On October 27, a press conference in the series on Hunan's achievements during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period (2021-2025), with a special session by Shaoyang City, was held in Changsha. The conference revealed that during the period, Shaoyang's industrial economy has achieved sustained high growth, with the city's regional GDP increasing from 225.08 billion yuan in 2020 to 292.63 billion yuan in 2024, and is expected to exceed the 300-billion-yuan mark this year. Cluster construction has achieved remarkable results, with the number of provincial-level characteristic small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) industrial clusters ranking first in the province. Shaoyang has cultivated a batch of high-quality SMEs, injecting strong momentum into the city's economic development.

Over the past five years, as a national old industrial base, Shaoyang has vigorously implemented strategies to thrive through industry, strengthen through science and technology, and enliven through opening up. The city has cumulatively cultivated 12 provincial-level industrial clusters, ranking second in the province. Among them, there are 10 provincial-level characteristic SME industrial clusters, ranking first in the province. The lighter industry has successfully been selected as a national-level characteristic SME industrial cluster, producing 15 billion disposable injection-molded lighters annually, capturing 70% of the global market share. The characteristic light industry has surpassed a market scale of 100 billion yuan, forming a favorable pattern of "clusters driving industries, industries supporting development."

In terms of cultivating high-quality SMEs, Shaoyang has established a "gradient cultivation database" to implement precise policies. The city implements an "Incubation Project" for start-up enterprises. For growth-stage enterprises, a "Foundation Strengthening Campaign" is carried out, cultivating 16 national "little giant" companies (specialized, sophisticated, and innovative SMEs) and 382 specialized and sophisticated SMEs at provincial-level or above, a fourfold increase compared to 2020. For leading enterprises, a "Navigation Plan" is implemented, creating a number of industry benchmarks represented by SANY Special Purpose Vehicle Co., Ltd., Hunan Dongyi Electric Co., Ltd., and Hunan Xiangzhong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., forming an industrial ecosystem led by leading enterprises and collaborated by SMEs.

Over the past five years, Shaoyang has continuously deepened its "innovation-driven" growth, injecting strong momentum into industrial development. The city has established two provincial-level manufacturing innovation centers, 52 provincial-level enterprise technology centers, and 12 industrial design centers, catalyzing the implementation and commercialization of a number of key core technologies. The proportion of enterprises above designated size with R&D activities reached 59.84%, ranking first in the province. The city has cumulatively developed 26 types of first-batch new materials and 9 sets of first-of-their-kind major equipment. The number of valid invention patents increased from 847 in 2021 to 1,855 in 2024, a growth of 119%. Shaohong substrate glass and Caihong cover glass have successfully overcome technical challenges in international high-generation electronic glass technology. A total of 186 intelligent manufacturing enterprises, 453 workshops, and 5,345 workstations have been created, with the intelligent manufacturing transformation rate of enterprises above designated size reaching 63.8%, promoting the transformation of traditional industries towards high-end, intelligent, and green development.

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn