In the production workshop of Jilin Universal Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Universal Machinery), rows of robotic arms line up neatly, while AGVs shuttle back and forth. The goal of a "lights-out factory" is rapidly moving from blueprint to reality.

In Changchun, amid the profound restructuring of the automobile industry, both OEMs and enterprises across the supply chain for auto parts are proactively responding to changes and seeking transformation. Like Universal Machinery, they are accelerating the pace to explore new fields such as new energy and high-end intelligent manufacturing.

Universal Machinery produces 40 million auto parts annually across various categories, with its aluminum forging lightweight segment generating an additional 500 million yuan in annual output value. As a leading private auto parts enterprise, Universal Machinery continues to ramp up its investment in intelligent manufacturing and R&D. The company has established an overseas R&D center in Munich, Germany, to keep pace with cutting-edge international technologies, and engaged in synchronous R&D and supporting production with leading global car companies including Audi and BMW. It has strengthened cooperation with enterprises such as BYD, Geely, and Xiaomi, further improved automotive lightweight technology, and enriched its product matrix. All these efforts jointly drive the high-quality development of the lightweight auto parts industry.

The biomedicine and life-health industry is among the four strategic emerging industries that Changchun strives to develop. During this period, key enterprises represented by GenSci have been making concerted efforts in both R&D and commercialization, with innovative outcomes gaining rapid momentum. As of July, the company has launched over 30 products on the market, with more than 40 clinical pipelines under development, including over 35 Class 1 new drugs. With substantive breakthroughs in its internationalization strategy, the company has completed overseas licensing for its self-developed product GenSci098, marking a milestone in its license-out agreement. An upfront payment of 70 million U.S. dollars has already been received and global multi-center clinical trials have been concurrently initiated.

Under a multi-pronged development framework, Changchun's optoelectronic information industry is also accelerating its march toward the goal of becoming a new pillar industry. In April this year, Gpixel was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Leveraging the empowerment of international capital, Gpixel continues to develop the high-end image sensor, achieving notable market expansion in key areas such as inspections for high-end industries, lithium batteries, and printed circuit boards. In the first half of the year, both its operating revenue and net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company recorded steady growth. In particular, it has reached a strategic cooperation with the international high-end camera brand Leica Camera AG to customize high-performance CMOS image sensor chips, which marks that Changchun's optoelectronic chip technology has gained recognition from the international high-end market. With a firm focus on building "China's Optoelectronics City," Changchun is accelerating the cluster development of the optoelectronic information industry, centering on six key areas: high-end semiconductor manufacturing, satellite technology and applications and the low-altitude economy, optoelectronic sensing and instruments, optoelectronic materials and displays, laser technology and applications, and automotive electronics. The industry's move toward higher ends of the industrial and value chains continues to gather pace, and the cluster-based development is taking shape.

From advancing the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries such as automobiles, to racing to seize new tracks in biomedicine and optoelectronic information, the one-after-another industrial breakthroughs reflect the systematic synergy of the innovation-driven ecosystem, robust project support, and "intelligent upgrade and digital transformation" of Changchun's industries.

In recent years, Changchun has vigorously sought changes and spared no efforts in driving transformation and accumulating new growth drivers, actively cultivating new quality productive forces and making the most of space and momentum from emerging industries. In the first half of this year, the city's equipment manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and optoelectronic industries recorded year-on-year growth of 8.6 percent, 5.2 percent, and 23.4 percent, respectively.

Enhancing the Supporting Role of Industrial Innovation

Changchun has newly developed 1 national-level manufacturing pilot-scale testing platform, 5 key pilot-scale testing platforms under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and 3 provincial-level manufacturing innovation centers. A continuous stream of innovative achievements has emerged. The 66Ah sulfide all-solid-state battery cell has completed real-vehicle testing, the CR450 electric multiple unit (EMU) has entered the small-batch production stage, the Jilin-1 satellite constellation has accumulated 161 satellites in orbit, and the embodied AI products "Zhuri" and "Zhuiyue" have been officially released.

Accelerating the Integration of Digital and Real Economies through "Intelligent Upgrade and Digital Transformation"

A total of 401 small and medium-sized enterprises across the city have achieved Level 2 or above in the national digitalization assessment. In the first half of the year, 2 provincial-level future factories and 14 provincial-level intelligent factories were added, highlighting their leading role in industrial transformation. Changchun is expediting the implementation of the national pilot program for new technological transformation and applications. Over 10 projects, including the Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Factory of the CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles (hereinafter referred to as CRRC Changchun), were selected as national-level demonstration projects such as the MIIT's 5G Demonstration Factories. Generating a total industrial investment of over 10 billion yuan, Changchun has successively built 4 national-level outstanding intelligent factories, 10 provincial-level future factories, 55 intelligent factories, and 74 digital workshops, in addition to 111 projects recognized as excellent provincial-level transformation projects.

Expediting the Expansion of New Market Spaces

In the first half of the year, Changchun's industrial export delivery value grew by 7.3 percent year-on-year. By coordinating with partner cities such as Baicheng and Songyuan, Changchun is actively promoting synergies such as "Green Power + Hydrogen Energy" and "Green Power + Computing Power," facilitating the overseas expansion of green ammonia and methanol and green computing power.

Strengthening the Momentum of Industrial Development

In the first half of the year, Changchun's industrial fixed-asset investment increased by 17.7 percent year-on-year. The 30 key projects in "China's Optoelectronics City" and the 60 key projects in "Changchun Yongchun Biomedical City" are advancing on schedule, gathering new momentum for Changchun's high-quality development.

Going forward, Changchun will unswervingly follow the path of high-quality industrial development, formulate the "15th Five-Year Plan" industrial layout at a higher level, and accelerate the modernization of its industrial system characterized by the concurrent development of multiple industries and the mutual promotion of diverse sectors. Consolidating its industrial foundation, Changchun will go all out to support the transformation of the automotive industry toward intelligent connected and new energy vehicles, drive the iterative upgrading of CRRC Changchun's CR450 EMUs, maglev, and hydrogen-powered trains, and further strengthen and enhance its new energy, new equipment, and new materials sectors. Delving into its strengths in advantageous fields, Changchun will focus on optoelectronic information, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, leveraging the development of new economic functional zones such as "China's Optoelectronics City" and "Changchun Yongchun Biomedical City" to coordinate regional resources, deepen industry-city integration, and foster distinctive industrial clusters with high recognition and strong competitiveness. Laying the groundwork for future industries, Changchun will proactively cultivate emerging sectors including embodied AI, hydrogen energy, and computing power equipment, while continuously supplementing, extending, and strengthening its industrial chains to improve the overall ecosystem. "Intelligent upgrade and digital transformation" of enterprises will be promoted, alongside further refinement of the public service system, so as to comprehensively raise the digital and intelligent standards of industrial development. To reinforce support services, Changchun will provide regular and targeted measures for easing the difficulties of businesses, address critical challenges based on government-enterprise service platforms, and solidify the foundation for high-quality development.

Source: Excerpt from Changchun Daily Convergence Media  Editor: Liu Jiadi