Huadu is full of life in April, with flushing grass and flying birds. On April 10th, "Future Materials in Smart Huadu" New Material Industry Innovation Collaborative Exchange Conference Held in Huadu District.

Yang Wantai, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Peng, chairperson of the board of supervisors of the China Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund, Gao Yuxiang, senior executive and chief equity investment officer of CITIC Securities, Chang Junsheng, general manager of CITIC Goldstone Investment Limited, along with representatives of 105 enterprises from all over the country, including Yushu Science And Technology, Kingfa Sci. & Tech, XtalPi Holdings, Geely Holding Group, Taiping Property Insurance, CITIC Bank and other financial institutions, as well as nearly 300 entrepreneurs, experts and scholars gathered in Huadu to discuss the development of the new material industry. Leaders of the Guangzhou Municipal Government, relevant municipal departments and Huadu District attended the event.

Academicians and think tanks lead to feel the pulse of innovation direction

With the theme of "innovation, collaboration, and integration of industry and finance", the event witnessed deep discussion of the technological breakthroughs and industrial applications of new materials, with focus on such frontier fields as the upstream and downstream of new materials, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and robots, and new energy.

Huadu District made an on-site presentation for investment environment promotion and publicity of the "Ten Measures of Huadu District to Support the Development of New Material Industry", which attracted a number of key new material enterprises to visit Huadu to have further in-depth dialogue with local enterprises, so that they can promote collaborative innovation in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, boost the vigorous development of the new material industry in Huadu District, and inject strong impetus into regional economic development.

The activity is a lively scene of in-depth interchanges among government, enterprise, industry, university and research institutions: the relevant person in charge of Huadu Economic Development Zone explained in detail the industrial policy and business environment of Huadu District, Guangzhou, showcasing the conducive environment and broad opportunities provided by Huadu District for the development of new material enterprises; Yang Wantai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a report with the title of "Thinking and Practice of Petrochemical/Coal Chemical Industry under New Quality Productivity", which provided theoretical guidance for the transformation and upgrading of the traditional chemical materials industry and proposed a new perspective; Yunshu, XtalPi, Geely and other companies shared practical cases in the fields of AI-enabled new material innovation, new energy vehicle material applications, artificial intelligence and robotics, which demonstrated the huge potential of technology and industry integration. CITIC Securities offered their interpret ion of the M&A and IPO policies of the capital market, and provided professional guidance on the capital market for new material companies.

Featuring vibrant atmosphere, clashing perspectives and sparking ideas, the exchange event effectively established a high-efficiency platform for "industry + capital" integration.

Synergy of production and research promotes the transformation of achievements

As an important industrial investment promotion activity of Huadu District, the meeting fully demonstrated the regional advantages of Huadu through themed presentations, financial roadshows, field visits and other forms. It attracted the chairpersons and executives of key new material enterprises, such as Changde New Materials, Deying Innovative Semiconductor Equipment, and National Chemistry Investment Group, to visit the city exhibition hall of Huadu District, and conducted research visits to the leading enterprises in key new materials of the District such as Gokin Solar and Huitian New Materials; there they had firsthand experience of the innovative strength and development vitality of Huadu new material industry, and a foundation for cooperation was laid.

More than 50 investment promotion specialists were sent by the Huadu Economic Development Zone Management Committee and Zhidu Group for coordination and in-depth negotiations with the participating enterprises of the trip; and special financial roadshow was also set up at the Conference, where a number of new material enterprises engaged with investment institutions on the spot, aiming to accelerate the commercialization of technological achievements, and attract high-quality projects to Huadu.

Dr. Zhang Jinzhu of Guangzhou Haitian Plastics Co., Ltd. said pointed out that this Conference was a comprehensive display of the determination of and measures taken by Huadu District to further expand and strengthen high-quality development of new materials industry, and the topic sharing at the Conference revealed clearly to the enterprise the direction of research and development in the future. “This mode of demand driven innovation will accelerate the development of new materials technology innovation and commercialization of the achievements,” said he.

