An employee works on the auto parts production line of a carmaker in Yantai, Shandong province. TANG KE/FOR CHINA DAILY

According to the provincial government work report, Shandong will take solid steps to build an advanced manufacturing powerhouse, replace old growth drivers with new ones, and make greater efforts to build a modern industrial system.

The high-quality development of the manufacturing industry is a key link in building a modern industrial system, according to industry experts, adding that in addition to keeping the proportion of the manufacturing industry basically stable, it is more important to speed up the move to the middle and high ends of the value chain, and upgrade industrial organization.

In 2022, Shandong significantly reduced its low-end, low-quality and inefficient production capacity.

According to Zhang Haibo, director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, technological transformation investment accounted for more than half the total of industrial investment in the province in 2022, and the output value of the high-tech industry accounted for about 48.3 percent of the industrial output value.

In 2023, Shandong will implement the upgrading action to ensure the annual technological upgrading investment growth of about 6 percent, Zhang said.

Industry and information technology is the most active innovative technological sector and the most in need of innovation. Zhang said that the provincial industry and information technology department will focus on the integration of talent, education, industry and innovation to accelerate the cultivation of high-level innovative platforms, foster innovative enterprises, and tackle key core technologies to boost industrial development.