Innovation drives Anhui's smart plants

Science prowess

Ammar Hawbani, once an associate professor at USTC, has been living in Hefei for 16 years before moving to Liaoning province last year. He said the city, armed with seven national science and technology laboratories, is essential for scientific research in China.

In 2004, the Ministry of Science and Technology approved Hefei as the country's first "National Science and Technology Innovation Pilot City". On Feb 27, 2017, the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center was officially unveiled as the country's second comprehensive national science center. It was also the first national innovation platform in the central and western regions of China.

Today, Hefei is home to more than 20 well-equipped national, provincial and CAS (the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which administers the USTC) key laboratories or research centers. The city also boasts over 10 technical physics experimental platforms.

These include big science facilities such as the EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) device and auxiliary heating systems, and the Steady High Magnet Field Facility. Hefei's GDP has risen 20-fold in the past 20 years, he said.

This helps elevate Anhui's science and technology prowess as a whole, said Hawbani.

Modern manufacturing

According to the Anhui Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, the province has set up a modern industrial system covering 40 major sectors, among which manufacturing spans 31 major industries, including new energy vehicles, advanced photovoltaic and new energy storage, and new-generation information industries. Currently, Anhui is paying high attention to its automobile industry.

Anhui has seen a significant increase in the production and sales of automobiles in recent years, producing 2.49 million units in 2023, up 48 percent year-on-year. Among them, there were 868,000 NEVs, up 60.5 percent.

In the first six months of this year, Anhui's automobile output was 1.51 million units, accounting for nearly 11 percent of the nation's total and standing second in national rankings. Its NEV output was 621,000 units, accounting for around 13 percent of the nation's total and ranking second in the country, said Zhu Kaihua, deputy chief of the APDEIT's automobile industry division.

Big manufacturers such as Chery, JAC, Nio, Volkswagen Anhui and BYD are all contributing to the big rise, he said.