Changzhou, a famous city in southern Jiangsu, held a new energy city construction promotion conference on January 28 to further clarify the main track of the city's future development in the form of a "New Year's First Meeting" and show the sprint attitude of a "quasi-trillion city". Changzhou aims to have the scale of the new energy industry exceed one trillion yuan by 2025, and the market value of Changzhou's new energy sector in the capital market to exceed one trillion yuan. In 2035, the scale of the industry will double on the basis of 2025. The penetration rate of new energy in production and life will lead the country, and it will truly become a globally influential "new energy capital." Changzhou is one of the birthplaces of the “Southern Jiangsu Model” and is currently the most popular candidate for the fifth “Trillion City” in Jiangsu and the ninth in the Yangtze River Delta. Data shows that Changzhou will achieve a regional GDP of 955 billion yuan in 2022, an increase of 3.5%. Standing in front of the trillion-dollar threshold, why is Changzhou betting heavily on new energy? In the words of Chen Jinhu, Secretary of the Changzhou Municipal Party Committee, the new energy field has entered a golden era of long cycle and high growth, and is deeply restructuring regional economic geography and lifestyle. The new energy industry is expected to become a pillar industry of the national economy, and the global super blue ocean market is immeasurable. At present, the new energy industry is Changzhou’s “way to win” and “unique skill” that forges development advantages.
Changzhou's new energy output value will exceed 500 billion yuan in 2022, and it has formed a closed industrial ecological loop of power generation, energy storage, transmission, and application, that is, "send, store, and use". Changzhou's power battery production and sales now rank first in the country, accounting for one-fifth of the country; Changzhou has four major vehicle manufacturers including Ideal and BYD, and its new energy vehicle output accounts for half of Jiangsu's entire province; its cell and component production capacity accounts for about 10% of the country's... In recent years, compared with the sister cities of Suzhou and Wuxi in southern Jiangsu, Changzhou's land and population have not had an advantage, and its economic size is relatively small. However, with the label of new energy, Changzhou is "boosting its presence."
Moreover, Changzhou is not satisfied with the status quo. The conference proposed that Changzhou's new energy industry will continue to increase its growth and strive to cultivate 15 leading companies with revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan by 2025. At the same time, it will introduce a number of "small but excellent" and explosive scientific and technological innovation projects to form an enterprise matrix with both "elephant army" and "ant army". Focus on the "stuck" problem in the industry, support leading enterprises to participate in or undertake special projects such as national industrial base reconstruction, lead the formulation and revision of international standards and national standards, consolidate the "leading" advantage, and form a strategic "mutually stuck" situation with opponents. In terms of application, Changzhou aims to install more than 50% of the photovoltaic roof area of new public buildings in the city by 2025. At the same time, it will accelerate the construction of charging piles, battery swap stations, hydrogen refueling stations, etc., and encourage the first purchase, first trial and first use of government engineering projects. From 2023, all new and updated official vehicles in the city will use new energy, and 100% of parking spaces in new residential areas must reserve charging access conditions, etc.
Correspondingly, Changzhou also announced this time "Changzhou City's Policies and Measures to Promote the Construction of a New Energy City" to protect the development of the industry with real money. For example, in terms of enterprise cultivation, the maximum reward for a new "Fortune 500" company is 30 million yuan, and the maximum reward for a new "Top 500 Chinese Enterprise" is 10 million yuan, etc. In addition, companies that achieve breakthroughs in revenue, new "unicorns", etc. will also receive corresponding rewards.
In terms of technological innovation, for projects that undertake national and provincial core technology research, the maximum reward for a single project is 5 million yuan or 2 million yuan; for those who promote "unveiling the list and take charge" of key project research, the maximum reward is 5 million yuan; for major science and technology and industrial public innovation platforms that have been approved by the country and the province, the maximum reward is 100 million yuan or 50 million yuan. “We have the policy incentive of ‘not afraid of spending too much, but afraid of not spending it’, the tolerance and trust of ‘tolerating ten years of silence and waiting for a blockbuster’, and the warm-hearted service of ‘responding to requests and not disturbing anything’.” Chen Jinhu expressed to the entrepreneurs on the spot that the party committee and government would rather tighten up in other aspects, but also be willing to spend money to support enterprises in technological research, standard innovation and intellectual property protection.
It is worth mentioning that new energy is not a "temporary weapon" for Changzhou on the road to a trillion yuan. Changzhou will rise in all directions as a "new energy capital" to support the continuous rise of the city's energy level. "This year Changzhou will march towards the 'Trillion City' with a GDP full of pride, and a GDP of one trillion is by no means the end but a new starting point." Chen Jinhu said.
