Mechanical engineering industry

As one of the pillar industries in Guangxi, the mechanical engineering industry has maintained a steady growth over years of development, and formed a relatively complete manufacturing system in the region.

Boasting many influential mechanical enterprises like Guangxi Liugong Machinery and Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group, Guangxi is now home to about 800 mechanical enterprises. In 2016, the total output value of the mechanical engineering industry hit 270.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 11.99 percent, and its profit reached 14.03 billion yuan, up 4.23 percent year-on-year.

In recent years, Guangxi has paid high attention to the development of the leading mechanical enterprises. The mechanical product structure continues to be adjusted and optimized, and a total of 10 different sectors of mechanical industry have been generated in the region, namely engineering machinery, electrical engineering and electric apparatus, petrochemical general machinery, agricultural machinery, machine tools, instruments and apparatus, heavy mining machinery, mechanical basic parts, food packaging machinery, and other civil machinery, all of which have laid a solid foundation for Guangxi’s industrial development.

Despite achievements made in the past years, Guangxi’s mechanical engineering industry has been lacking adequate momentum for growth. The pace of emerging industries has picked up remarkably, and the region is short of sufficient development in high-end manufacturing industries, all of which have limited the upgrading and transformation of its engineering industry.

To achieve sustainable development and improve the quality and efficiency of the mechanical industry, Guangxi unveiled an implementation plan in March 2017. According to the plan, Guangxi will focus on the structural reform of state-owned enterprises, and push forward technical innovation to set up a smart manufacturing system with Guangxi characteristics.

At the same time, it will accelerate the development of “two enterprises and three cities” to promote transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. The “two enterprises” refers to Guangxi’s Liugong Machinery and Yuchai Group, and the “three cities” stands for the smart manufacturing cities to be built in Nanning, Liuzhou, and Yulin.

Nanning High-end Equipment Manufacturing City covers a planning area of 30 sq km, focusing on the development of new energy vehicles, all-aluminum auto bodies, railway transportation equipment, and smart machines. With a planning area of 20 sq km, Guangxi Smart Manufacturing City (Liuzhou) will place priority on the development of smart power grids, rail traffic (light rail), industrial robots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), high-end engineering machinery, and modern agricultural equipment. Guangxi Advanced Equipment Manufacturing City (Yulin) occupies a planning area of 15 sq km, and it will center on internal combustion engines of special vehicles, high-end marine electric power systems, smart engineering equipment, new-energy cold chains, and urban logistics delivery vehicles.

In addition, the region will actively cultivate new and emerging industries, such as robot-making, UAV and rail traffic, deepen the integrated development of internet plus manufacturing, and advance the progress of service-oriented manufacturing. It will implement solid measures to deepen cooperation between the province and countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and make progress in international production capacity and equipment manufacturing cooperation, in order to play an important role in the export of mechanical products.

The implementation plan also stated that by 2020, the total industrial output value of mechanical enterprises above designated size is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan, doubling the number in 2016, with an average annual growth rate of 16 percent or above. Guangxi will promote scientific innovation and cultivate strategic emerging industries, which will be new drivers of its economic growth. The region’s core competitiveness will be enhanced, and it will grow into a regional production and export base for machinery equipment.