After Industrial Economy Total Output Breaks Through 30 Trillion, How Will Chongqing Manufacturing Climb to New Heights?

Chongqing Manufacturing Continues to Reach New Heights with a Series of Achievements

Industrial economic output surpasses 3 trillion yuan, strategic emerging industrial output exceeds 1 trillion yuan, industrial tax revenue exceeds 100 billion yuan, and the high-quality development index of manufacturing ranks first in the western region… After achieving these milestones, Chongqing’s manufacturing sector is still climbing higher.

During the National Two Sessions, China Business Journal reporters learned that during the 14th Five-Year Plan, Chongqing aims to elevate its industrial economy to a new level of 4 trillion yuan. Wang Zhijie, a National People’s Congress delegate and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, stated that Chongqing will continue to deepen the exploration of the new model of “Industrial Brain + Future Factory,” strengthen efficient collaboration of the “Four Sides,” promote the deep integration of the “Four Chains,” and push forward the deep integration of the “33618” modern manufacturing cluster system and the “416” technological innovation layout. This will enable Chongqing’s manufacturing to produce major national equipment and also serve thousands of households, fully establishing the “Chongqing Manufacturing” brand.

Building a New Model of “Industrial Brain + Future Factory”

Recently, the achievements of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan in manufacturing were showcased, with Chongqing’s five enterprises—Envision M9, Chongqing Haifu Medical, Chongqing Machine Tool, Guohong Hydrogen Energy, and Qiteng Robotics—featuring nine products in the exhibition.

“These enterprises and products vividly demonstrate how, since the 20th National Congress, Chongqing’s ‘33618’ modern manufacturing cluster system has been climbing higher, gaining momentum, and achieving an overall leap,” Wang Zhijie said. The key to Chongqing’s series of manufacturing achievements is the new model of “Industrial Brain + Future Factory,” which guides the “Four Sides” collaboration and promotes the integration of the “Four Chains,” facilitating the deep fusion of the “33618” manufacturing cluster system and the “416” innovation layout.

The “33618” plan encompasses three major trillion-yuan leading industry clusters, three major 500-billion-yuan pillar industry clusters, six major 100-billion-yuan characteristic advantage industry clusters, and 18 “star” industry clusters. The “416” innovation layout focuses on developing four high-tech innovation hubs in digital intelligence, life health, new materials, and green low-carbon industries, actively advancing AI, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, and other 16 strategic fields.

“‘Industrial Brain + Future Factory’ represents a profound transformation of industrial organization and operation modes,” Wang Zhijie explained. Chongqing is constructing this new model by centering on the industrial chain, driven by innovation, with capital and talent as key elements. Combining online and offline approaches, integrating supply, demand, and policy sides, and turning enterprise demand lists into government work task lists, the model promotes the coordination of government, industry, society, and enterprises. This effectively fosters the deep integration of innovation, industry, capital, talent, and data, aligning resources to achieve government initiative, market efficiency, enterprise benefits, and talent development.

Currently, Chongqing has established a “12+N” industrial brain system around the “33618” manufacturing cluster, with 12 industry-specific and 11 sub-sector “industrial brains” already operational.

Enhancing Upstream and Downstream Collaboration in the Industry Chain

Wang Zhijie described the “Industrial Brain” as the industry’s intelligence hub, aggregating demand, supply, service, policy information, and resources from the “Four Sides” and “Four Chains,” utilizing AI technology to realize sensing, early warning, dispatching, and handling in a closed-loop process.

For example, he highlighted the roles of Seres and Changan Automobile in demonstrating how the “Industrial Brain” promotes upstream and downstream cooperation.

Seres’ “Envision Automotive Industry Brain” has achieved a qualitative leap from “data visualization” to “intelligent decision-making.” It leverages Seres as the core enterprise, extending production and management insights to the supply side, connecting over 300 partners, and integrating real-time information and data from 84 suppliers’ products and processes, enabling detailed management of vehicle-specific data.

Additionally, the “Industrial Brain” helped Seres develop an “in-plant” model, using intelligent operations in business scenarios to precisely connect resources across the “Four Sides” and deeply fuse the “Four Chains,” ensuring delivery certainty, increasing on-time delivery by 13%, and shortening R&D cycles by over 20% through upstream and downstream collaboration.

