How do traditional emerging industries resonate？ Ten questions about Guangdong’s economy

Mechanical mammoths cooperate with mobile phone instructions to make various movements, and robots dance with music … Chenghai, the "toy capital", has started production lines in many toy factories since the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. With the blessing of emerging technologies such as 5G, AI and big data, Shantou’s traditional toy industry has taken on a new look.

In the real economy, traditional industries are the home and the basic dish, which is related to the people’s food, clothing, housing and transportation; Emerging industries are growth points and poles, holding the key to the future.

However, in recent years, some areas have paid attention to cultivating and developing emerging industries while ignoring the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries, which has led to problems such as poor conversion between old and new kinetic energy and slow growth of manufacturing industry. Traditional industries are even misunderstood as "sunset industries".

As a big economic province, how can Guangdong maximize the resonance of traditional emerging industries and promote high-quality economic development?

How do traditional industries change?

Traditional industries still maintain the main position of Guangdong’s real economy and are important areas with competitive advantages.

Taking the traditional manufacturing industry as an example, the data shows that the traditional manufacturing industry has contributed about 1/3 of the operating income and 30% of the total profit to the province’s regulated manufacturing industry.

For example, "Pearl River Water, Guangdong Grain, Lingnan Clothes and Guangdong Household Appliances" have created a miracle of rapid growth of Guangdong’s manufacturing industry.

But these traditional industries are now inevitably at the moment of transformation-

Low-end supply surplus and high-end supply shortage coexist, innovation ability is not strong, industrial foundation is not firm, resource constraints are tightening, factor costs are rising, and consolidating and enhancing competitive advantage is facing great challenges.

How to transform traditional industries? The emphasis is on innovation.

At present, Guangdong’s traditional industries are constantly shaping new competitive advantages with scientific and technological innovation, comprehensively transforming and upgrading traditional industries, promoting the development of traditional pillar industries to green and high-end, and enhancing the status and competitiveness of traditional industries in the global industrial division of labor.

Look at "wisdom" first. In Huawei Songshan Lake South Factory, based on Guangdong Mobile’s 5G private network, the factory can complete automatic inspection of defective points, reduce a lot of repetitive work and help save production costs by 75%; The eight production lines of Jianlibao Foshan Sanshui Factory have been fully automated, with a maximum production capacity of 2,000 cans per minute.

Look at the "green content". By developing different digital models, Weida Paper has greatly improved the steam utilization rate in the papermaking process and got rid of the name of "big energy consumer". Compared with ordinary laundry detergent, the laundry beads developed by Libai, an old daily chemical enterprise, can reduce carbon by 40% every time clothes are washed.

There is also "gold content". Maoming, the "Tilapia Capital of China", cooperated with Guangdong Mobile to realize the networked, digital and intelligent management of tilapia farming, which increased farmers’ income by 30% and drove 17,000 fishermen to increase their income by 20,000 yuan per capita.

Traditional industries are becoming less and less traditional.

Huawei Dongguan Base, located at Songshan Lake. South+reporter Sun Junjie photo

How strong are emerging industries?

If traditional industries have laid a solid foundation for economic development, then strategic emerging industries are the key to winning the future.

In recent years, Guangdong has cultivated and expanded strategic emerging industrial clusters and continuously gathered new kinetic energy for high-quality economic development. Statistics show that the added value of Guangdong’s new economy in the first half of 2023 was 1.42 trillion yuan, up 10.5% year-on-year, accounting for 24.8% of the regional GDP.

Among them, the field of new energy vehicles in Guangdong has the most outstanding performance.

Today, one out of every four new energy vehicles in China is "made in Guangdong". Driven by new energy vehicles, the automobile industry has become the eighth trillion industrial cluster in Guangdong.

More and more Guangdong new energy vehicles are heading for every corner of the world. The data shows that in 2023, Guangdong exported 3.56 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, accounting for 65.4% of the total export value; Among them, the export of electric vehicles increased by 229%.

From the traditional to the emerging track, Guangdong car companies are chasing each other and playing hot.

