Heilongjiang leverages advantages to grow

Editor's note: China has seen tremendous changes nationwide, from economic growth to environmental protection, from social improvement to cultural progress. In this series, China Daily maps the changes and tells the stories of the people who lived through them.

Modern agriculture, upgraded industry, winter tourism and high-tech feature in current, future development plans

Heilongjiang has an intrinsic advantage when it comes to hosting the 2022 World 5G Convention and will seize the opportunity to strengthen cooperation with the world's top experts and entrepreneurs in the digital economy, officials said on Thursday.

The event will kick off in Harbin, the provincial capital, on August 10.

"The World 5G Conference is the world's first international 5G event and a platform for professional international exchange and cooperation. It will build a bridge of communication for inter-regional industrial cooperation and linkage, Lu Yuchun, deputy director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, told a news conference on Thursday.

"In recent years, the provincial government has placed great importance on the development of the digital economy and has firmly grasped the development trends of the new generation of information technology," he said. "The 13th Communist Party of China Heilongjiang Congress made the deployment of the digital economy a new engine of development, beginning a new chapter in the development of the province's digital economy."

Heilongjiang is focused on four particular sectors: the digital economy, the biological economy, the winter sports economy and the creative design economy.

According to the Provincial Digital Economy Development Plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the added value of core digital economy industries will account for more than 10 percent of the province's GDP by 2025.

So far, all administrative villages in Heilongjiang have 4G network coverage, with 5G coverage in 13 cities, 127 counties and 1,481 townships.

The digitalization rate for key business links stands at 24.5 percent, for processes at 33.7 percent and for manufacturing equipment at 39.3 percent.

The province is also home to some 300 universities and scientific research institutions, including the Harbin Institute of Technology, that possess a strong innovation and research capacity in the digital economy.

At Qixing, a State-owned farm part of the Jiansanjiang Company, a subsidiary of the Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Group, a 5G unmanned experimental rice field project went into operation this year.

A variety of new and advanced technologies are being tested on the 5.3-hectare field, including automated tractors and rice planters, remote video monitoring and control, and the real-time display of the data and movement of agricultural machinery.

The interventions are expected to save 25 percent on the cost of labor and agricultural materials and cut work time in half, as automated production can continue without workers present.

"We will promote the use of digital technology in agriculture," said Wang Shoucong, president of the Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Group. "We aim to be able to manage an automated operation area of over 13,000 hectares this year."

With its pristine environment and one of the world's largest black soil zones, Heilongjiang is the country's largest center for the cultivation of rice, corn and soybeans.

Last year, the province had its 18th consecutive bumper harvest, with a grain yield of 78.6 million metric tons, 3.26 million more than the previous year.

It also ranked first in terms of annual national grain production for the 12th consecutive year.

After years of effort, the mechanization rate for farming and harvesting stands at 98 percent, while the province's brand awareness and high-tech, green, high-quality agriculture have also developed rapidly.

Heilongjiang has become a pacesetter in China's agricultural modernization, helping to protect national food security.

Once a major national heavy industrial hub, the province's traditional sectors account for a large part of its industrial structure, and in recent years, great attention has been paid to upgrading and readjusting those sectors.

Over the past decade, Heilongjiang has optimized and upgraded its industrial structure and strengthened innovation to develop a strong regional presence.

Since 2016, Qiqihar, a former industrial center, has been promoting the reform of State-owned enterprises and accelerating modernization. Major State-owned enterprises, such as China First Heavy Industries and CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock, have taken steps forward.

During a visit to the city in September 2018, President Xi Jinping said that manufacturing is a national pillar and a significant component of the actual economy.

He encouraged manufacturing companies to make greater efforts to increase innovation, develop new technologies and products, and explore global markets.

"Following President Xi's visit, we have begun promoting models of innovation and have established six types of innovation studios, which have helped stimulate innovation," said Liu Mingzhong, chairman of China First Heavy Industries.

"A total of 56 innovation projects have been completed, saving over 100 million yuan ($14.7 million) in costs."

Liu said the group's financial performance last year was excellent, with turnover increasing by 12.25 percent and profits by 33.24 percent.

In order to achieve the transformation and revitalization of its industries, Heilongjiang has promoted policies for merging creative design with different sectors such as the green food, winter tourism and equipment, high-tech, biomedical, animation and short-video industries.

According to the province's Winter Sports Economic Development Plan, Heilongjiang will consolidate its winter sports sector with the construction of a number of national and provincial tourist resorts, as well as establish internationally competitive companies and famous brands by 2025.