Liangjiang eyes advanced materials industry as Chongqing sets 1-trillion-yuan goal

Chongqing has released a five-year (2023-2027) action plan to develop an advanced materials industrial cluster with a targeted output value in excess of 1 trillion yuan ($139.3 billion) by 2027 as it aims to put in place a modern industrial system.

According to the plan, Liangjiang will focus on the four industrial clusters of light alloys, new electronic materials, aeronautical materials, and new energy and new energy storage.

An industrial system focused on modern advanced materials will have been fully established in Chongqing by 2027, featuring a well-laid-out structure, increased R&D capability, extended scale, and enhanced efficiency, according to the plan.

It will comprise four advanced basic materials industries of advanced non-ferrous metal materials, advanced iron and steel materials, advanced chemical materials, and advanced green building materials.

On top of this, new energy materials, special functional materials, new generation of information technology materials, and storage materials will play a key role. They are all seen as key strategic materials.

The industrial system will also cover several cutting-edge new materials such as graphene and future materials.

The action plan identified five areas in which the municipality will make efforts to achieve its 2027 goal.

These include introducing and incubating enterprises, forming key industrial clusters, establishing innovation platforms for advanced materials, coordinating advanced materials innovation, and improving the industrial ecosystem.

To Introduce and incubate enterprises, for instance, the municipality plans to compile an industry map and strategies for drawing investment along the industrial chain. This will identify any weak links and facilitate targeted investment.

Preferential policies will be launched by Chongqing to support the advanced materials industry, especially the key strategic materials sector.

As a major platform for Chongqing in sci-tech innovation and economic development, Liangjiang New Area houses more than 20 institutes engaged in the new materials industry.

These institutes are also focusing on R&D and industrialization in the advanced materials industry.

                                             

In 2022, Liangjiang's GDP exceeded 455.1 billion yuan, while its industrial output was valued more than 560 billion yuan. [Photo provided to english.liangjiang.gov.cn]

In the new materials sector, Liangjiang introduced the Chongqing 2D Materials Institute in 2019.

Led by Konstantin Novoselov, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who discovered graphene, the institute eyes breakthroughs in key and core technologies and promotes the industrialization of graphene and other two-dimensional materials.

Meanwhile, it is actively working on composite materials and future materials, with some of its projects approaching the application stage.

Liangjiang-based ATG was the company that developed Kunlun Glass, recognized by SGS as the world's first five-star unbreakable glass and chosen by Huawei for use in its smartphones.

Composed of billions of high-strength nanocrystals, the glass can withstand drops 10 times better than other kinds of smartphone glass.

ATG special glasses are also widely used in fields such as aviation, high-speed rail, and new energy vehicles.

In the first half of 2023, the company saw a record revenue of 450 million yuan, surging 240 percent year-on-year. New production lines are currently under construction to meet the surging market demand.

In August, Liangjiang initiated an action plan to develop a higher-quality manufacturing industry.

According to the plan, a new materials industrial cluster will be built and the transformation of scientific research achievements in the sector heavily promoted.