Liaoning scraps its rusty past to shine as hub of innovation

Robots manufacture a passenger vehicle at a factory of Siasun Robot and Automation Co in Shenyang, Liaoning province, last month. (LI XULUN/XINHUA)

In a smart factory of major steelmaker Ansteel in Anshan, Liaoning province, not a single worker can be seen on the entire production line.

Staff are predominantly engaged in data monitoring, enabling the workshop to function seamlessly, even in the dark.

"Effectively promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is a challenging task that must be tackled to drive the comprehensive revitalization of Liaoning in the new era," said Hao Peng, Party secretary of Liaoning.

Vigorous efforts being made to propel traditional industries toward high-end development will establish a solid foundation for the construction of a modern industrial system characterized by integrity, advancement, and safety, he said.

Liaoning, one of China's first major industrial bases, boasts a wide range of industries and sectors such as equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, and mining, and played a significant national role in the country's development.

However, many traditional manufacturing enterprises in Liaoning now urgently need to revitalize their core operations due to a lack of competitiveness and limited industrial structures.

"Focusing on intelligent initiatives, we support enterprises in digital empowerment and acceleration of the innovative development of the industrial internet," said Hao, adding that transforming and upgrading enterprises will help traditional industries grow stronger and larger, and achieve high-quality growth.

Liaoning is developing new productive forces tailored to local conditions and focusing on building a modern industrial system featuring the province's distinct advantages, Hao said.

With government support and assistance, Ansteel, or the Anshan Iron and Steel Group Co, has successfully undertaken its transformation. The steelmaker has completed intelligent upgrades on 55 production lines, with CNC (computer numerical control) application to key processes exceeding 80 percent.

Notably, projects such as intelligent mining, dark — or fully automated — factories, and 5G plus smart steelmaking have become benchmarks for the intelligent transformation and upgrading of numerous traditional industries in Liaoning.

Liaoning Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology data indicates that the pace of digitalization in traditional industries in Liaoning is accelerating. Nearly 90 provincial-level industrial internet platforms have been established in the province, with 222 digitalized workshops and 115 intelligent factories established.

Emerging industries

Liaoning boasts unique geographical advantages, a solid industrial foundation, and abundant innovation resources, providing great potential for the northeastern province to develop new quality productive forces, said Lu Yangxu, an analyst at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.

"The cultivation of new productive forces should be tailored to local conditions and leverage comparative advantages effectively," he said.

Lu suggested the province expand and strengthen emerging industries, enhance the leading role of enterprises in innovation, and stimulate innovation across various enterprises.

Liaoning is currently focusing on the development of 10 strategic emerging industry clusters. Among them are robotics and artificial intelligence, software and information technology services, integrated circuit equipment, biopharmaceuticals and advanced medical equipment, and new energy, according to Provincial Development and Reform Commission sources.

Shenyang's robotics and intelligent manufacturing industry is one of 45 state-level advanced manufacturing clusters.

Siasun Robot and Automation Co, a leader in robotics, is exploring "robot plus AI" applications.

Established in 2000, the Shenyang-based company focuses on robot technology and intelligent manufacturing solutions. It exports products to over 40 countries, and provides services to over 4,000 international companies.

At the company's exhibition hall, a diverse collection of cutting-edge intelligent products is on show. Among them is an AI robot that can engage in real-time conversations with people and attempt to read their emotions.

Zhang Jin, president of Siasun, said the company is gradually developing robots as core support for intelligent manufacturing. Advanced productive forces will also be developed to upgrade traditional industries, foster and strengthen emerging fields, and lay out future industries.

In the first quarter of this year, Liaoning saw rapid growth in the production of high-tech products. Production of industrial robots increased by 8.5 percent year-on-year, integrated circuit equipment by 31 percent, and new energy vehicles by 46.5 percent, according to Provincial Development and Reform Commission sources.

At Yingkou Jinchen Machinery Co, over 60 CNC machines process a variety of components in a factory workshop spanning 10,000 square meters.

The company is a global leader in producing facilities that make highly efficient photovoltaic cells and parts, and has over 210 customers in more than 20 countries and regions.

Jinchen's executive vice president, Qi Haishen, said the company had taken a path "empowering it toward new productivity". Since its establishment, Jinchen has focused on new fields and industries, and transformed and developed products through its own innovation.

Also located in Yingkou, Kanghui New Materials Technology Co is breathing new life into the polyester materials industry. Using cutting-edge polyester synthesis technology, the company is building an industry-leading production base for film materials, lithium battery separators, high-performance engineering resins, and biodegradable new materials.

A smelter of the Ansteel Group operating in Anshan, Liaoning. (PAN YULONG/XINHUA)

Driven by innovation

Two new ethylenediamine production lines with independent core technologies recently commenced operations at an industrial park on Changxing Island, Dalian.

The lines produce essential fine chemical products, high-quality compounds that are made in relatively small quantities using complex chemical processes.

The production lines were jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and local enterprises.

"Through technological innovation, we have rapidly industrialized scientific achievements, reduced production costs, and enhanced the competitiveness of downstream fine chemical industry chains," Chen Jianhua, chairman and president of Hengli Group Co, told China Central Television.

Dalian's well-structured technological innovation platform is helping new products and technologies swiftly transit from the laboratory to the broader market.

The northeastern port city has established 115 national-level scientific innovation platforms, and nearly 900 provincial and municipal-level key laboratories, technology innovation centers, and innovation platforms.

