– In late January, China released guidelines for the innovative development of “future industries”, focusing on future-oriented manufacturing, information, materials, energy, space, health and other fields.
* Future industries are crucial for countries to seize the opportunities presented by the scientific and technological revolution and a new round of industrial transformation, and to have new areas of competition between major countries.
* The development of future industries is a priority in many provinces across China.
BEIJING/CHANGCHUN/HEFEI, March 1 (Xinhua) — In Changguang Satellite Technology’s smart factory, robotic platforms work together efficiently and smoothly to produce polished optical lenses. Meanwhile, the company’s researchers are busy testing the latest satellite optical cameras in the debugging workshop.
The company, located in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, is the first unicorn to be established in northeast China’s old industrial base. Jia Hongguang, secretary of the company’s party committee, said, “On the first day after the Spring Festival holiday, no one was waiting for satellite research and development (R&D) work, and employees immediately devoted themselves to intensive work.”
The company specializes in research and development, production and operation of remote sensing satellites. Founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this technology-savvy company has over 800 employees. More than 88% of them have a master’s degree or higher, providing a rich talent pool for the company’s scientific research.
In 2023, the company successfully launched 48 Jilin-1 satellites developed and manufactured by the company. The company has so far sent 108 remote sensing satellites into orbit, creating the world’s largest submeter-level commercial remote sensing satellite network. In June 2023, 41 of the company’s satellites were launched into the sky at once, setting a record for the most satellites launched at one time in China.
In late January of this year, China announced guidelines for the innovative development of “future industries”. The document highlights six key areas including future-oriented manufacturing, information, materials, energy, space and health.
Future industries are emerging industries integrated with cutting-edge technologies that are expected to drive the development of the entire economy, create new market demands and application scenarios, and grow into a field worth hundreds of billions of yuan in the next five years. Point. According to authorities, the maximum period is 15 years.
Solving bottleneck problems
At the R&D Center of CIQTEK, a company that develops and manufactures quantum precision measurement products, the quantum sensing team will soon be testing the assembly line of a quantum diamond atomic force microscope that can achieve ultra-high spatial resolution and quantitative non-invasiveness. . magnetic imaging.
“This year, we hope to help realize the transformation and upgrading of more industries through the exploration of quantum precision measurement technology,” said Guo Maosen, application engineer at the company.
CIQTEK Chairman He Yu said the company won orders worth more than 500 million yuan (approximately USD 70.4 million) in 2023, and its revenue doubled consecutively. Meanwhile, total R&D investment accounted for nearly 30% of the company’s total revenue.
The company plans to make further breakthroughs in solving “bottleneck” problems such as electron microscopes and gas adsorption analyzers and manufacture more high-end scientific instruments domestically. “In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with various partners to expand the industrial applications and demonstration scenarios of quantum technologies, thereby accelerating the transformation and development of the manufacturing industry,” he added. Ta.
Hu Yongjun, a researcher at the National Information Center, pointed out that these future industries will have great strategic significance in global economic and industrial competition.
The development of future industries is a priority in many provinces across China, with Beijing taking the lead. By 2035, Chinese capital proposes to gather more innovation actors with significant international influence.
On February 18, the first day after this year’s Spring Festival holiday, Xiaomi’s smart factory in Beijing’s Changping District began operations. It is a major production site where most tasks are handled by intelligent robots, which operate autonomously 24/7. According to the company, the new factory is one of the most advanced mobile factories in China in terms of intelligent manufacturing and digitalization, and can produce 30,000 smartphones daily.
For a smarter future
Yu Maojun, a researcher at the Macroeconomic Research Center of the Anhui Provincial Institute of Economic Research, said that since the beginning of the year, the Yangtze River Delta region has intensified efforts to develop innovative and cutting-edge technology, accelerating the development of future industries. said. Many future industries are developing rapidly, such as quantum science and life sciences.
Since the beginning of 2024, many Chinese cities in eastern China, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Hefei, have all accelerated the development of future industrial pilot zones.
On January 2, the first operational day of 2024, construction began on a series of major projects in Anhui province, 253 of which were related to top 10 emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine. The 253 future industrial projects will require a total investment of 247.7 billion yuan.
On February 18, neighboring Zhejiang province announced 333 large-scale projects with a total investment of 977 billion yuan, aiming to build a future industrial pilot zone in fields such as blockchain, third-generation semiconductors, aerospace integration and new materials. launched.
“We believe that the completion of these major projects will accelerate the unleashing of new productive forces, and that the power of technological innovation will significantly change the way people produce, live, and think.” It will bring profound and lasting changes to our economy and society,” Yu said.
Yu explained that the new productive force is productivity in which science, technology and innovation play a leading role, and meets the requirements of high-quality development.
Observers said the industry of the future is crucial for countries to seize the opportunities presented by the scientific and technological revolution and a new round of industrial transformation, and to have new areas of competition among major countries. The United States, European Union, and Japan have all announced initiatives related to the development of future industries such as high-performance computing, quantum technology, and artificial intelligence.
Many analysts believe that China’s aggressive planning and investment in future industries will not only ensure that it keeps up with the world or leads in innovation, but also ensures high-quality economic development and industrial transformation. He commented that he would encourage it. ■