New Quality Productive Forces in TEDA

New quality productive forces take innovation as the leading factor and breaks away from traditional economic growth patterns and productivity development paths. It features high technology, high efficiency, and high quality, and embodies advanced productivity concepts in line with the new development philosophy. New quality productive forces initiate with newness, focus on quality, and eventually aim to upgrade productivity.

As the best national-level development zone in northern China, TEDA is highly aligned with the concept of new quality productive forces. In recent years, TEDA has taken the lead in high-end manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and green manufacturing. It has promoted the development of four major advanced manufacturing industry clusters, namely automobiles and high-end equipment, next-gen information technology, new chemical materials, and healthcare. At the same time, in order to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces and promote high-quality economic and social growth, TEDA aims at cutting-edge technology, injecting efforts in such areas as intelligent computing capability, future healthcare, new materials, advanced equipment, and green low-carbon.

In this case, when we talk about new quality productive forces in TEDA, what exactly are we referring to?

New Quality Productive Forces have replaced the power engine and operational carrier for traditional industries, thus achieving an upgrade in industrial form. In TEDA, traditional industries are undergoing intelligent transformation and upgrading by strengthening the application such as AI and information technology. On this basis, TEDA is aiming for a higher-quality industrial structure.

Since its establishment in TEDA in 1994, SEW has increased its investment here more than ten times and raised intelligence standard continuously. Currently, the SEW Intelligent Assembly Center in TEDA is under construction in a fast pace. This project will adopt SEW’s most advanced intelligent logistics core technology to build a model factory for intelligent manufacturing in China. After the project is put into operation, it will continuously introduce Germany’s most advanced electronic products for localized production, and provide systematic solutions for the upgrading of China’s intelligent equipment manufacturing industry.

Similarly, as early as 1984, Otis made it presence in Tianjin and after several upgrades and global strategic repositioning, it achieved full automation of equipment, lean logistics warehousing and interconnected upper-layer data. Since then, Otis Tianjin has become a benchmark leading the global transformation and upgrading of intelligent elevator industry.

As one of China’s earliest demo bases for auto industry neo-industrialization, TEDA actively promotes the upgrading of the auto industry as well as the transformation to the NEV industry. At the Great Wall Motor Tianjin production base, intelligent technology is reshaping the production chain. From 2019 to 2023, the base has invested a total of 1.895 billion yuan in intelligent upgrading and transformation, not only achieving automation on the production line but also establishing intelligent application scenarios such as 5G + mobile quality inspection, AGV, data collection, and warehouse management. These efforts have made intelligent, precise, and efficient production possible. At the end of 2023, Farizon Auto Tianjin Plant was completed in TEDA, marking the start of a new journey for new energy commercial vehicles in TEDA.

Through deep promotion of intelligence and digitization, the manufacturing industry in TEDA has completed a thorough transformation with ongoing upgrades.

Technological innovation is the core element for developing new quality productive forces and it is imperative to adhere to the guidance of technological innovation. In TEDA, domestic and foreign R&D centers, as well as scientific research institutes, are rapidly gathering and continuously expanding the scale. In 2023, the total R&D investment of above-designated-scale enterprises and research institutions in TEDA reached 9.2 billion yuan. TEDA is actively promoting industrial innovation through technological innovation.

In recent years, foreign-funded enterprises such as FAW Toyota, Honeywell, Vitesco Technologies, Otis, and NXP have successively set up R&D centers and innovation centers in TEDA to accelerate their localization process. In 2023, PPG Global Coatings Innovation Center and PPG Battery Pack Application Center, two international-level R&D centers, were put into use in TEDA. The two centers enable PPG to integrate R&D and production in TEDA. In February 2024, Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch was established in TEDA. This is an important auto component R&D institution of Volkswagen Group and it focuses on the development of powertrain components for NEVs. The new company will upgrade Volkswagen Group’s industrial presence and promote the development of new energy vehicle industry in TEDA.

Nangang Industrial Zone is the major venue for the development of green petrochemical industry in Tianjin. It gathers many petrochemical R&D institutions such as Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry, Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, CNOOC Research Institute, China Chemical Technology Research Institute, and Bohai Chemical Industry Group R&D Center. These institutes inject strong momentum into the development of green petrochemical industry in Nangang Industrial Zone.

