products to brand and capital going global.

From upstream materials to end products, the reporter felt in the research that enterprises live because of "new", and industries change because of "new". In the first half of this year, investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 11.8% year-on-year.

Entering the workshop of Hunan Zhongda Chuangyuan CNC Equipment Co., Ltd., workers are busy assembling and debugging large machine tools. Machine tools using high-speed dry cutting technology can process a set of spiral bevel gears every 5 minutes.

The product performance is comparable to world-class, but the price is only 60% of imported... After 10 years of research and development and 3 iterations, Zhongda Chuangyuan's gear grinding machine has continuously achieved technological breakthroughs and is widely used in fields such as aerospace, automotive, and power equipment.

"The company's annual R&D investment accounts for 17% of its sales revenue. High end products and innovative products have become important sources of profit," said Yue Mingqiang, Chief Engineer of Zhongda Chuangyuan. The latest spiral bevel gear grinding machine produced by the company has been in short supply since its launch at the beginning of the year, and is expected to drive a 50% year-on-year growth in the company's performance.

"We need to seize the time and space to transform as soon as possible" and "maintain a competitive advantage in quality and performance, shifting from sales to profit focus"... Journalists have found that in the face of pressure, manufacturing enterprises are more determined to persist in innovation and accelerate their pace towards the high-end of the industrial chain value chain.

Chasing the "Cloud" and Following the "Number" to Accelerate Digital Transformation

"Unmanned factories" produce continuously 24 hours a day, "robot colleagues" take on heavy tasks, and "transparent production lines" monitor full process operation data... More and more factories across the country are presenting such scenes.

Chongqing Xiaokang Power Co., Ltd., located in Changshou District, Chongqing, can produce one engine per minute on its production line. The workshop is busy with automated equipment such as robots, unmanned transport vehicles, and infrared detection.

"Through these intelligent devices, we can achieve real-time collection of process data such as distribution and gluing, with an accuracy rate of 100% for fault diagnosis, a 67% reduction in mold replacement time, and a 50% increase in efficiency." Enterprise leader Ling Qinghai said, "The efficiency of the workshop production line has increased by 10 times, and the unqualified rate has decreased by 89%.".

Making industrial equipment "connected", production processes "visible", and quality management "precise", digital transformation is becoming a key support for the transformation from "Made in China" to "Made in China".

Jiahe County in Hunan Province is known as the "hometown of casting", mainly consisting of small and medium-sized enterprises. In recent years, the Jiahe County Casting and Forging Industry Cluster Promotion Center has collaborated with Shugen Internet to carry out digital transformation of 10 enterprises in the park, reducing energy consumption costs by 4 million yuan annually.

Li Jianjun, Secretary of the Party Group of the Science and Technology and Industrial Information Bureau of Jiahe County, said that through the big data system, we can intuitively and clearly understand the energy consumption situation of each enterprise, achieve real-time monitoring and data verification, and provide a reliable source of data for decision-making plans.

"At present, the root cloud platform of Shugen Internet has connected over 1.2 million industrial equipment, with total industrial assets of over trillions of yuan, helping nearly a thousand companies in more than 20 industries achieve digital upgrades." said He Dongdong, CEO of Shugen Internet.

The reporter deeply realized in the research that digitization is a "must answer question" for enterprise transformation. Especially in the current face of pressure and challenges from costs and markets, it is even more necessary to improve efficiency and reduce costs through digitization, and seek space from lean management.

The latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that as of now, nearly 8000 digital workshops and intelligent factories have been built in various regions. Among them, more than 2500 have reached a maturity level of level 2 or above in intelligent manufacturing capabilities, and have basically completed digital transformation.

During the journalist's research, it was found that many small and medium-sized enterprises are also facing the threshold of transformation. At present, Hefei city contacts professional institutions to provide free digital transformation consulting services for small and medium-sized enterprises. In Quanzhou, the "Industrial Doctor" database composed of 27 experts from various units has provided research and development design, business management, production and manufacturing services to more than 500 enterprises.

From encouraging the industrial Internet to enter the park, carrying out the cultivation of SME characteristic industrial clusters, to expanding the application scenarios of artificial intelligence, big data and other applications in industrial production, governments at all levels have introduced a series of measures to solve the problems of SMEs, such as "they can't transform, they can't transform, and they dare not transform".

Enterprises Expanding the Road to Win Opportunities in the New Development Pattern

By diversifying the international market and resolving reliance on traditional markets, we can explore new markets through innovation investment and increase the pace of high-tech products going global. During the investigation, the reporter found that many manufacturing enterprises are hedging risks and seizing opportunities in grasping the new development pattern.

"These seemingly indistinguishable powders can become a new source of power for new energy vehicle power batteries." Walking into the Ningde Times Innovation Laboratory, Wei Yimin, director of the Digital Intelligence Research Center at the 21C Innovation Laboratory, led a team to test the latest developed sodium ion battery materials and accelerate the overseas layout of high value-added products.

In the first half of this year, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 6.66 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. Among them, the "new three types" represented by electric passenger vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells performed well: a year-on-year increase of 61.6%, driving an overall export growth of 1.8 percentage points. In response to demand pressure, industrial enterprises are striving to expand overseas markets and upgrade their exports.

Enterprises such as Hongxing Erke, Tangren Clothing, Fangyuan Shoes and Clothing, and Keren'er Clothing have successively visited markets in the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and other places to investigate... Based on two markets and two resources, enterprises have increased their efforts to explore overseas markets while focusing on the domestic market, breaking through and seeking opportunities in the new development pattern.

A few days ago, at Weihai Guangtai Airport Equipment Co., Ltd., Weihai Customs officers processed the processing and trade manual early closure procedures for a batch of exported aircraft tractors. This batch of aircraft tractors has been exported to Singapore and put into local airport ground operations.

"In the face of an international environment full of new risks and challenges, the company closely follows the countries along the" the Belt and Road "and RCEP members to develop new maps, and while consolidating the traditional market, it is also actively exploring emerging markets." Xu Hui, general manager of the International Business Department of Weihai Guangtai Airport Equipment Co., Ltd., said that the company has exported 77.3 million yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of about three times over the same period last year. At present, hand orders have been scheduled to the end of 2024.

The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that they will continue to strengthen the supply of stable growth policies for key industries, increase support for foreign trade enterprises in the manufacturing industry, ensure key foreign-funded enterprises and project services in the manufacturing industry, and strive to stabilize the export of industrial products.

"The manufacturing industry, which is deeply integrated into the global division of labor system, is seizing opportunities in the new development pattern." Yang Guangpu, Director of the Research Office of the Macroeconomic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that China's manufacturing industry has obvious systemic advantages, and the foundation of innovation driven development is constantly stable. The construction of a modern industrial system is accelerating, coupled with China's unwavering expansion of opening up to the outside world, especially through institutional opening up to promote high-level opening up to the outside world, it continues to smooth the domestic and international dual circulation, which provides solid support for the steady recovery and high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry.