Zibo, Shandong province has been ramping up efforts to re-energize its traditional enterprises in the new material industry and foster new growth drivers in recent years.

"Conventional manufacturing models are becoming obsolete as the full potential of new materials and high-tech products is realized. Zibo, a traditionally-competitive industrial city, has been upgrading and transforming its traditional enterprises and fostering new industries," said a local official.

The first new materials industry expo in Zibo attracts many visitors on Oct 16. [Photo/zbnews.net]

Zibo has released guidelines for industries that create new materials and focus on innovation. It has also issued a series of industrial promotion policies to help the city become a manufacturing powerhouse in the new era.

In 2002, the city was designated as a center for the development of new materials by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It now leads the nation in the production of and in technology related to advanced ceramics, new chemical materials, heat-resistant products, functional glass, and glass fiber.

Official statistics show that high-tech industries above designated size accounted for 42.8 percent of the total output among enterprises above designated size in Zibo in the first half of 2020, up from 21.5 percent in 2002, while the number of high-tech enterprises has increased from 152 to 527.

By the end of June 2020, the added value of new materials enterprises above designated size accounted for 28.54 percent of all industrial enterprises above designated size in Zibo.

"New materials has become an important part of the high-tech industry and has gradually grown into a pillar industry supporting the economic and social development of Zibo," said one local official.

Agreements for a number of projects are signed during the 19th China (Zibo) New Materials Technology Forum. [Photo/zbnews.net]

The 19th China (Zibo) New Materials Technology Forum was held on Oct 16, attracting 34 academicians, 42 high-level experts, and more than 200 researchers from 97 domestic universities.

The first new materials industry expo also took place in the city, displaying the latest products and cutting-edge technology of more than 200 enterprises.

The two events injected new momentum into the development of the new materials sector in Zibo, according to a local official.