The establishment of domestic and foreign R&D institutions and scientific research institutes drives TEDA to keep attraction for high-end innovative elements, and the industrial chain extends to both ends of the smiling curve.

Technological innovation is the booster of new quality productive forces and strategic emerging industries and future industries are the wheels. In TEDA, strategic emerging industries such as next-gen information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, and biopharmaceuticals have already taken off and gained momentum. In recent years, TEDA has issued the Action Plan for Supporting and Leading High-Quality Development in TEDA, as well as industrial policies in fields such as biomedicine and new chemical materials. These efforts intensify industry support, accurately cultivate innovation entities, and witness a flourishing of technological innovation enterprises. In 2023, a total of 1,247 national-level technology-oriented SMEs were included into the database with 766 eyas and gazelle enterprises as well, and the total number of national high-tech enterprises reached 1,142.

The robotics industry is booming in TEDA and a robot product lineup covering various purposes including land, water, and air has been established. In the water domain, Deepinfar’s indigenously-developed underwater robots have won the German Red Dot Award multiple times. Deepinfar serves key national-level projects such as the South-to-North Water Diversion and Shenzhou crewed spacecrafts. In the land domain, Lonyu Robotics’ latest product, the 360-ton heavy-duty AGV, has set a new record among its global peers in terms of loading capacity. In the air domain, i-Kingtec has built an integrated land-air inspection system, achieving fully autonomous and intelligent inspection operations in various environments such as mountainous areas, forests, hot regions, and extremely cold regions.

These enterprises and products are vivid examples of the dynamic evolution of strategic emerging industries in TEDA.

The innovation ecosystem is a crucial factor of new quality productive forces. TEDA is fully committed to building a scientific and technological innovation carrier and attracting innovation resources. With deep integration of innovation chains, industrial chains, capital chains, and talent chains, a first-class innovation ecosystem is taking shape and the innovation platforms are showing their effects as incubators.

The Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine is an innovative platform for the pharmaceutical industry in Tianjin. It has nurtured nearly 400 technology-based SMEs and attracted a number of domestic pharmaceutical giants to establish R&D centers. The Academy has established a series of professional and technological platforms covering medicine research. It effectively supports the commercialization and incubation of biomedical projects and the rapid growth of enterprises through the establishment of Yimai Industry Funds, Yimai Seed Funds, etc.

With the support of the National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin, Tianhe Digital Industrial Park has attracted multiple industry giants such as the Binhai New Area Information Technology Innovation Center, Tencent Northern China Data Center, Vanchip, etc. Currently, Tianhe Digital Industrial Park has nurtured over 300 digital economy enterprises and gathered more than 6,000 related talents.

The digital economy serves as fertile ground for nurturing new quality productive forces. In recent years, TEDA actively promotes the deeper integration of the digital economy with manufacturing. TEDA creates 14 major digital economy application scenarios including industrial internet, smart factories, 5G applications, platform economy, artificial intelligence, metaverse and robotics to empower industries to improve both quality and efficiency.

Through these high-quality innovative incubation platforms, TEDA has incubated and cultivated a batch of innovative enterprises. Together, they are accelerating the industrialization and commercialization of basic research. Moreover, TEDA continuously optimizes the innovation ecosystem and promotes the development of high-end industries in the region.

Talent is the intellectual source driving the formation of new quality productive forces. Developing new quality productive forces requires concerted efforts from all parties with the talent chain being an important link, especially in the construction of high-level innovative talent pool. TEDA strengthens its talent pool by formulating talent policies, improving talent training systems, and facilitating recruitment channels. Currently, the total number of talent in the area exceeds 420,000 people. Among them, there are 20,000 high-caliber talents, 2,600 high-tech talents, and over 50 academicians have been introduced.

With talent carrier platforms such as the China Tianjin Human Resources Service Industrial Park (Binhai Branch) and the Tianjin (Binhai) Offshore Entrepreneurial Base for Overseas Professionals, TEDA will further improve human resources services, accelerate the introduction and cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents from home and abroad, and comprehensively stimulate regional innovation vitality.

Developing new quality productive forces requires tailored approaches based on local conditions. In the future, TEDA will leverage its advanced manufacturing and advanced service industry foundations to seize opportunities brought by technological revolution and industrial transformation. It will make more efforts in technological innovation, industrial rejuvenation, and urban renewal will happen. With the infinite potential inherent in new quality productive forces, TEDA will steadily advance along the path of high-quality development.