The industrial transformation and solution of a county-level city--Sihui

The industrial transformation and solution of a county-level city--Sihui

China Economic Weekly

2022-09-29 17:58:09 China Economic Weekly

"China Economic Weekly" reporter Wu Suwen｜Guangdong report

In recent years, Deng Hongan, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, Executive Vice Mayor, and Secretary of the Dasha Town Committee of Sihui City, Guangdong Province, has observed that the industrial town of Sihui is undergoing changes: “Factories are springing up like bamboo shoots after a rain, and a line of Roads open to traffic are criss-crossed, supporting the urban development context, and the 'Red Beauty Action' demonstration sites draw characteristic villages decorated with aesthetic thinking..."

Sihui City is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province and is managed by Zhaoqing City. Since the 1990s, Dasha Town in Sihui has gradually developed into a large industrial town as the only way to go from Zhaoqing to Guangzhou. With the successive construction of surrounding highways, the original advantages have faded. In the more than ten years since 2007, Dasha has transformed from an industrial-based "Zhaoqing No. 1 Town" to an agricultural based on "pig + fishery breeding" Important town. Against this background, some banks have also withdrawn from Dasha Town.

"Starting from 2020, many banks have returned. Not only the four major banks, but also private financial institutions have taken the initiative to set up shop. Some restaurants and hotels are opening one after another. This year, Dasha's industrial population has increased by 11,000 people. This is all It was brought about by the manufacturing industry," the responsible comrade of Dasha Town said happily.

Tongyu New Materials (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tongyu New Materials"), the leading company in the town, is facing the need to further expand production capacity. "With the growth in demand for electronic products and the localization of the industrial chain, the demand for electronic resin, our company's main product, is growing rapidly, and the company urgently needs to further expand production capacity." Zheng Ye, secretary of the board of directors of Tongyu New Materials, said that the company's factory in Jiangxi has already Started construction and actively raised funds to expand production capacity to meet market demand.

The manufacturing and financial industries are back, which is one of the signals of local industrial recovery.

In the past 10 years, Sihui City has continued to promote the transformation and upgrading of local industry. In 2012, the total industrial output value of the area was 46.462 billion yuan, and it is expected to reach about 93 billion yuan in 2022. In 10 years, it is equivalent to recreating a "Sihui Industry".

As a county-level city on the edge of the Pearl River Delta, Sihui's development faces certain objective constraints, but it does not miss opportunities. Currently, Sihui City is taking the opportunity of Zhaoqing's construction of a large-scale industrial cluster to find a new starting point for transformation and upgrading.

Behind the industrial recovery is a long industrial transformation

Almost all the companies that have settled in Sihui in recent years have talked about the location and transportation advantages. It is located in the east of Zhaoqing, at the northwest end of the Pearl River Delta, close to Foshan and Qingyuan. In the latest Guangdong Metropolitan Area Plan, Sihui City is included in the Guangzhou Metropolitan Area.

Li Feng, general manager of Guangdong Jintian Copper Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jintian Copper") said: "The Pearl River Delta accounts for about one-third of the industry's total consumption and is our largest customer location. There will be highways, Transportation is very convenient with light rail, ports, etc. Except for remote areas, it is basically only a two-hour drive from other major cities.”

Since the 1990s, Sihui City has undertaken the transfer of metal, electronics and other industries from Shenzhen, Dongguan and Foshan. However, Guangdong's regional development measures are mostly tilted toward the east, west, and north of Guangdong. As a relatively late-developing region in the Pearl River Delta, Sihui City relies more on its own efforts to promote development.

In the past 10 years, Sihui City has carried out a top-down transformation and adjustment of industrial structure from industrial platform to industry enterprise.

From the perspective of industrial structure, the metal processing industry accounts for 50 to 60% of Sihui City's total industrial output value. In the future, Sihui City will focus on the development of new energy vehicles and auto parts, metal processing, fine chemicals, and smart home industries.

In terms of industrial platform construction, according to He Weiguang, director of the Sihui Industrial Park Administration Bureau of Zhaoqing High-tech Zone, there are currently four leading industrial parks in Sihui. Except for Nanjiang Industrial Park, which started construction in 1992, other parks have really taken shape in recent years. Affected by relevant policies, parks that started earlier have also experienced industrial transformation during their development.

For example, the Longfu Circular Economy Metal Industry Base, established in 2004, mainly engages in metal dismantling and deep processing. At that time, metal dismantling was very prosperous, and the state also encouraged this kind of waste utilization, and the park quickly expanded in scale.

In 2017, the country adjusted its policy on recycled metals. Higher import requirements and costs resulted in a price inversion. The metal dismantling industry gradually declined, and most companies in the park ceased production and auctioned off their factories. The Sihui Municipal Government acquired these factories and revitalized the park. The transformation will be confirmed in 2020. At the same time, the metal deep processing industry will continue to be retained. The total output value of the park is expected to reach 20 billion yuan in the future, creating a tax revenue of 2 billion yuan.

Since 2012, the four major parks have introduced a total of 256 projects. By 2021, the four major parks have developed 27,000 acres of land, 10,735 acres more than in 2012, and completed a total industrial output value of 37.579 billion yuan, accounting for 44% of the city's total industrial output value of 84.786 billion yuan.

In order to adapt to new changes in the market, enterprises and industries are also seeking transformation and upgrading. Huang Wanxing, Party Secretary and Director of the Sihui City Industry and Information Technology Bureau, told a reporter from China Economic Weekly that many aluminum companies in Sihui City are now accelerating technological transformation and product upgrades focusing on new energy vehicle manufacturing, electronic appliances, smart homes and other fields. Upgrading, continuously expanding the application of aluminum materials, and promoting industrial innovation and upgrading. The government is also actively guiding and providing support through technological transformation subsidies, financial instruments, etc.

"For Sihui City, the biggest challenge is that the market situation and industry have changed too fast in recent years. Although it has improved compared to 10 years ago, in order to keep up with the country's current key industrial development directions as soon as possible, we must speed up The pace of transformation and upgrading." Huang Wanxing said.

Guangdong Jintian Copper Co., Ltd. Phase I Project

Project is king, cluster development, enterprise first

In recent years, under the guidance of the work policy of “strengthening the city with industry, projects are king, parks are mother, and enterprises are first”, Sihui City’s industrial investment promotion has achieved remarkable results. And attracting a large project can have an immediate effect on boosting local industrial output.

Jintian Copper is an enterprise introduced in 2018. Lifeng told a reporter from China Economic Weekly: "Compared to others, we need a good business environment and market environment. We feel the strong desire and determination of the local government to develop industry, which also enhances our own confidence. . This year, we proposed to 'create another golden field in Guangdong' and are determined to promote project construction in Sihui City."

What impressed Lifeng deeply was that after Jintian Copper officially started production this year, it encountered a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which caused energy prices to rise sharply. Jintian Copper uses a large amount of natural gas, and the new park where it is located does not have pipeline natural gas access. . "Pipeline natural gas has a maximum price limit guided by the government. If it can be connected at this time, it will be of great help to us in reducing costs. The city government immediately started the approval process for pipeline laying, and we will use it by the end of June."

Less than a year after it was put into operation, Sihui City has become the largest of Jintian Copper's seven production bases across the country, excluding the headquarters. At the same time, the second-phase project is also in its initial stage, and it is planned that the first production line will be put into production next year.

With Jintian Copper as the main chain, Sihui plans to build the Sihui City Copper Technology Industrial Park nearby to introduce high-end copper new material industries and its upstream and downstream supporting industries, such as new energy automobile wires, enameled wires, motor wires, precision molds, etc. Enterprises to create a copper deep processing industry cluster.

