As a major manufacturing province with 41 industrial categories, Shandong has always adhered to high-quality development and continues to accelerate the transformation of old growth drivers into new ones.

An employee works on the production line at a local automaker's manufacturing center in Qingzhou, Shandong province. [Photo by Wang Jilin/For China Daily]

In the first quarter of this year, Shandong's manufacturing investment increased by 25.1 percent, accounting for 27.4 percent of the total investment, up 3.2 percentage points year-on-year, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing increased by 13.7 percent year-on-year.

Shandong utilizes innovation as the primary driving force for development. During the same period, Shandong achieved fruitful scientific and technological results, with the number of State-level enterprise technology centers hitting 193.

Efforts have been made to promote the deep integration between the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy, and further develop the manufacturing sector to be more digitalized, smart, and internet-powered.

By the end of March, there were 115 provincial-level industrial internet platforms in Shandong, and more than 373,000 enterprises now rely on cloud services.

In the first quarter, investment in industrial technological upgrading increased by 19.2 percent, accounting for 18.6 percent of the total investment, up 1.4 percentage points year-on-year.

To enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry, Shandong has launched a slew of measures to foster a new array of "little giants", or leading small and medium enterprises that specialize in niche sectors.

So far, Shandong has 362 State-level "little giants", among which 157 have received key financial support from the central government.