Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City: Transforming towards "New" and Leading the Tide

This is the holy land of Southern Confucius, known as the City of Rites, which embodies the humanistic spirit of reverence for virtue, propriety, and innovation; This is the marginal central city of the four provinces, integrating into the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta with the advantage of being a thoroughfare to the four provinces. Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, not only attracts the attention of the world with its natural and cultural beauty, but also accelerates the gathering of innovative elements such as talents, enterprises, and research institutes in recent years, vigorously develops emerging industries, and accelerates the momentum of new productive forces, demonstrating surging momentum.
In the first quarter of this year, Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City focused on projects and expanding investment, achieving a production value of 36.43 billion yuan for large-scale industries, accounting for 54.7% of the city's total. The added value of large-scale industries was 8.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.0%; Fixed assets investment was 3.86 billion yuan, up 32.3% year on year; Manufacturing investment reached 3.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.0%; Investment in high-tech industries reached 3.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%; 38 newly signed projects were introduced, with a total agreed investment of 51.921 billion yuan.
During the Mengxia season, the 2024 China Chemical Daily's research group on the high-quality development of petroleum and chemical parks visited Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City. Here, green mountains and clear waters are the foundation of development, while industries such as new materials and new energy are powerful engines for promoting high-quality economic development through new productive forces. The two complement each other and together create a magnificent picture of sustainable development in which ecology and economy coexist harmoniously.

Development Foundation of Thick Plant Chemical New Materials
"Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City is focusing on building a '5+X' industrial cluster for new materials, new energy, integrated circuits, high-end equipment, and life and health, promoting the integration of the 'five chains' of industry chain, innovation chain, talent chain, capital chain, and service chain, and accelerating the construction of a new materials' tens of thousands of acres and billions of yuan' industrial platform." Faced with the research group, Wu Jianmin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City, came to the point.
High end new materials are the foundation for developing downstream industries such as new energy and integrated circuits, and also a key area for the formation and development of new quality productivity in Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City. Among them, fluorosilicon new materials are the industry with the strongest development foundation, the most technological advantages, engineering advantages, and industrial scale advantages in the intelligent manufacturing new city. At present, the fluorine chemical industry chain of Zhizao New City is led by Juhua Group, forming a main industry chain of "fluorite hydrofluoric acid fluorinated refrigerant fluorinated monomers fluorinated polymers and fluorinated fine chemicals". It is extending to high value-added products such as fluorinated electronic chemicals, fluorinated pharmaceutical intermediates, new refrigerants, fluorinated liquid crystal materials, high-purity inorganic fluorides, fluorinated polymer membrane materials, etc.
Fluorine refrigerant iteration, fluoropolymer expansion, fine chemical material chain extension, breakthroughs in the new energy industry... Juhua Group focuses on industrial transformation and upgrading, fully leveraging the leading role of national enterprise technology centers and national fluorine material engineering technology research centers, constructing a technological innovation system from basic research to engineering and application, and creating an internationally leading fluorine containing new material industry chain; At the same time, we will accelerate the layout of strategic emerging industries and new fields and tracks, promote the application and industrialization of new energy technologies, and build a new energy industry chain integration of "materials equipment application".

"Yonghe Group focuses on high value-added fluorinated polymer materials and environmentally friendly fluorocarbon chemicals, fully leveraging the advantages of industrial chain integration and industrial layout, actively promoting industrial innovation and upgrading. In 2023, it will achieve the industrialization of perfluorinated n-propyl vinyl ether (PPVE) and hexafluoroepoxypropane (HFPO) organic fluorine materials, and carry out the development of a series of new products." Tong Jianguo, Chairman of Zhejiang Yonghe Refrigeration Co., Ltd., told the research team that Yonghe has been deeply involved in the fluorine chemical industry for many years, and the produced Binglong brand refrigerants have a high market reputation, with products exported to more than 100 countries and regions.
Not only fluorine silicon new materials, but now the intelligent manufacturing new city has become a hot spot for many chemical new material enterprises to invest and develop. Arriving at the exhibition hall of Tuoteng Technology (Quzhou) Co., Ltd., different types of exhibits such as optical lenses and medical packaging materials attracted the attention of the research team. The company is the first domestic enterprise to achieve industrial production of special cyclic olefin copolymers, and its core products have filled technical gaps in multiple fields. "There are many institutions that want to invest in us now. We are working hard to accelerate the process of technology research and industrialization. The production lines of 7000 tons/year cycloolefin copolymers, high refractive optical grade carbonate copolymers, and optical grade acrylic acid copolymers are all under construction. Our goal is to continuously promote the localization and substitution of high-end materials," Feng Rui, Deputy General Manager of Tuoten, told the research team。

