Yicai:

Just as Mr. Xu said, Jiangsu has a number of traditional competitive industries such as the light industry, textiles, and chemicals, but these traditional industries are facing challenges in pursuing transformation and upgrading due to a variety of factors including a large industry size. What are the next steps to advance the upgrading of these industries and to foster emerging and future industries? Thank you.

Hu Guangjie:

Thank you for the questions. Jiangsu is a major manufacturing province, with its manufacturing sector spanning all 31 major categories. It boasts six industries with a scale exceeding 1 trillion yuan and is home to 10 national advanced manufacturing clusters. Industries like integrated circuits, ship and offshore engineering equipment, and biomedicine lead the country in terms of scale. To pursue greater development, we adhere to the real economy and strive to build a modern industrial system in the province. We have been promoting the manufacturing sector's advanced, smart, and green development, thereby strengthening our core competencies.

First, we are upgrading traditional industries. We have pushed forward the upgrading of traditional industries by developing digital and green technologies. The provincial government has allocated 200 million yuan in rewards and subsidies to kickstart the renovation of outdated equipment in chemical enterprises. Next, to align with national policies on large-scale equipment renewal, we will implement a series of policies, including loan interest discounts for industrial enterprises undertaking technological upgrading projects and special loans for such projects. We will ramp up efforts to increase the proportion of advanced production capacity in traditional industries, such as steel, petrochemicals, and building materials. We are the first in the country to implement the "digital-driven, smart and internet-based transformation" initiative to upgrade the manufacturing sector. The provincial government sets up a special fund of 1.2 billion yuan annually for this purpose, and cities and counties in the province allocate 4 billion yuan for loan interest discounts to support this work. Currently, about 50,000 technological upgrading projects have been implemented. This year, our goal is to ensure that all industrial enterprises above designated size embark on digital transformation.

Second, we are developing clusters of emerging industries. Jiangsu boasts a complete industrial system and strong support capacity. For example, in the field of new energy vehicles (NEVs), production in the province has surpassed 1 million for the first time, covering the entire industrial chain from vehicles to batteries, motors, and electric controls. The production and sales of power batteries lead the nation. In Changzhou alone, power battery production encompasses 31 out of the 32 essential stages, supported by over 3,000 upstream and downstream enterprises throughout the entire industrial chain. Industrial clusters have flourished in various sectors throughout Jiangsu. We will continue to consolidate and enhance the strength of these clusters while leveraging the guiding role of funds for provincial strategic emerging industrial clusters, which total more than 100 billion yuan. Efforts will be made to develop competitive industries such as new energy, new materials, and high-end equipment into internationally competitive strategic emerging industrial clusters.

Third, we are cultivating future industries. Various sectors of Jiangsu's future industries are taking shape. Nanjing and Suzhou have been approved as national innovation centers for third-generation semiconductor technology. We are the country's first to achieve the technological breakthrough needed for mass-producing 6-inch silicon carbide power devices. The province's biomanufacturing industry generates about 15% of the sector's total national revenue. The hydrogen energy industry has developed a complete industrial chain spanning production, storage, transportation, refueling and application. In addition, we will actively explore the application of artificial intelligence in the manufacturing sector and establish an innovative system for future industries that integrates cutting-edge technologies, application scenarios and leading zones. Efforts will also be made to enhance the allocation of resources, such as finance and talent. Through these efforts, we aim to gain momentum and advantages in developing future industries. Thank you.