China's Guangdong makes great strides in high-quality development

Regional cluster

Over 40 automobile parts and related enterprises are based in GAC Aion Zhilian new industrial park. As the chain leader in the park, GAC Aion could assemble a NEV in about a minute thanks to the efficient supply from partner firms.

To forge a more resilient firewall against risks to industrial and supply chains, South China's manufacturing giant Guangdong province introduced a chain-chief mechanism to leverage industrial synergy for win-win growth.

In the multi-player scheme, the local government, with a senior official as chain chief, encourages and supports an industrial giant to act as a chain leader to expand the ecosystem and coordinate efforts for shared development.

Guangdong has introduced a project to nurture chain leaders in 20 strategic industries, including automobiles and smart home appliances. Some 60 companies playing the role of chain leaders are expected to be in place in 2025.

By 2025, GAC Aion is expected to build all its core component factories nearby, and the output value of the enterprise will exceed 300 billion yuan ($46.5 billion), driving the output value of supporting facilities in and around Guangzhou province to about 2 trillion yuan ($309.6 billion).

What underpins China's steady industrial economic growth is the smooth and functioning industrial and supply chains, which even emerged stronger from downward pressure thanks to a raft of innovative attempts to keep the ball rolling.

The chain-chief scheme is not only about building a solid industrial chain. It also seeks to drive innovation, maintain stable supply and climb up the value chain.

A visitor checks out TCL Huaxing displays on Feb 18, 2023. [Photo by Song Jingyi/chinadaily.com.cn]

With an investment of 35 billion yuan and an area of about 560,000 square meters, TCL Huaxing Guangzhou t9 project was put into production with an estimated monthly capacity of 88,000 glass substrates. This project is also the first high generation production line specializing in the production of high-end IT products and professional display LCD panels.

Kang Lianghui, director of Vacuum Technology Department of TCL Huaxing Guangzhou, said the t9 production line not only is a great improvement over the existing production line in terms of technical process, but also can make up for the shortcomings of TCL Huaxing in product structure and production line structure.

TCL Huaxing, which was founded in 2009, has established local leading advantages in TV and LTPS based on mobile applications in the past, but lacks competitive product lines in the higher-end commercial field. The production of t9 project will help TCL Huaxing to expand its business in medium-size IT panels and vehicle panels with higher added value, and improve its product matrix and business system in the full-size field.

TCL Huaxing also attaches great importance to cooperation with upstream and downstream partners. In September 2021, it released the "Sunrise Plan" with the purpose of strengthening the ecological construction of the entire display field.

"We give full play to the industrial agglomeration effect, form a semiconductor industry cluster and accelerate Guangzhou's goal of 'World Display Capital'," said Kang.