Another company that has broken foreign monopolies is Zhejiang Pengfulong New Materials Co., Ltd. According to Ren Dianfu, the general manager of the company, they have undertaken multiple national and provincial-level projects, including the development of new medical grade poly (aryl ether ketone) materials and research on the mass production of poly (ether ether ketone), the industrialization and application of key monomers and high-performance polymer materials, the localization and application demonstration of high-performance special engineering plastics poly (ether ether ether ketone), and the preparation of ultra-fine powder for continuous fiber reinforcement. Their product performance ranks among the top in the industry, and their application areas continue to expand.
The flourishing of strategic emerging industry chains
The rapidly developing new industries such as lithium battery materials and electronic chemical materials are another example for Quzhou to develop strategic emerging industries, cultivate future industries, and form new quality productivity. Relying on the advantages of the chemical new materials industry, Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City has established a relatively complete industrial system in the lithium battery new materials industry, gathering a group of lithium battery new material production enterprises with Huayou Cobalt as the core, represented by Juhua Group, Shanshan New Materials, etc., and attracting many upstream and downstream supporting enterprises to invest and settle in.
The person in charge of Huayou Cobalt Industry introduced that the company is the world's largest producer of cobalt chemicals and a leading supplier of ternary cathode precursor materials. For many years, Huayou has taken "creating customer value and leading industrial development" as its mission, adhering to the belief of "rooting in China and having friends all over the world", laying the foundation in Tongxiang, moving towards the whole country, embracing the world, and transforming from a catcher to an industry leader. With high-quality product quality and outstanding brand influence, Huayou has established a good perception and reputation in the industry, gained recognition and trust from numerous customers at home and abroad, and become one of China's top 500 enterprises with total assets exceeding 100 billion yuan.
Entering the battery cell workshop of Quzhou Jidian New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a hundreds of meter long production line passage catches the eye. Looking through the glass, there are few workers inside. "At present, the company's production automation rate is 100%, achieving unmanned operations for all key positions." According to Lu Nan, the Manufacturing Director of Jidian Company, Quzhou Jidian is currently the world's largest intelligent manufacturing factory for battery cells, batteries, electric drives (three electric), and energy storage systems. By the end of 2024, after completion, it will have a production capacity of 24Gwh battery cells, 840000 sets of battery packs, 1.21 million sets of electric drives, and 17Gwh energy storage system products. The products will be compatible with high-end new energy vehicle brands such as Geely Jike.
Based on the development foundation of the local chemical and new materials industry, Quzhou also regards the integrated circuit industry as a strategic emerging industry with a focus on development, and carefully builds the electronic and chemical materials industry chain. The relevant person in charge of Zhongjuxin Technology Co., Ltd. introduced that the company has accumulated multiple patented and proprietary technologies in multiple core technology areas such as purification and mixing technology of electronic chemical materials, synthetic purification technology, process digital simulation, production process control, microenvironment control, high-precision quantitative detection methods for trace impurities, and packaging material treatment, laying a foundation for the company to maintain its technological advantages and market competitiveness. The company's electronic grade hydrofluoric acid, electronic grade sulfuric acid, and electronic grade nitric acid have reached the highest G5 level in the industry, successfully entering well-known integrated circuit customers at home and abroad such as SMIC, Changjiang Storage, Huahong Group, and Hynix. The company is also accelerating the research and industrialization of precursor materials and formula functional chemicals for integrated circuit manufacturing, cultivating new growth points in the future.

Optimizing the business environment to attract a source of fresh water
Looking around the core area of Zhizao New City, multiple construction sites are lined with tower cranes, creating a bustling scene everywhere. With the booming trend of high-tech industries, Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City has accelerated the development of new productive forces, which is a fruitful result of a series of measures such as strengthening project attraction, optimizing business environment, and promoting talent and scientific and technological innovation construction. According to Xu Fazhen, member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Zhizao New City, Zhizao New City is guided by enterprise satisfaction and diversified project construction needs, serving the entire life cycle of the industrial chain and continuously optimizing the business environment.
"There are over 3200 enterprises and over 100000 employees in the jurisdiction. In order to solve the 'last mile' problem between departmental services and enterprise needs, Zhizao New City has established five enterprise communities to provide nearby, considerate, and personalized services for enterprises and employees." Xu Fazhen said.
What is the difference between corporate communities and traditional communities? Xu Fazhen explained that in a corporate community, if employees are "community residents", then the enterprise is "community family". Each enterprise has dedicated grid personnel to coordinate and lead relevant departments in efficiently solving various problems, achieving immediate and thorough solutions, and safeguarding project construction, enterprise production, and employee life.
Only with talent and innovation can new productive forces have a source of vitality. In recent years, Quzhou has vigorously promoted the deep integration and development of innovation and industrial chains, and jointly established the Quzhou Branch of the School of Engineering and the Quzhou Research Institute of Zhejiang University (hereinafter referred to as the "Two Institutes" of Zhejiang University Quzhou) with Zhejiang University. Feng Lianfang, Executive Vice President of the "Two Institutes" in Quzhou, Zhejiang University, introduced that the "Two Institutes" focus on six major industrial chains, including chemical industry, new materials, new energy, and biopharmaceuticals, creating a high-energy level platform for scientific and technological innovation and achievement transformation, and continuously improving the "new content", "green content", and "gold content" of the industry.
"The 'Two Institutes' have also set up pilot experimental training bases, bridging the' last mile 'of scientific and technological achievement transformation, providing rich application scenarios for enterprise scientific and technological innovation and achievement transformation. Wang Xiaozhong, Vice President of the' Two Institutes' and Director of the pilot base in Quzhou, Zhejiang University, said that so far, the pilot base has undertaken a total of 34 key technology pilot projects and served 19 Quzhou enterprises.".
  Following the direction guided by General Secretary, Quzhou Intelligent Manufacturing New City empowers traditional industries with new technologies and injects strong impetus into high-quality development. There is no black smoke and mist of traditional chemical workshops here, only the passionate vitality of deep transformation and rejuvenation of traditional industries.
"We are constantly accumulating potential for future development, continuously giving birth to new industries, models, and driving forces. By 2035, we will comprehensively build an international first-class new materials industry highland, making new materials the top industry in Quzhou to become the marginal center of the four provinces." Speaking of future development goals, Wu Jianmin is full of confidence.