General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries can also develop new quality productivity. "In recent years, the mainland's traditional industries have explored new development models, innovated new paths for transformation and upgrading, and achieved remarkable results. Further promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is of great significance for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces, building a modern economic system, and ensuring the mainland's industrial security and national security.
The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries have achieved remarkable results
The mainland's traditional industries play an important role in the national economic system. In recent years, with the accelerated innovation of new technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things, as well as the expansion of the coverage of new infrastructure and the reduction of the cost of use, many cutting-edge technologies have widely penetrated into traditional industries such as textiles, clothing, chemicals, and building materials, and deeply integrated with them, promoting the comprehensive transformation of product design, production processes, and business models of traditional industries, and achieving remarkable results in transformation and upgrading, becoming an important engine for cultivating and developing new kinetic energy and new advantages.
The industrial innovation ability has been continuously improved, and it has become the "cradle" of cultivating new quality productivity. In recent years, the mainland's traditional industries have continuously strengthened the construction of innovation platforms, and the industrial innovation capabilities have been continuously improved. In particular, through the extensive use of big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other new generation of information technology and intelligent manufacturing technology, industrial robots, automated assembly lines and other intelligent equipment have been rapidly popularized, creating intelligent factories, "black light" factories and other production models, becoming an important force for cultivating and accumulating new momentum for economic development, and providing a broad scene for the development of new quality productivity. For example, some iron and steel enterprises have realized real-time collection and analysis of production data through digital transformation, optimized the production process, and significantly reduced energy consumption and operating costs; Its subsidiary, which is engaged in information construction, has gradually formed a full-process digital solution in the process of promoting the digital transformation of steel production, and has gradually transformed from a traditional steel enterprise to a leading digital enterprise. For another example, some building materials enterprises have applied artificial intelligence and big data, which not only increased labor productivity by more than 50%, but also greatly improved product quality.
The green transformation and development have accelerated, and actively contributed to energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable development. In recent years, green development has become a strategic choice for traditional industries to enhance their competitiveness, build new advantages, and cultivate new momentum. Energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies and equipment have been widely used, the proportion of new clean energy and renewable energy in energy consumption has increased, and green manufacturing has become a new model for the development of traditional manufacturing industry. For example, hydrogen is an important by-product of crude oil processing, which has the advantages of zero terminal emissions and a wide range of uses. Some petrochemical enterprises vigorously explore the collection, purification, compression, storage and transportation of surplus hydrogen resources, which not only realizes carbon emission reduction in the refining process, but also enhances the economic value of the refining and chemical industry chain. Another example is that one of the reasons for the high carbon emissions of the textile industry is that traditional textile raw materials are closely related to petrochemical industry, and the energy consumption in the production process is large. Some textile enterprises have used new technologies to develop naturally degradable acetate fabrics, and at the same time promoted the transformation of printing and dyeing processes with digital technology, which not only achieved the goal of energy conservation and emission reduction, but also improved the added value of the industry.
The rapid development of clustering and platformization has become an important support for improving industrial efficiency and security. The cluster development of the industry in geographical space and the platform development in cyberspace have improved the level of agglomeration and intensive utilization of various elements, promoted the collaborative cooperation and ecological construction between enterprises, and improved the level of industrial security and innovation development. First, traditional industries have transformed and grown into advanced manufacturing clusters, and small and medium-sized enterprises have developed rapidly. In the two batches of 200 characteristic industrial clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, a large number of advantageous industrial clusters formed on the basis of local resource endowment and traditional industries have emerged. Second, the industrial Internet and commercial Internet platforms have become a new paradigm for the transformation of traditional industries. Some traditional manufacturing industries have built industrial Internet platforms, which have largely promoted the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional manufacturing enterprises; Some commercial Internet platforms have attracted a large number of traditional manufacturing enterprises, and these enterprises are actively exploring the digital transformation of traditional manufacturing industries with sales digitalization. Third, a number of leading enterprises and chain length enterprises have emerged, which have effectively driven the transformation and development of traditional industries and the safe development and innovative development of important industrial chains. In particular, the central enterprises with advantages in traditional industries such as food, energy, chemical industry, machinery and equipment, bravely serve as the head of the industrial chain, improve the supporting level of the upstream, middle and downstream of the industrial chain through demand traction, innovative supply and other ways, so that the traditional industrial chain agglomeration and transformation efficiency appears, and actively integrate digital intelligence technology and green technology in industrial competition, which promotes the overall transformation and upgrading of the whole industrial chain.
An effective way to transform and upgrade traditional industries
Sorting out and summarizing the effective paths for transforming and upgrading traditional industries can be roughly summarized into three types.
The first is to realize the leap of traditional industries through the development of high-tech and high-end products. The technical content and added value of products in traditional industries are often low, but the innovative application of new technologies and the continuous upgrading of market demand structure have promoted the transformation of traditional industries from the production of low-tech and low-value-added products to the production of high-tech and high-value-added products, so as to achieve transformation and upgrading. Taking the steel industry as an example, "hand-torn steel" (the thickness of steel is controlled below 0.025 mm, and it can be easily torn by hand) is the epitome of China's manufacturing towards the middle and high-end. A few years ago, mainland iron and steel enterprises set up a "tearing steel" innovation research and development team, overcoming hundreds of technical problems such as rolling mill equipment and rolling methods, and successively developed a thickness of 0.02 mm, 0.015 mm, 0.012 mm of "tearing steel", which not only refreshed the world record of "tearing steel" and met the production needs of folding screen mobile phones, but also became an indispensable material in the fields of national defense science and technology, aerospace, precision instruments and other fields. It is in the process of technological progress and product innovation that related enterprises have realized the transformation from traditional steel enterprises to advanced manufacturing enterprises. In addition, new plastics in the chemical field and smart home appliances in the field of home appliances are vivid cases of traditional industries launching new products through technological innovation and finally forming new quality productivity.
The second is to achieve industrial transformation through the integration and innovation of traditional and emerging technologies, and the reengineering of traditional industrial production processes and process technologies. An important reason why traditional industries are "traditional" is that the production technology and process are aging and the production efficiency is low. However, by applying new technologies, promoting the iteration of traditional technologies, and promoting the integration and innovation of new technologies and traditional technologies, traditional industries can be helped to achieve transformation and upgrading. Take, for example, the coal industry. The application of new technologies such as gigabit optical networks and fifth-generation fixed networks has promoted the transformation and upgrading of network infrastructure in the coal industry. Artificial intelligence, smart cameras, intelligent measurement, big data and other new technologies are widely used, so that many coal enterprises from development, mining to washing, transportation, safety and security all aspects have achieved intelligence, the dirty, hard, dangerous and tiring underground work can now be completed in a bright dispatching and command center, and the working environment and conditions of miners have been improved. In June 2023, the National Energy Administration released 80 typical cases of intelligent coal mine construction across the country, showing a vivid picture of the deep transformation and development of the coal industry.
The third is to achieve industrial upgrading through business model innovation and the service-oriented transformation of traditional manufacturing industry. For a long time, most of the traditional industries in the mainland are in the manufacturing link at the bottom of the "smile curve". With the application of new technologies, many traditional manufacturing industries in mainland China have successfully transformed through business model reengineering, and have achieved a rise to the middle and high end of the industrial chain value chain. Taking the construction machinery industry as an example, many enterprises use industrial Internet, 5G, radio frequency identification and other technologies to connect various devices, obtain real-time online data, and provide customers with value-added services such as equipment health management, operation mode evaluation and optimization, and engineering construction information services through network collaboration and data intelligence. This not only effectively shortens the response time of engineers and improves service efficiency, but also promotes many enterprises to realize the transformation from selling products to selling services, becoming a typical example of the integrated development of manufacturing and service industries.
Focus on the development of new quality productive forces, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries
The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is a systematic project. While seeing that the transformation and upgrading of the mainland's traditional industries have achieved remarkable results, we should also see that there is still a certain gap between them and the high-quality development goals and the requirements of developing new quality productivity. To further promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, it is necessary to completely, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, adhere to the combination of goal-oriented and problem-oriented, give full play to the advantages of the mainland system, stimulate the endogenous power of the industry, focus on scientific and technological innovation, make up for the shortcomings of the supply chain, innovation chain and industrial chain of traditional industries, establish a new integrated organizational model of upstream, midstream and downstream integration and symbiosis, division of labor and cooperation, and benefit sharing, promote the synergistic transformation of traditional industrial technology paradigm and economic paradigm according to local conditions, and promote the accelerated development of new quality productivity.
We will further deepen our understanding and promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of traditional industries. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "All localities should adhere to the actual situation, first establish and then break, adapt measures to local conditions, and provide classified guidance, and selectively promote the development of new industries, new models and new kinetic energy according to local resource endowments, industrial bases, scientific research conditions, etc." It is necessary to abandon the erroneous understanding that traditional industries are backward industries, "two high" industries, and low value-added industries, take high-end, intelligent, and green as the direction of transforming and upgrading traditional industries, and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries as an important support for adjusting the economic structure, building a modern industrial system and promoting high-quality development. Encourage industry leading enterprises and digital service enterprises to build industrial Internet and intelligent manufacturing service platforms to provide services for the transformation and upgrading of enterprises in the industry.
Promote in-depth reform as a whole to provide a good environment for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. Further deepen the reform and strengthen the systematic and integrated nature of industrial transformation and development policies. We should clean up all kinds of restrictive policies that "one size fits all" for traditional industries, and encourage all localities to transform and upgrade traditional industries in accordance with local conditions. In terms of industrial policy, we will strengthen the policy orientation to encourage innovation and optimize the policy of additional deduction of R&D expenses. Actively build a common technology platform and transformation and upgrading platform for traditional industries, and lead the transformation and upgrading of the whole industry. We will further create a good market environment for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and encourage all localities to accelerate the upgrading and development of traditional industrial clusters and industrial parks. Support the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries in the process of domestic gradient transfer, and support international production capacity cooperation with countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road".
Strengthen the application and diffusion of new technologies in traditional industries, and expand the path of transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "it is necessary to apply the achievements of scientific and technological innovation to specific industries and industrial chains in a timely manner, and transform and upgrade traditional industries." With the deep integration of innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain and talent chain, we will transform and upgrade traditional industries, encourage traditional industries to increase investment in innovation in combination with the actual transformation and upgrading and technological change trends, start from making up for shortcomings and breaking through bottlenecks, strengthen the promotion and application of new technologies in traditional industries, and solve the problem of "stuck neck" in transformation and upgrading. Encourage chain length enterprises to play the role of technology supply and industrial chain coordination, and drive the transformation and upgrading of the whole industry with the in-depth transformation and upgrading of chain length enterprises. Encourage traditional industries to actively use advanced technology to improve their own innovation capabilities and overall safety level. In traditional industries, we will vigorously cultivate specialized, special and new small and medium-sized enterprises, build new momentum for development, and improve the overall competitiveness of the industry.