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Chasing “Intelligence” and Pursuing “Greenness”: Shaping New Competitive Advantages in Manufacturing | Policy Implementation—Fighting Hard in the Fourth Quarter

2024-11-11

To implement the strategy of building a manufacturing powerhouse, Henan has proposed accelerating the development of a province strong in advanced manufacturing. As we enter the fourth quarter, Henan is stepping up efforts to promote industrial transformation and upgrading, using intelligent and green upgrades as key drivers. By innovating products and upgrading production lines, Henan aims to forge new competitive advantages for its manufacturing sector.

Ge Yuzhen, reporter for Henan Radio and Television Elephant News: The brake drum is a critical component of a truck’s braking system and directly affects braking safety. A single brake drum can weigh over 70 kilograms, making manual handling time-consuming and labor-intensive. At this enterprise in Queshan, Zhumadian, after undergoing digital transformation, a fully automated production line has been established, covering the entire process from start to finish.

Henan Valiant is a manufacturing enterprise deeply engaged in the production of automotive parts. Their independently developed bimetallic composite brake drum has broken the U.S. technology monopoly and reached an internationally advanced level. To seize the high-end market, the company has invested a total of 150 million yuan in intelligent upgrading and transformation of its production workshops.

Gao Chao, Deputy General Manager of Henan Valiant Braking System Corporation: Our workpieces are relatively heavy, and the manual labor involved is quite intensive. This automated production line can operate continuously around the clock, boosting overall line efficiency by more than 20%.

Along with improved production efficiency, the stability and pass rate of our products have also been ensured. With the support of our intelligent production lines, the company’s sales revenue for the first three quarters increased by 30% year-on-year. We have fully established supply partnerships with China’s five major automakers—FAW, Dongfeng, Shaanxi Automobile, Sinotruk, and Beiqi Foton—and our products are now being exported in bulk to countries including the United States and Australia.

Zhou Ligang, General Manager of Henan Valiant Braking System Corporation: Our newly launched Phase II project will fully adopt automation and undergo comprehensive upgrades according to current standards. The entire transformation is expected to take about a year and a half, and we anticipate a 50% increase next year compared to this year’s performance.

In the Three-Year Action Plan for Building Henan Province into a Manufacturing Powerhouse, it is proposed that by 2025, the rate of high-end, intelligent, and green transformation of Henan’s traditional industries will reach over 80%, and 500 provincial-level or higher green industrial parks (factories) will be established. Green development is the underlying tone of high-quality growth and also presents an opportunity for industrial transformation and upgrading. Puyang, traditionally reliant on petrochemicals as its pillar industry, has now begun to make comprehensive efforts to develop sectors such as green energy, new materials, and bio-based materials.

Ge Yuzhen, reporter for Henan Radio and Television Elephant News: I’m currently at Sinopec Zhongyuan Petrochemical Company. This is their bio-based polyolefin product, which they’ve just developed this year—what we commonly refer to as plastic. Unlike traditional fossil-based plastics, this is the first time in China that bio-based materials are being used to produce plastics.

The bio-based polyolefin project represents an important step in Zhongyuan Petrochemical’s transformation toward green energy. After nearly a year of research and development and pilot production, the company successfully launched qualified products this September, with the first batch reaching a production volume of 2,500 tons. These products can be widely used in the manufacture of agricultural films, food and pharmaceutical packaging bags, as well as pipes and sheets.

Zheng Qingyang, Manager of the Technical Quality Department, Sinopec Zhongyuan Petrochemical Co., Ltd.: Our raw materials are biological—such as waste palm oil and waste cooking oil—which, when processed into bio-based polyolefin products, generate significantly lower carbon emissions during their production compared to fossil-based materials. This aligns with today’s demand for carbon reduction, making these products more environmentally friendly and green.

Strengthen support across the entire chain—from basic research and original innovation to breakthroughs in core technologies and industrialization. As we enter the fourth quarter, Puyang continues to ramp up project construction, carrying out pilot-scale testing and scale-up of projects such as the development of novel biodegradable polyester materials and products, green synthesis of bio-based methanol, and the production of cellulose from xylose residue, thereby continuously promoting the clustering and agglomeration of the bio-manufacturing industry.

Li Shanrong, Director of the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology of Puyang City: Next, our city will fully leverage its advantages in industry and technology to continuously expand and strengthen the industrial chain. We aim to build a biobased materials industry cluster worth tens of billions of yuan by 2025 and a cluster worth hundreds of billions of yuan by 2035, striving to establish ourselves as a first-class national base for bio-based materials.