21st Century Business Herald:

Recently, the State Council has taken steps to promote large-scale equipment upgrades, with a focus on bolstering the technological transformation of key industries. What has the Guangdong government done in terms of the transformation and upgrading of enterprises? And what other specific measures will be taken next? Thank you.

Tu Gaokun: 

As you are all aware, the State Council is promoting large-scale equipment upgrades. Yesterday, the State Council held a video conference to make arrangements, which provided a good opportunity for us to bolster technological transformation. Technological upgrading is an ongoing theme in enterprise development, and Guangdong has long been committed to promoting technological transformation and equipment upgrading. In terms of policies, it has issued regulations and policies such as the "Regulations on Promoting High-quality Development of the Manufacturing Industry," "Opinions of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People's Government of Guangdong Province on Promoting the High-quality Development of Guangdong as a Strong Manufacturing Powerhouse" and "Circular on Printing and Issuing 'Several Measures on Promoting Industrial Enterprises in Guangdong Province to Accelerate Technological Transformation under the New Situation'", and publicized these policies to nearly 7 million enterprises through "yst.gdzwfw.gov.cn," a platform for businesses to access government services. In terms of resources and factors, we have guided financial capital investment, established a mechanism for utilization of project land-use quota in advance, opened a "green channel" for energy conservation review, and accelerated the development of major technological upgrading projects, such as Maoming Petrochemical's refinery transformation and upgrading and ethylene quality improvement project, and Gree's intelligent equipment project. In terms of guidance and demonstration, we highlighted the creation of a batch of demonstration enterprises and projects with advanced technological reforms, clear achievements and strong industry driving force, and replicated and promoted a series of typical cases. For example, taking home appliances as a starting point, Foshan adopted a model of "major enterprise investment plus supporting facilities from industrial chain," and helped drive the digital transformation of more than 100 SMEs in the industrial chain through platform solutions. 

The above measures have achieved good results. As Mr. Wang just said, the growth rate of investment in industrial technological upgrading last year was the fastest since 2018 and increased another 22.8% from January to February this year. Many enterprises reported that after technological upgrading, their production efficiency increased more than 15% and production costs reduced by over 10%.

Next, we will continue to prioritize technological transformation as the most crucial element in maintaining the vitality of the manufacturing industry. We will regard it as one of the key projects in upholding the dominance of the manufacturing industry and our commitment to continuous small-scale technological improvements. We will continue to implement policies for technological transformation, fully promote large-scale equipment upgrades, and initiate actions for technological transformation and equipment renewal in Guangdong province to improve quality and efficiency. Moreover, we will implement projects to empower and enhance technological transformation, ensuring these policies yield substantial benefits for enterprises. We will continue to explore paths for enterprise technological transformation, implement digital transformation projects for industrial clusters and carbon-peaking actions in the industrial sector, promote the transformation and upgrading of industrial chains and supply chains, and continuously enhance the digital and green level of enterprises. We will continue to cultivate technological transformation entities and innovation carriers, implementing enterprise gradient cultivation plans, and enhancing our manufacturing collaborative innovation system. We will improve the quality and efficiency of manufacturing innovation centers and enterprise technology centers at all levels, thereby providing continuous technical support for the technological transformation of enterprises. Thank you.