With the government work report calling for accelerating the development of a modern industrial system, Shandong deputies discussed ways for the province to boost its manufacturing strength.

As a major industrial and manufacturing province, Shandong shoulders the responsibility to build a pilot zone for green, low-carbon, and high-quality development, as well as to build a modern industrial system, said national legislators and political advisers.

Hou Yugang, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Shandong Zaozhuang Mining Group, said that Shandong has long been a large coal-consuming province with a heavy industrial structure.

Workers at a tractor assembly workshop in Xintai, Tai'an, Shandong province assemble tractors. [Photo by Chen Yang for chinadaily.com.cn]

"Only by making greater efforts to reduce pollution, reduce energy consumption, and improve efficiency can it lead the way in green, low-carbon, and high-quality development," said Hou, adding that Shandong Zaozhuang Mining Group will unswervingly advance supply-side structural reform in the energy sector, as well as continue to consolidate green and low-carbon production and operation modes.

"If we can build a green energy industry chain in a specific region, we can improve the development level of the green energy industry," said Wang Gang, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Jinjing Group, which is based in Zibo.

To achieve national carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy power generation systems has increased rapidly. In Shandong, the installed capacity of new and renewable energy increased by 25.1 percent last year.

A worker assembles vehicles in a factory in Weifang, Shandong province, Jan 28, 2023. [Photo/CFP]

Wang also suggested that Shandong should speed up building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and highly-efficient energy system, while deepening reforms of mechanisms and innovation in the energy sector.

The industrial internet is a new growth point of digital industrialization, a new engine for the development of the digital economy, and an accelerator for the improvement of the real economy, said Zhou Yunjie, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman and CEO of Haier Group.

Zhou suggested that Shandong build a new high-quality standard system for industrialization, promote artificial intelligence, cultivate a group of professional industrial big data service providers, and promote the creation of high value for new industrialization.