Pragmatism and Diligence, Brave Responsibility of the Great Province | Breakthrough and Ambition of the Economic First Province Guangdong | Industry | Economy
Guangdong Province is the largest province in China's total economic output. In the first half of this year, Guangdong's GDP exceeded the 6 trillion yuan mark and entered a new growth stage. Under the new situation, how can the largest province in the economy overcome its growth difficulties and break through with high-quality development. Starting more than 40 years ago with the manufacturing industry, Guangdong, which is at the forefront, has begun new thinking and planning.
A few days before the Spring Festival in 2023, the heads of several enterprises in Guangdong received an invitation from the provincial party committee and government to participate in a conference called High Quality Development. The conference was scheduled on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, which is the first day of work during the Lunar New Year.
On January 28th, the Guangdong Provincial High Quality Development Conference was held as scheduled at the Baiyun International Conference Center in Guangzhou, and the international hall, which can accommodate more than 1000 people, was fully booked. Among them, more than 500 corporate leaders were invited to attend the conference. They later learned that the conference was held in the form of live broadcasting in all cities, counties, and districts of Guangdong, with a total of 25000 people attending the conference simultaneously.
The theme of the meeting is very clear - focusing on high-quality development. In the speeches of multiple spokespersons, there is a phrase frequently mentioned, which is "manufacturing is the leader". In fact, at the second plenary session of the 13th Provincial Party Committee held prior to this, Guangdong had determined to "highlight the leadership of the manufacturing industry, plan and promote the construction of a modern industrial system at a high level, and regard the manufacturing industry as an excellent and strong enterprise." However, being able to hear it firsthand on site still inspired many entrepreneurs.
Why should we promote the leadership of the manufacturing industry?
No business, no work, no wealth. As one of the birthplaces of modern and contemporary industry in China, Guangdong is well aware of the importance of manufacturing for a province and even a country. In 2022, the added value of Guangdong's manufacturing industry reached 4.4 trillion yuan, accounting for more than one eighth of the national total. Faced with this proud achievement, Guangdong remained calm. At the provincial high-quality development conference during the New Year, the main person in charge of the Provincial Party Committee made an objective judgment on the situation in Guangdong: "The growth in quantity has reached a platform period, and the breakthrough in quality is still in the brewing period. The gap between us and developed economies is mainly in quality. As long as we achieve new breakthroughs in quality improvement, we can welcome a surge in quantity and start a new round of development and catching up."
He said, "Chinese path to modernization cannot go away from the path of reality to emptiness. It is necessary to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy. Guangdong should always adhere to the principle of building a province with manufacturing industry, pay more attention to the development of the real economy, accelerate industrial transformation and upgrading, promote the upgrading of the industrial foundation, modernize the industrial chain, develop strategic emerging industries, and build a modern industrial system with more international competitiveness."
The earnest instructions from General Secretary to Guangdong have strengthened Guangdong's confidence and determination in adhering to the leadership of manufacturing and pursuing high-quality development, and have also pointed out the direction for stimulating new driving forces and building new advantages for the Chinese economy.
On July 18th, the main economic indicators of Guangdong in the first half of the year were announced. In the first half of the year, Guangdong's new energy development momentum was good, and the proportion of added value of advanced manufacturing in industry reached 55.1%, setting a new historical high. Among them, the advanced equipment manufacturing industry grew by 8.2%. A series of data once again confirms the importance of pragmatic and scientific strategic guidance for development.
Of particular note, in the first half of this year, Guangdong's production of new energy vehicles accounted for 28.74% of the country's total, ranking first in scale. One out of every four new energy vehicles in the country is made in Guangdong. According to the latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first half of this year, China's automobile exports surpassed Japan for the first time, becoming the world's largest automobile exporting country. This is a new height for China's manufacturing industry since the Industrial Revolution.
How can manufacturing get started?
Where did the manufacturing industry establish itself as a province? How to become a leader in the manufacturing industry?
In the face of the historical mission entrusted to Guangdong by the country and the times, Guangdong proposes to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system supported by the real economy, deeply implement the "five major improvement actions" of large industries, large platforms, large projects, large enterprises, and large environment, improve internal skills, stand firm, and achieve not only survival but also great development.
