The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently given an official approval to the 2024 Qingdao implementation plan for piloting new-type technical transformation in manufacturing, marking that Qingdao has been included among the first 20 cities or districts where the national new-type technical transformation initiative in manufacturing is piloted.

With priority given to three dominant sectors, namely intelligent home appliances, rail transit equipment and high-end chemical engineering, the three-year-long pilot program in Qingdao is focused on demonstration application of digital and intelligent technologies in the first place, demonstration coordinated digital transformation of industry chains and supply chains in the second place, and giving wider play to the cluster advantage to make headway in intelligent transformation.

The inclusion of Qingdao is attributable to its sustained efforts in technical transformations in the industrial sector and good results scored. In an effort to become an intelligent manufacturing powerhouse featuring industrial empowerment, Qingdao has ramped up efforts to advance the technical transformation initiative from such perspectives as policy guidance, project support and service upgrade. From January to April this year, investments for technical transformations in industry across Qingdao saw a year-on-year increase of 12.8% and were the fourth in Shandong Province.

 (Sun Xin)

Haier’s washing machine interconnected factory in Qingdao, also recognized as a lighthouse factory.