Changan Automobile also uses the “Industrial Brain” to empower its global R&D network across “Six Countries and Ten Regions,” supporting over 300 major projects annually.

“‘Industrial Brain’ has significantly improved the local supporting rate for Changan and Seres in Chongqing, reaching 45% and 51% respectively last year,” Wang Zhijie said. Driven by these leading companies, Chongqing has returned to being the “China Auto Capital” after nine years, shifting from traditional fuel vehicles, joint ventures, and mid- to low-end brands to focus on intelligent connected new energy vehicles, independent brands, and mid-to-high-end models. This not only increases quantity but also enhances quality, brand reputation, and overall competitiveness.

The automotive industry leads Chongqing’s “33618” cluster to new heights, with added value of strategic emerging industries accounting for 36.3% of above-scale industrial added value. Chongqing’s other industries also thrive: the city’s laptop output has ranked first globally for 12 consecutive years, power semiconductor capacity ranks among the top three nationwide, fiberglass production is among the top three, and last year, software and information service revenues exceeded 500 billion yuan, ranking first nationwide, with employment reaching 500,000.

Beyond the “Industrial Brain,” Chongqing promotes resource optimization, deep production mode reforms, and higher-value creation through “Future Factories,” advancing enterprise digital and intelligent upgrades.

Wang Zhijie noted that Chongqing has formed a gradient cultivation system of “Digital Workshop → Intelligent Factory → Future Factory,” with 1,231 digital workshops, 211 intelligent factories, 20 future factories, and 22 national-level smart factories, including four “Lighthouse Factories” worldwide. For example, Changan’s future factory can produce a new vehicle every 60 seconds.

“An important aspect of promoting intelligent transformation, digitalization, connectivity, and green upgrades is vigorously advancing technological renovation, expanding ‘AI + Manufacturing,’” Wang Zhijie said. Last year, Chongqing’s technological renovation investment grew by 19.2%, higher than the national average by 20.2 percentage points, ranking fifth nationwide. Currently, 218 green factories at the national level contribute 36% of Chongqing’s above-scale industrial output, 14 percentage points higher than the national average.

Collaborative Innovation Among Various Entities

Chongqing also promotes collaborative innovation through the “Industrial Brain + Future Factory” model.

“Chongqing emphasizes strengthening enterprises’ role as the main body of technological innovation, making them key links between scientific research and industrial application,” Wang Zhijie explained. The city guides leading enterprises to establish industrial innovation complexes, using the “Industrial Brain” to identify technological bottlenecks and needs, and to push targeted solutions. Leading enterprises, with orders in hand, work with upstream and downstream companies and research institutes to jointly solve problems, fostering collaboration among large, medium, and small enterprises, shifting from “lone wolf” innovation to “group innovation.”

In the low-altitude economy sector, the “Low-Altitude Economy Innovation Complex” supports Yidong Technology’s development of industrial-grade drones that are as light as eggs. These amphibious micro industrial drones are used for inspection, detection, and emergency services in confined spaces.

Currently, Chongqing’s above-scale industrial enterprises’ R&D investment intensity ranks fourth nationwide. The 30 industrial innovation complexes have gathered data from over 850 units across the “Four Sides” and “Four Chains,” undertaking more than 200 “chain-based” research projects.

Additionally, the “Industrial Brain” consolidates various elements to provide enterprises with integrated financial and talent services.

For example, Chongqing launched the new “Four-Chain Integration Data Loan” model, using data from the “Industrial Brain” and “Future Factory” to enhance credit for enterprises. This approach has increased financing for over 500 companies by 8.3 billion yuan, with loan amounts for high-quality micro and tech startups increasing by over 30%. The time required for enterprises to obtain financing has been shortened to hours.

Relying on the “Industrial Brain,” Chongqing also effectively matches industry demands with talent recruitment. Last year, the city attracted 145,000 young graduates and other youth to stay or move to Chongqing, with 83,000 new soft and intelligent talents.

(Edited by: Wang Jinlong; Reviewed by: Tong Haihua; Proofread by: Yan Jingning)