It is not easy to achieve the simultaneous development of traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries. Guangdong's traditional industries have always had a heavy weight, and even in a manufacturing powerhouse like Shenzhen, their proportion is not low. Longgang District is an industrial district in Shenzhen, ranking among the top ten of the top 100 districts in China for five consecutive years. However, many of the more than 2400 large-scale industrial enterprises urgently need to be renovated and upgraded.
Lin Yuanzhuo, Director of the Industrial Development Center in Longgang District, Shenzhen, said that since 2020, technology transformation has been promoted and 70 million yuan of support funds were allocated that year, but the effect was not good.
"In the first year, the money was not spent completely. The company didn't have the motivation to transform and felt that profits were only thin."
After investigation, Lin Yuanzhuo and his colleagues found several large companies in their jurisdiction, and these leading enterprises took the lead in technological transformation and upgrading, which put forward new requirements for the production lines of suppliers. The impetus for enterprise technological transformation came, and the district took the lead in setting up the first industrial Internet entrepreneurship center in the province. At the same time, special plans were issued to give subsidies for technological transformation to reduce the upgrading costs of enterprises. Liu Xinhua is the head of a car parts production enterprise. When the reporter met him, his company had just completed the production line renovation, and it is expected to increase profits by 20% annually. At present, there are more than 1400 enterprises in Longgang District undergoing intelligent manufacturing transformation, with support funds of nearly 200 million yuan. Lin Yuanzhuo said, "I would rather shrink my clothes and reduce my food in other places than consider the long-term development of the enterprise.".
In addition to traditional industries that increase variety, improve quality, and create brands, we aim to build a century old store with a long-lasting business; Guangdong also proposed to focus on building 20 strategic industrial clusters, with a concentrated layout in industries such as integrated circuits, new energy vehicles, and new energy storage, to create a new pillar of manufacturing in Guangdong; At the same time, we will focus on seizing future industries and development heights such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, genetic technology, and deep sea aerospace.
In the fifth batch of national specialized, refined, and innovative "Little Giant" enterprises in the first half of this year, 658 Guangdong enterprises were included in the list. At this point, the cumulative cultivation of national level specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises in Guangdong Province has risen to the first place in the country.
In the manufacturing hub of Dongguan Industrial and Information Bureau, the reporter saw that the office was filled with thick books of information, with important page numbers marked on various colorful sticky notes. Chen Haocheng, the head of the Small and Medium Enterprises Comprehensive Service Department of Dongguan Industrial and Information Bureau, told reporters that each information corresponds to a specialized, refined, and innovative enterprise, which facilitates them to provide services according to the personalized needs of the enterprise.
"Once the enterprise develops well, more people can find employment. I think this is our responsibility."
A big guy has a big responsibility
Responsibility, this is a word that the reporter has heard more than once in this interview. As Guangdong, which has ranked first in GDP among provinces in China for more than 30 consecutive years, it also corresponds to the Cantonese saying: "A big guy has a big responsibility.".
Taking industrial projects as the starting point to promote industrial acceleration has become one of the ways for Guangdong to seek new breakthroughs. The heads of relevant departments in the province are conducting research on "grasping projects" everywhere. Wu Hong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangdong Province, told reporters, "Only with major breakthroughs can there be great development. In the first half of this year, good results were achieved, and a large number of engineering projects were implemented."
From integrated circuits, to green petrochemicals, and then to new materials, major projects that have started construction one after another exhibit a distinct "manufacturing priority" feature. Since the beginning of this year, Guangdong has accelerated the construction of nearly 500 key manufacturing projects, with a total investment of over 1.3 trillion yuan. 70% of the annual planned investment has been completed from January to July.
Not long ago, the "Opinions of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Guangdong Provincial People's Government on Building a Strong Manufacturing Province with High Quality" were issued, which established the overall "roadmap" and "construction plan" for Guangdong to adhere to the principle of manufacturing as the leader and accelerate the construction of a strong manufacturing province. By 2027, the added value of the manufacturing industry will account for over 35% of the regional gross domestic product, and the added value of the manufacturing and productive service industries will account for 65%. In each numerical indicator, it is clear that Guangdong, the largest province in China's total economic output, has ambitious goals.
Strengthening the foundation of being a leader, accumulating the ability of being a leader, and flourishing the momentum of being a leader, Guangdong's manufacturing industry is standing up as the backbone of modernization construction. By solidly focusing on this year, focusing on 5 years, and further cultivating for 10 or 30 years, we will surely be able to create a new Guangdong and create new miracles that will impress the world.