BYD has more than 4,000 intelligent driving teams, of which more than 3,000 are software engineers. Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an has successively released quark electric drive, 5C flash charging technology, magazine battery 2.0 and other technical achievements, realizing self-research and self-production of the whole battery stack, and its intelligent ecological factory has been selected as the only new energy vehicle "Lighthouse Factory" in the world; The land-air integrated flying car from Huitian, Tucki became the star product at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2024.

On the other hand, low-altitude economy-related industries are also rising rapidly, becoming the representative of new quality productivity.

In the field, DJI agricultural drones are performing a series of tasks such as sowing, pollination and fertilizer spreading in the air; In the residential area, one after another Meituan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) returned home with a full load and was flying to the intelligent airdrop cabinet under the command of the background system …

According to the data released by Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Digital Economy Research Institute, it is estimated that by 2025, the comprehensive contribution of low-altitude economy to China’s national economy will reach 3 trillion to 5 trillion yuan.

There are still more industrial clusters that are developing. From humanoid robots to bio-manufacturing and commercial aerospace, Guangdong is exploring trillions of emerging industries and forming new industrial clusters.

With the vigorous development of emerging industries, the development pattern of new technologies and new formats in the province will also be accelerated, and the industrial map of advanced manufacturing industries in Guangdong will be clearer.

The assembly workshop of Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an New Energy Vehicle is being installed. Southern+reporter Xu Shuzhi Intern Luo Yuxi photo

What is the connection between the old and the new?

Of course, we should also realize that there are still many challenges ahead of opportunities.

Internally, there are still shortcomings and deficiencies in the development of emerging industries, and the modernization level of industrial chain, supply chain and value chain needs to be improved. Outward, the world’s century-old changes have accelerated, and the complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment still exist.

How does Guangdong grasp the critical period of economic transformation and upgrading? The provincial government work report gives the answer-

Handle the relationship between "standing" and "breaking" well, and stand first, stand first and then break.

The so-called "standing" means accelerating the cultivation of new growth points, promoting new kinetic energy to see practical results, and developing new quality productivity.

Take Shenzhen as an example. In 2023, relevant local documents were issued, focusing on the development of 20 strategic emerging industrial clusters with advanced manufacturing as the main body.

In the first three quarters of 2023, the added value of strategic emerging industries in Shenzhen reached 1,039.339 billion yuan, an increase of 8.3%, accounting for 42.5% of GDP.

The so-called "breaking" is to do a good job of connecting and switching between old and new kinetic energy and stabilize the traditional engine of economic growth.

In Zhouming Technology Daya Bay Manufacturing Base, human-computer intelligent interaction, industrial robots, intelligent logistics management and other technologies and equipment make the base a highland for global LED screen production. The quality stability of the process is improved by 80%, the production efficiency is improved by 50%, the logistics transfer efficiency is improved by 60%, and the storage area utilization rate is improved by 350%.

To deal with the relationship between "establishment" and "breaking", we must adhere to the integration and development of emerging industries and traditional industries and work together.

The rise of Xiyin, the "first unicorn in fashion circle" in Guangzhou, is a strong proof.

Through the large-scale application of the on-demand production mode of "small order, test and then counter-order", Xiyin effectively reduces inventory and waste, improves the overall efficiency of the industry, and provides a model for innovative practice for the transformation of traditional clothing industry into fashion industry for sustainable development.

Just last year, Xiyin moved the Bay Area Supply Chain Headquarters project to Guangzhou. Behind this big move, the trillion-dollar fashion industry cluster in Guangdong, represented by the textile and garment industry, has vitality only if it is rooted in the manufacturing cluster.

Traditional industries are not equal to low-end industries, let alone sunset industries. Guangdong’s traditional advantageous industries such as papermaking, ceramics and food are also sunrise industries after the baptism of digital transformation.

Adhere to the simultaneous development of incremental rise and stock change, and do a good job in cultivating and expanding emerging industries and transforming and upgrading traditional industries. Guangdong will stir up strong upward and forward momentum through the change of new and old!

Topic researcher Gao Xiaoping Gong Qianshu Yao Yi Zhou Zhongyu Liu Qian Xu Juan Ye Dan Chen Mingshi