Wind turbines generate clean energy at a wind farm in Rongcheng, Shandong province, on July 6, 2023. [Photo by Li Xinjun/FOR China Daily]

In recent years, Shandong province has bolstered its green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

Green factories

By leveraging the dual-carbon industrial internet, efficient and synergistic disposal of hazardous waste in cement kilns and industrialization of carbon dioxide nanocalcium at the exhaust gas outlet, Shandong Donghua Cement Co Ltd, has established an industrial carbon reduction and control system that covers the entire chain.

Donghua is considered a pioneer in developing hydrogen-ammonia-coal cement raw material mixed combustion. After the project is completed, it can replace 60,000 metric tons of standard coal per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 155,000 tons.

China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai) Co Ltd is another company in Shandong that has been embracing sustainability.

"We utilize the rooftops of production plants to build distributed photovoltaic power stations that reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 7,600 tons per year. We have also strengthened the control of non-organized emissions of volatile organic compounds," said Zheng Hehui, general manager of the company.

By the end of 2022, 567 projects in Shandong had been included in the manufacturing list by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, covering 223 green factories.

The province is aiming to build 500 green factories and 20 green industrial parks by 2025.

Digital transformation

Shandong is also promoting the integration of the digital economy and the real economy. For example, it has created a demonstration zone for industrial internet that now has the highest number of national platforms in the country.

Dishang Group, which has 11 production bases at home and abroad and is one of the largest clothing export enterprises in the country, is an exemplary case of digital and intelligent transformation in Shandong.

In 2017, Dishang created a vertical ecological chain platform for textile and clothing that includes a cloud design center, materials platform, flexible manufacturing base and intelligent consumer application platform. The platform integrates some 500 global brands, 3,000 designers, and more than 4,000 material suppliers, enabling online digital 3D clothing design, digital sewing and digital sample production.

Technological innovation

Wanhua Chemical Group is among those that have excelled in technological innovation, which has allowed the company to create coatings that will not discolor even under extreme temperatures.

The company is well-known as the supplier of raw materials that are used in the coatings for high-speed trains.

These raw materials from the company's ADI series boast excellent weather resistance and color stability, and are also used in the aerospace, high-end equipment and automotive industries.