As the Cixi municipal party committee and government exert efforts on both growing the economy and putting on anti-epidemic measures amid the COVID-19 outbreak, businesses are resuming operations and industrial chains are safeguarded. The industries are now showing a sound momentum from the economic doldrums caused by the virus. In general, the industrial output is rising continuously.
In May, the sectors of electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, general equipment manufacturing and automobile manufacturing, which are CIxi’s key industries, achieved a monthly output above the designated level for RMB 5.442 billion, 1.069 billion, and 0.989 billion respectively, an increase of 4.3%, 0.7% and 11.7% one by one. Among them, the electrical equipment manufacturing and the automobile manufacturing sector put the municipal industrial output above the designated level by 2.4%.
The city also issued guidelines in prioritizing leading industrial players on resuming production of their industrial chains since there were many small and medium-sized enterprises in the home appliance and automobile component sector, with long industrial chains and great difficulty to start re-operation. The guideline boosted coordinated resumption of the whole industrial chain and output, which gained thumbs-up from the central government and state media.
As indicated by the report on risks of broken supply chains, 1,318 companies have submitted their inquiry forms by July 3, covering 99% of the businesses in the city. There is currently no risk of broken supply chains for enterprises in Cixi, according to the feedback from 30 leading industrial players. The matching rate of component makers and leading companies, such as BULL, KAIBO and HANDIAN, remains high. However, the major concern for those companies is the weak external demand and reduced spending confidence. Therefore, going forward, core technology, branding and leading advantages will be what matter the most in competition.
In order to achieve high-quality development, which means the transformation from the low end to the high end, from manufacturing to designing, and from products to brand-building, Cixi has been helping enterprises establish their core competitiveness. The city is committed to preventing broken industrial chains in the short term and cultivating industrial chains in the long run, which are centered on the home appliance, automobile components and basis components. What’s more, the current industrial advantages of key enterprises, key sections of industrial chains, and the extension and strengthening of industrial chains are prioritized in building industrial chains that are led by leading players and core technology. In so doing, the industrial foundation and the industrial chain will be optimized and modernized.
In addition to the above measures, Cixi has also released a three-year plan on developing champions on single categories in the manufacturing sector, built a database of manufacturing single champions for cultivation (hidden champions and little giant enterprises) and alternative imported key technology products. A total of 153 enterprises are listed in the cultivation base, with 73 of them ranking No.1 in domestic segmented markets. At present, Cixi is home to three national single champions (CIXING, BULL, TIANSHENG), two hidden champions (Cibei Medical Treatment Appliance; TIANHANG), seven Ningbo municipal single champions. There are currently 28 companies under cultivation to be Ningbo municipal single champions, 15 enterprises cultivated to become “little giant enterprises”. The city is coordinating industrial chains with local application and building a pilot project database for their accessory applications. This year, Cixi completed acceptance work on 5 supporting applications, such as the graphene application and reverse osmosis membrane element application. Ningbo ZhongDa Leader Intelligent Transmission Co Ltd applied for provincial level industry chain collaborative innovation projects. The city also organized meetings to promote industrial chains such as the air fryer industry and the microelectronics chip applications. Cixi will accelerate the cultivation of key enterprises in key links of the industrial chain, encourage enterprises to become bigger and stronger, and introduce incentives for enterprises worth over RMB 100 million. In addition, a certain percentage of the growth by the local contribution of enterprises above RMB 100 million will be returned to the enterprise, which enhances the key enterprises to keep playing a leading role in the industrial chain.
To enhance the core competitiveness of key enterprises in the industrial chain, Cixi's science and technology authority has also established a database of bottlenecks of key technologies, which has now included 28 items. The city has built innovative platforms such as the Cixi Institute of Biomedical Research of Wen Medical University, the Engineering Research Center of Zhejiang Province for Medical Implantation Materials, and the Ningbo Institute of Materials Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wen Medical University Cixi Institute of Biomedical Research, Zhejiang Engineering Research Center for Medical Implant Interventional Materials, Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ningbo Tiansheng Joint Laboratory of Advanced Sealing Materials and Systems and Ningbo (Cixi) Industrial Pioneering of China Biomaterials Society. Statistics show that from January to June, the city's leaders have visited more than 4,000 enterprises, with a total of more than 8,000 visits and addressing more than 4,600 enterprise-related issues. Cixi also launched policies of reducing costs and economic burdens, which saved RMB 1.53 billion.
Cixi launches projects to extend, strengthen and add to the industrial chain for more investment, confidence, and certainty. From January to May this year, 329 projects worth over RMB 10 million across the primary, secondary and tertiary industry were completed, raising investment of RMB 1.85 billion. Among them 66 projects were listed as breakthrough-making and industrialized ones by Ningbo Municipal Economic and Information Technology Bureau, which are expected raise fixed investment of RMB 2.3 billion.
