For thirty years, Fujian-Ningxia collaboration has traversed mountains and seas, deepening continuously through dedicated cultivation.
It has now achieved a historic leap from "one-way assistance" to "mutual benefit and win-win cooperation," becoming a model for East-West regional collaboration.
Collaborative Wins: Casting a Two-Way Strong and Complementary Chain with 3D Printing Technology
In Nan'an, Fujian, a foundry 3D printing technology enterprise from Ningxia has established itself, complementing the local mechanical equipment industry chain and yielding fruitful results, extending Fujian-Ningxia collaboration to the synergistic co-construction of industrial chains.
Inside the workshop of the National Intelligent Casting Industry Innovation (Quanzhou) Center in Xiamei Town, Nan'an City, Quanzhou, Fujian, staff are debugging two casting 3D printing machines.
Once operational, the number of 3D printers in this smart factory will increase from six to eight, boosting production capacity accordingly.
The 3D-printed products here are molds for casting products, which can replace traditional mold-making in casting.
Casting 3D printing technology significantly compresses the mold preparation cycle, a core technology of Ningxia's Sharing Group.
Headquartered in Yinchuan, Ningxia, Sharing Group possesses leading fully intelligent factories for casting 3D printing, while Quanzhou City boasts a complete mechanical equipment industry chain with an output value exceeding one hundred billion yuan.
Benefiting from "Fujian-Ningxia Collaboration," the high-end manufacturing DNA of inland Ningxia has deeply integrated with the dynamic energy of the southeastern coast.
Sharing Group established its then-newest generation casting 3D smart factory in Nan'an, which commenced operations in March 2023.
"Speed" is the defining feature of this 10,000-ton-capacity, fully intelligent casting 3D printing factory.
It not only addresses the pain points of traditional processes but also achieves "flexible production," meeting enterprise needs for small batches, complex parts, and customization.
Shi Qingming's team is currently discussing product design with a company that produces machining mother machines for aircraft engine blades.
The two factories are located in the same industrial park, just 400 meters apart.
Since 2023, this company has consistently ordered 3D-printed products.
Fujian's well-developed mechanical equipment industry chain brings not only orders but also more application scenarios, which in turn drives the advancement and application of intelligent manufacturing technology at Ningxia's Sharing Group.
East-West Collaboration Builds an "Intelligent Nest" for Complementary Advantages and Shared Development
With Fujian-Ningxia collaboration as the driving force, Ningxia is building nests to attract phoenixes and expanding the platform for East-West cooperation.
This not only attracts Eastern enterprises to take root but also helps local companies expand nationwide.
East-West collaboration is transitioning from one-way assistance to mutual benefit.
This is Minning Town in Ningxia, where three decades of East-West cooperation have cultivated new growth on this land.
These are "high-quality tomatoes" produced by a smart agriculture base.
Why are they called "high-quality tomatoes"?
Inside the smart greenhouse, once light, temperature, and humidity reach set values, drip arrows automatically activate, delivering nutrient solution precisely to the root of each tomato plant, achieving integrated water and fertilizer management.
Skylights open and close automatically based on temperature, boiler exhaust is recycled to become a "carbon source" for the tomatoes, and rainwater is also collected and reused, being both environmentally friendly and yield-enhancing.
Through comprehensive intelligent control of temperature, light, water, air, and nutrients, the optimal growing environment for tomatoes is created here, enabling year-round uninterrupted supply.
Why did such an enterprise choose to establish itself in Minning Town?
Zhang Xulong, head of the smart agricultural industrial park, stated that the primary reasons are Ningxia's favorable natural environment, abundant sunlight, and good synchronization of temperature and light.
Additionally, the local government provided substantial support for their project, offering tangible preferential policies on land use and natural gas pricing.
This enterprise from Shandong not only grows tomatoes well but also provides stable "doorstep" jobs for the residents of Minning Town.
We use electricity every day, but transmission lines strung high in the air face numerous challenges.
Bird damage, ice accumulation, and strong winds, seemingly minor, are major triggers for line tripping.
In ensuring stable power supply, a Ningxia-based enterprise has developed its own unique technology.
This is a company dedicated to power transmission safety and is the first domestic company to produce integrated protective insulation devices.
The integrated protective insulation devices they developed specifically address issues like bird damage and wind deflection that frequently cause tripping, making grid operation safer and more reliable.
Furthermore, the company has independently developed insulator inspection robots that operate using drone mounts, ensuring both safety and efficiency.
Today, these products and devices have moved beyond Ningxia, being tested in broader markets.
Tomatoes from the East have taken root in Minning Town; robots starting from Ningxia safeguard power grids in the East and other regions.
"Coming in" and "going out" represent not just a two-way flow of industry but a vivid footnote to East-West collaboration, and this path continues to extend further.
Minning Town: From "One Utility Pole" to a "Green Electricity Benchmark"
In recent years, Minning Town has gained a new identity—"Green Electricity Town."
By the end of 2024, it had become the first town in Northwest China to achieve 24-hour green power supply.
How did this immigrant town, rising from a "dry beach," transform step by step into a "green electricity benchmark"?
With gearboxes and yaw systems exposed, trainees gather around a disassembled wind turbine for a lesson.
Nearby, energy storage and power transformation equipment from different eras and technological paths are within easy reach.
This is not a science museum but the largest and most functionally comprehensive new energy training school in Northwest China.
The practical training base was built in this town, capitalizing on Minning Town's tangible "wind and solar resource endowment."
Yet, Minning Town was not always so "promising."
Wang Ruifang is the longest-serving employee at the Minning Town Power Supply Station, having been rooted there since its establishment in 1997, working for nearly 30 years.
She still remembers the scene back then.
Wang Ruifang, an employee of the Minning Town Power Supply Station, explained that the phrase "no birds fly in the sky, no grass grows on the ground" described the harsh conditions.
Later, the government built a water tower in the town, which required electricity for pumping.
The power supply department erected the first utility pole right next to the tower.
With electricity and water, people could live well.
One utility pole brought electricity, pumped water, and kept people.
The transition from "having electricity is enough" to "green electricity benchmark" occurred on the rooftops of Yuanlong Village.
This is the largest ecological resettlement village in Minning Town, where all 1,922 households have photovoltaic panels installed on their roofs.
The deep blue panels are neatly arranged, forming a unique landscape.
With an average of 3,000 hours of annual sunshine, this is nature's gift, allowing residents to truly feel that "sunlight can also earn money."
Beyond residents' own rooftops, many villages in Minning Town have leased idle land to build more "sunshine savings accounts."
People also engage in planting and breeding under the photovoltaic panels, achieving dual benefits from one piece of land and a win-win for ecology and livelihood.
On the surrounding barren sandy land of Minning Town, wind turbines stand tall, complementing the solar power.
However, new energy has an inherent challenge: no sun at night, and wind may cease.
Where does the electricity come from then?
Minning Town's solution is a "super power bank."
Having a "power bank" alone is not enough; precise dispatch is the core.
A self-developed "Source-Grid-Load-Storage Coordination Control System" was first applied here.
Relying precisely on every photovoltaic panel from rooftops to wastelands, every wind turbine, a "super power bank," and an intelligent "dispatch brain," Minning Town's "Green Electricity Town" has delivered a solid "report card" since its full completion in 2024.
It supplies 566 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, saves over 69,500 tons of standard coal, reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 192,700 tons, and achieves a new energy utilization efficiency exceeding 95%.
This "Green Electricity Town" also provided a grassroots, vivid sample from a small town in Northwest China for the global "dual carbon" goals at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference.
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