"High-quality development must adhere to innovation as the driving force, focusing on laying out an innovation chain around the industrial chain and vice versa, swiftly transforming technological innovation achievements into tangible productivity," said Cheng Nan, director of the technology and standard institute at the China Center for Information Industry Development, a think tank in Beijing.

Staff members have a discussion at the Ansteel Group's Ironmaking Central Control Center in Anshan on June 15. (ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY)

Jinpu New Area

In Dalian's Jinpu New Area, China's 10th State-level new area, the outdoor exhibition area of Mixwell Technology (Dalian) Co showcases various vehicles such as hydrogen fuel cell refrigerated trucks and passenger vehicles. Adjacent to them is a boat featuring the company's power system.

"This hydrogen fuel cell boat is equipped with our complete power system, jointly developed by Dalian Maritime University, Mixwell, and the DICP," said Ji Guancheng, general manager of the company.

Since its establishment in 2016, the national-level high-tech enterprise has focused on research and development of its hydrogen fuel cell power system.

The company has experienced rapid growth and its hydrogen fuel cell system is widely used in various vehicles, including buses, passenger cars, and heavy-duty commercial vehicles.

The Jinpu New Area is leveraging its industrial, resource, and technological innovation advantages to help develop the hydrogen energy industry, and collaborating with research institutes such as the DICP to promote scientific research.

It is also boosting exchanges and cooperation with the hydrogen energy industry at home and internationally, and attracting high-quality projects and talent to accelerate the development of the hydrogen energy industry.

In the Dalian High-tech Zone, Dalian Rongke Power Co, a service provider for vanadium redox flow batteries, is playing a pioneering role in the global energy storage industry. VRFBs are an emerging technology being developed for the effective storage of renewable energy.

The company said it has built the world's largest intelligent manufacturing base for such equipment. "Our products are widely utilized in areas such as grid peak shaving, renewable energy grid connection, and industrial and commercial microgrids," said Wang Xiaoli, Rongke's general manager.

Hydrogen energy and energy storage are important sectors in the development of emerging industries in Dalian.

By 2023, the scale of strategic emerging industries in Dalian had reached 386.68 billion yuan ($53.21 billion), a year-on-year increase of 13.2 percent, according to the Economic Daily. The value-added amount of strategic emerging industries reached 116.54 billion yuan.

Chemicals used to produce high-tech batteries to more effectively store renewable energy are displayed at Dalian Rongke Power Co. in Dalian, Liaoning. (ZHANG LEI/XINHUA)

Pharma flourishes

In Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, Sunshine Pharmaceutical Co, a leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, has a slew of products already on the market and undergoing research.

"Currently, we have 28 products in the pipeline, with nearly half of them first-class new drugs," said Yuan Jie, assistant general manager of the company.

The company places great emphasis on independent research and development, focusing on the development of new drugs to treat kidney disease, tumors, autoimmune diseases, and for metabolic therapies, Yuan said.

Neusoft Medical Systems Co, a leading manufacturer of medical equipment and services, is also taking great strides in innovation.

Thanks to its latest high-end CT equipment, a patient can complete CT scans, image analysis, and surgery in 15 minutes in some cases.

"This device enables a one-stop diagnosis and treatment process," said Han Donglong, senior vice-president of the company. "Previously, patients needed to be moved between medical devices, whereas now the medical devices revolve around the patient, seizing the optimal treatment time," he explained.

Through collaboration with top-tier hospitals and the use of AI technology, the company has developed multiple intelligent diagnostic tools to enhance the quality and efficiency of medical imaging diagnosis.

The rapid development of Sunshine Pharmaceutical and Neusoft Medical is a microcosm of Shenyang's efforts to build a biopharmaceutical industry cluster and accelerate the cultivation of emerging industries.

In 2023, the biopharmaceutical and medical equipment industry in Shenyang achieved an industrial output value of 28.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4 percent, data showed. The city also nurtured three national-level enterprise technology centers.

Liaoning is also forming a strategic emerging industry system with multiple areas including new materials and new energy.

Visitors watch a robot writing Chinese calligraphy at Siasun's base in Shenyang. (ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY)

Province-wide growth

Benefits from Dalian and Shenyang, described as the "twin engines" driving the development of strategic emerging industries in Liaoning, are radiating across the province.

Other cities in Liaoning have accelerated the push toward new quality productive forces by nurturing technology-based enterprises.

In Panjin, Liaoning Zhonglan Electronic Technology Co, an optical electronics manufacturer that produces focus motors and optical lenses, is building a small industrial park centered around its research and production base.

The company hopes to attract upstream suppliers to the park for collaborative development, and the formation of an optical electronics industry cluster.

In Dandong, Dongfang Measurement and Control Technology Co has developed major technological breakthroughs for the mining and construction industries.

The company has achieved intelligent mining with unmanned driving, smart dispatching, intelligent monitoring, and safe operational procedures that can improve efficiency by up to 15 percent.

Optimized intelligent ore dressing, done without the need for workers, has reduced the cost of this process by 5 to 10 percent. It has also achieved significant energy savings and emission reductions compared with traditional ore dressing, which involves the mechanical separation of ore from other minerals.

"The key to high-quality development in Liaoning lies in innovation-driven growth," said Yang Hui, deputy director of the Liaoning Department of Science and Technology, adding that the province's innovation ecosystem is continuously improving and increasing in momentum.

"The greatest variable of technological innovation is being transformed into the greatest factor driving high-quality development in Liaoning," he added.