Fan Bin, board chair of GCL Photoelectric remarked that since new materials expanded the world's material base, Huadu District's building new materials industrial parks helped to facilitate the synergistic development of upstream and downstream industries; he said, “the industry demands concentration, which is essential to acquiring advantages, and we will look for opportunities to participate in it.”

Follow the national strategy and work on the fertile soil of industry

Cutting-edge new materials is one of the key future industries of the "12635" modern industrial system in Huadu District, and the new material industry chain in Huadu District is huge with strong industrial driving force, covering key areas such as automotive materials, new display materials, integrated circuit materials, biomedical materials, leather and leather goods materials, etc., It plays an important supporting role for the development of automobiles, electronic information, biomedicine, leather and leather goods and other important industries in Huadu District and even in Guangzhou.

By 2024, there were 410 above-scale industrial enterprises in the green petrochemical and new material industry in Huadu District, registering an output value of more than 35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.77%; a total of 3 companies, Apower Electronics Co., Ltd, Guangzhou Highteen Plastic Co., Ltd, and Guangzhou Huitian New Material Co., Ltd., were added to the pool of key national-level SRDI "little giant" enterprises, and there were 5 new national-level SRDI "little giant" enterprises, 159 new provincial-level SRDI enterprises, and 2 individual champion enterprises in the manufacturing industry of Guangdong Province. There were more than 100 enterprises over the size scale of 100 million yuan., accounting for about 30% of the city, 222 high-tech enterprises in the field of new materials, and 34 engineering technology R&D centers of Guangdong Province. Shitian New Materials, Apower Electronics, Deheng Automotive Equipment and other enterprises were included as future unicorns in Guangzhou and on top 100 list of new high-quality productivity enterprises in Guangzhou; the application for innovative project by Huitian New Materials, together with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and other universities and research institutes, has been approved by the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong; Shitian Materials has established a joint laboratory in cooperation with CAE academician Qu Jinping and South China University of Technology; and the Huadu Green Low-Carbon Advanced Elastomer and Tire Research Institute, a project in cooperation with Shandong Linglong Tyre Co., Ltd. and South China University of Technology that aims to build a world-leading green and low-carbon elastomer and tire research and certification platform and promote the commercialization of key achievements in materials for high-performance tires, has landed in the new materials industry park created by Zhidu Group.

Jin Lei, Party Secretary and board chair person of Zhidu Group, said that Zhidu Group initiated the Huadu Green Low-Carbon Advanced Elastomer and Tire Research Institute in 2024, and the new material industrial park and national scientific equipment will be completed and officially put into operation in July this year to provide high-quality R&D and testing services for enterprises in the new material industry. The next step of Zhidu Group is to actively work for the industrial clustering in Huacheng District, build a professional industrial carrier, host high-standard industry conferences, and promote industrial exchanges.

It now evident that Huadu District has initially formed a new system for R&D and innovation of new materials, consisting of high-tech enterprises, engineering centers, scientific research institutes, etc., and the prospect of cutting-edge new materials development is great.

Huadu District is currently accelerating the formation of a new material technology powerhouse, a clustering place for enterprises and a new highland for investment; is relying on the advantages of air-rail intermodal transport hub and reform green finance to promote the development of new material industry at a higher speed; and is providing enterprises with full life cycle services through policy support, financial empowerment, factor guarantee and other measures. Meanwhile the District took the lead and released the "Ten Measures for Supporting the Development of New Material Industry in Huadu District", according to which the District will highlight the "four emphases and four focuses", focus on cultivating and developing new material industrial clusters with characteristic advantages, promote the realization of "good materials for good products with excellent performance", and attracted more high-quality enterprises and innovative technologies and resources to gather in Huadu. In the future, Huadu will continue to deepen opening up and cooperation, embrace the idea of "helping entrepreneurs, befriending investors, and serving taxpayers", and attract global innovation elements with a better environment and more practical measures, so as to promote the new material industry to move towards high-end, intelligent and green development, and contribute to the transformation and upgrading of the real economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.