Kunshan setting up world-class industrial hubs

Kunshan, a city of over 2 million near Shanghai, hosts two overlapping engines: a trillion-yuan ($141.6 billion) electronic information cluster led by display panels and optical devices, and a trillion-yuan auto-parts cluster that feeds both domestic and multinational original equipment manufacturers.

Visionox, one of China's leading AMOLED makers, illustrates the first engine. Its Kunshan base has become a strategic asset in China's efforts to build an independent display ecosystem, from materials and equipment to panels and modules.

Zhang Meng, head of innovation management at the innovation center of Visionox, said that the company's work sits at the heart of the policy push for breakthroughs in optical sensing, artificial intelligence and high-end displays.

"Kunshan helps us do two things fast: scale mass production and iterate new generations. Most cities can offer land. Kunshan can align suppliers, tooling partners, logistics and talent within months," Zhang said.

That velocity reflects the density of the cluster around it. The city hosts more than 200 supporting firms — from mask plate and polarizer makers to precision component providers — giving Visionox an ecosystem that shortens development cycles and buffers geopolitical shocks.

The result is a supply chain nimble enough to push into emerging display types such as foldable, micro-OLED and automotive-grade panels, all areas aligned with national priorities for advanced materials and intelligent terminals.

If Visionox represents frontier electronics, KSHG embodies the other half of Kunshan's industrial equation: labor-intensive foundations that are quietly reinventing themselves.

Founded decades ago, KSHG, a wire-harness assembler, now operates in an industry transformed by electrification, autonomous driving and the software-defined vehicle.

Wire harnesses — once simple bundles of copper and connectors — have evolved into intelligent nervous systems carrying signals, data and power across increasingly complex EV architectures.

Cheng Sanrong, chairman of KSHG, said high-voltage wiring, lightweight aluminum conductors, optical interconnects and multilayer sensor cabling are now standard.

The company has poured resources into process automation, real-time quality traceability and digital production lines — the type of incremental, applied innovation policymakers say is essential for strengthening the high-end of industrial chains.

A recent push involves collaborating with Kunshan's AI and electronics startups to develop semi-automated harness design tools and predictive maintenance systems — an early example of the city's push to integrate emerging digital capabilities with long-standing manufacturing strengths.

"As vehicles become more electronic and more intelligent, wiring harness goes from being a cost item to a competitive advantage," Cheng said. "We don't need slogans. We need faster iteration and closer integration with display, sensor and computing suppliers — all industries Kunshan already has."

What differentiates Kunshan from many manufacturing cities is its combination of industrial depth and administrative agility. The city handles tens of thousands of tech-related business approvals each year, with executives consistently describing a process "closer to corporate project management than public administration".

That efficiency matters as the 15th Five-Year Plan emphasizes world-class industrial clusters. The policy language speaks of "coordinated cluster building" across electronics, equipment manufacturing, new materials and future industries.