Robotics revolution leads Hebei's innovation push

Economic integration

Since 2014, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have grown under a major regional strategy — the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The region, along with the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is one of the three major driving forces leading the nation's high-quality development.

"Economic integration is the core of regional integrated development, while industrial collaboration constitutes the substantive content," said Luo Jing, a researcher with the Hebei Macroeconomic Research Institute.

She added that the significant development disparities within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are primarily due to misalignments and disconnections in industrial development.

"Accelerating industrial synergy in the region is of great significance for promoting the efficient allocation and free flow of regional factors, fostering complementary advantages, enhancing the overall strength of the industrial chain in the region, and jointly building a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster," she said.

According to the Hebei Development and Reform Commission, the industrial connections within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are becoming increasingly close.

Currently, six key industrial chains are being jointly developed — hydrogen energy, new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, biopharmaceuticals, cybersecurity and industrial internet, high-end industrial equipment, and robotics.

Among them, robotics, and new energy and intelligent connected vehicles are led by Hebei based on its solid industrial foundation.

Hebei's contract turnover for absorbing technology from Beijing and Tianjin in 2024 increased by 34.8 percent year-on-year, according to the commission.

"One of the achievements of Hebei's vigorous promotion of collaborative innovation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is that the province's overall capacity to absorb and transform scientific and technological achievements from Beijing and Tianjin has continued to rise," the shared manufacturing factory's leader Wang Mengzhao said.

This is consistent with the strategic requirements.

A large number of top-tier universities and high-end research talent in the region provide a solid foundation and strong capabilities for innovation. Central authorities underlined that it is essential to strengthen collaborative innovation and industrial cooperation, as well as establish new models of industry-academia-research collaboration, to enhance efficiency and proportion of scientific and technological achievements in the region.

Hebei has collaborated with universities, research institutions and key enterprises in Beijing and Tianjin to jointly establish a number of industrial innovation consortiums and innovation platforms.