Modern industrial systems form the material and technological foundation of a modern nation and constitute a vital component of a modern economic framework. The "Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Liaoning Province" (hereafter referred to as the Plan Outline) places significant emphasis on "accelerating the development of a modern industrial system." Focusing on balancing the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries with the cultivation and expansion of strategic emerging industries, the province consistently adheres to the directions of intelligentization, greening, and integration. Efforts are concentrated on consolidating existing capacity, expanding new growth areas, extending industrial chains, and increasing added value, while maintaining a reasonable proportion of manufacturing. The goal is to fully develop a distinctive "2211" industrial system with Liaoning characteristics.
Liaoning boasts a comprehensive and well-established industrial structure, serving as a significant base for petrochemicals, metallurgy, and equipment manufacturing. However, challenges such as an over-reliance on traditional industries, outdated equipment, obsolete processes, and traditional models objectively persist. How can transformation and upgrading be achieved? The Plan Outline provides a clear path: optimizing and enhancing traditional industries through "intelligent transformation and digitalization," continuously extending efforts both upstream and downstream in the industrial chain, advancing toward the high end of the value chain, and striving for technological and process excellence.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the province's foundation for digital transformation was continuously strengthened: 10 industrial "brains" were cultivated, and 670 foundational-level, 273 advanced-level, and 18 exemplary-level smart factories were established. The numerical control rate of key processes and the penetration rate of digital R&D design tools both exceeded the national average. Cities such as Shenyang, Dalian, Panjin, and Fushun were designated as national pilot cities for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Looking ahead, how will progress be advanced? Wang Zhe, Director of the Integration Promotion Department at the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, explained that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the province aims to achieve full digital transformation coverage for all industrial enterprises above a designated scale. To this end, a "three horizontal, four vertical" work system has been proposed. The "three horizontals" involve comprehensive diagnostics for all scale-above industrial enterprises, the hierarchical and categorical construction of smart factories and pilot cities, and the deep integration of artificial intelligence with advanced manufacturing. The "four verticals" include selecting exemplary benchmark enterprises, strengthening factor guarantees such as loan interest subsidies, solidifying platform support, and developing digital industrial parks. Notably, the province has introduced nine specialized policies covering financial subsidies, loan interest subsidies, technical services, and other aspects to ensure enterprises are "willing, capable, and able to afford the transformation."
Traditional industries serve as the "ballast stone" of the provincial economy. The Plan Outline proposes comprehensively enhancing the core competitiveness of traditional industries. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, aligning with national major productivity layouts, the province will leverage its strengths, address its weaknesses, and revitalize industrial transformation and upgrading. For the petrochemical industry, efforts will focus on "reducing oil output while increasing chemical production" to raise the proportion of new chemical materials and fine chemicals. The steel industry will shift from "raw materials" to "materials," prioritizing the development of special steels such as high-end bearing steel and high magnetic permeability grain-oriented silicon steel. The equipment manufacturing sector will concentrate on industrial machine tools, power equipment, auto parts, and other areas, aiming for high-end advancement.
Emerging and future industries are key to building Liaoning's competitive advantages. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the province's emerging industries gained substantial momentum, with investment in high-tech manufacturing growing at an average annual rate of 18.9%, 8.4 percentage points higher than the national average. Looking toward the 15th Five-Year Plan, the province is actively exploring new fields and tracks, cultivating and expanding emerging pillar industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, and biopharmaceuticals. It is also accelerating the layout of future industries including deep earth/deep sea/space, hydrogen energy, advanced energy storage, and embodied intelligence.
Zhang Zhihong, Dean of the Specialized, Sophisticated, Differentiated, and Innovative Enterprise Research Institute at Dalian University of Technology, stated that future industries concentrate cutting-edge technologies, high-end talent, and innovative resources. They can drive the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, address Liaoning's challenges of an overly high proportion of traditional industries and insufficient emerging momentum, promote industrial restructuring toward intelligentization and greening, and foster a new batch of economic growth points. Taking the low-altitude economy as an example, leveraging its strong foundation in aviation, the province has established a relatively complete industrial chain, with R&D institutions such as the Liaoning General Aviation Research Institute and the Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, placing it in the domestic first tier in the field of new energy aircraft. According to the Plan Outline, the province will build a "one core, one pole, multiple points" industrial pattern for the low-altitude economy: Shenyang will focus on complete aircraft and demonstration applications, Dalian on core component R&D, and cities like Chaoyang, Fuxin, Panjin, and Jinzhou will develop specialized segments, forming an industrial ecosystem integrating complete aircraft R&D, key component manufacturing, and complete aircraft integration and test flight.
Currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating, with artificial intelligence becoming a key force reshaping the competitive landscape. The Plan Outline explicitly proposes "fully promoting the innovative development of artificial intelligence and accelerating the development of Digital Liaoning."
Manufacturing provides fertile ground for artificial intelligence. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, focusing on "AI + Manufacturing," the province will accelerate the supply of data elements, support enterprises and research institutes in data collection and labeling to form high-quality industry datasets; build intelligent computing centers to provide "on-demand, pay-as-you-go" computing power services; undertake breakthroughs in industry-specific large models, developing and promoting dedicated models and solutions for key links like R&D design and production manufacturing, as well as specific scenarios such as visual inspection and intelligent operation and maintenance; develop embodied intelligence technology products, cultivate industrial intelligent agents, and create over 100 benchmark application scenarios empowered by artificial intelligence.
With a clear path and steadfast steps, the province will fully leverage its advantage of a complete industrial system, persist in the coordinated development of traditional, emerging, and future industries, promote the empowerment of all sectors by artificial intelligence, and strive to build the distinctive "2211" industrial system with Liaoning characteristics.
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