Tongyu New Materials is a company founded by masters and doctors from Sichuan University and industry experts. Due to the advantages of Sihui City's industrial cluster development and transportation network, the team registered the company in Sihui City in 2015 and officially put it into production in 2016. With the care and support of government departments at all levels and all walks of life, the company has grown over the past six years. With its development, it has rapidly grown into a leading domestic manufacturer of special resins for mid- to high-end copper-clad laminates. In 2021, the company's sales reached 947 million yuan, and taxes paid were approximately 40.2 million yuan.

Zheng Yemei from Tongyu New Materials said that Sihui City is attracting investment precisely around the industry. For example, for the main customers of key enterprises, the Sihui Municipal Government visited them one by one and invited them to invest and build factories in Sihui, striving to open up the entire upstream and downstream chain for enterprises, form industrial clusters and industrial cohesion, and provide further confidence in the investment and development of enterprises. and support.

"In recent years, we have been ahead of Zhaoqing City in terms of land expropriation, land revitalization and consolidation, so the effects of industrial investment are also relatively obvious, especially after two or three years, the effects will soon appear." The responsible comrade said.

New grip

Taking advantage of Guangdong's "Implementation Opinions on Optimizing Land Spatial Layout and Promoting the Formation of Several Large-scale Industrial Clusters" and "Guangdong Province Auto Parts Industry "Strong Chain Project" Implementation Plan", Zhaoqing is building a highland for the new energy automobile industry. The successive arrivals of Xpeng Motors and CATL are undoubtedly the focus.

The tower near the water gets the moon first. Sihui City, which occupies a place in the large-scale industrial cluster in Guangdong Province (Zhaoqing), also regards this as a new opportunity to further promote the development of local industries towards "high" and "new".

Huang Wanxing said: "Sihui City has 262 square kilometers placed in a large-scale industrial cluster. This is a very important platform. The four leading parks have also entered large-scale industrial clusters. Dasha Town is the starting area of municipal administration. Industrial planning needs to be done at a higher level.”

According to reports, the Guangdong Province (Zhaoqing) large-scale industrial cluster city management area will focus on the development of intelligent network-connected new energy vehicles, high-end equipment manufacturing, and advanced materials industries; the Guangdong Province (Zhaoqing) large-scale industrial cluster Sihui City starting area will focus on the development of copper Technology industry, advanced equipment, new energy vehicles and auto parts, smart home industry. Sihui City will take advantage of the pioneering advantage of the municipal management starting area to exert a leading effect and promote the coordinated development of the municipal management area and Sihui area.

Pointing to the large open space in front of the first phase of the project, Lifeng told the reporter of China Economic Weekly that this will be the location of Jintian Phase II. As far as the eye can see, in the distance is the high-tech zone where Xpeng Motors has landed. The expansion of Jintian Phase II is huge. Part of it is to meet the needs of emerging industries.

In June this year, Xiaopeng Motors CEO He Xiaopeng mentioned that he hopes to introduce 80 to 100 upstream and downstream supply chain enterprise projects in the next 2 to 3 years. It is reported that Zhaoqing is linking up with local and surrounding metal, electronics and other companies around the needs raised by Xiaopeng in order to localize the supply of smart car parts.

Sihui City is also eager to try. Huang Wanxing said bluntly: "Because Zhaoqing introduced Xpeng Motors and CATL, and focused on the new energy vehicle industry, everyone has more confidence in Sihui City to develop this industry."

Zheng Yemei said: "After Xpeng Motors arrived in Zhaoqing, it attracted many companies in the entire vehicle industry. Among them, many auto parts companies I know also came from Shenzhen and plan to invest in Sihui City."

In order to solve the worries of enterprises, Sihui City continues to optimize the business environment, such as launching policies such as "double capacity and dual commitments", "build first and then inspect", and major industrial project contact mechanisms to solve project implementation problems and create a comprehensive system from project negotiation, signing, A full-process tracking service system from construction to production will be developed, while the industrial park and urban living facilities will be further improved.

(This article was published in "China Economic Weekly" Issue 18, 2022)

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