At Puruiqi Technology (Cangzhou) Co., Ltd., workers are accelerating production. At Hebei Zhongyi Nuclear Power Equipment Co., Ltd., employees are operating machinery. Innovation often begins with the precise deconstruction of critical challenges. Enterprises with strong innovation capabilities can not only achieve technological breakthroughs but also break monopolies and lead their industries. Cangzhou is overcoming industrial bottlenecks with core technologies, reshaping its future landscape with forward-looking planning, and nurturing an innovation ecosystem through institutional reforms. The momentum of innovation is surging forward.
Hardcore Innovation Solving Critical Challenges After multiple processes including cutting, cold heading, heat treatment, and anti-corrosion processing, anchor bolts are assembled. These products, embodying robust innovation, are destined for demanding application sites. At Hebei Zhongyi Nuclear Power Equipment Co., Ltd. in the Cangzhou Economic Development Zone, Vice General Manager Gong Chao presented silver, elongated anchor bolts. These are seismic self-undercutting anchor bolts for nuclear power applications. The product breaks foreign technological monopolies and has been selected for multiple domestic nuclear power projects.
For a long time, seismic self-undercutting anchor bolts for nuclear power were monopolized by foreign companies, leading to high prices and constraining the independent development of China's nuclear power industry. In 2021, Zhongyi Nuclear Power collaborated with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd., Southeast University, and other research entities to form an interdisciplinary technical team for tackling this challenge. After three years of relentless effort, anchor bolts with 100% independently controlled core technology successfully rolled off the production line. More encouragingly, the product's performance metrics meet or exceed those of international counterparts, while the price is approximately 50% lower than similar foreign products.
By solving this critical challenge, Zhongyi Nuclear Power achieved an innovative breakthrough. The company now possesses automated production and professional testing capabilities, has built a product matrix covering five major series including seismic self-undercutting anchor bolts and heavy-duty expansion anchor bolts, and owns an independent intellectual property system with over 30 patent applications. It has become a leading enterprise in China's field of seismic anchor bolts for nuclear power.
Many companies in Cangzhou have faced similar technological hurdles and achieved breakthroughs with hardcore technologies. Recently, the domestic R&D project for a full series of silicon-free and aluminum-free filter elements for the power industry's water filters passed the review and appraisal by the China Machinery Industry Federation. This marks a significant breakthrough for Cangzhou-made high-end filtration materials and indicates China's successful overcoming of foreign technological monopolies, achieving full domestic production.
The R&D project for the full series of silicon-free and aluminum-free filter elements for the power industry's water filters was led by Puruiqi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. Puruiqi Technology (Cangzhou) Co., Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary and production base, was completed and began operations in the Cangzhou Economic Development Zone in May 2025, achieving scale-up in the same year it started production. Since its initiation in 2017, the R&D team benchmarked against international products and conducted comprehensive technical research. Through an eight-year closed-loop R&D model involving experimental studies, sample trial production, product application, and customer feedback, they gradually optimized the filter element design, upgraded production materials, and refined manufacturing processes. This successfully broke the long-term monopoly of foreign companies in the high-end filtration materials sector for the power industry, achieving independent control of core technologies.
The project's core products encompass two major categories: "Full Series Glass Fiber and Cellulose Filter Elements" and "Full Series Silicon-Free and Aluminum-Free Filter Elements." The water filter elements feature comprehensive structures and sizes, with filtration precision ranging from 0.1 microns to 100 microns, meeting the industrial filtration needs of the power industry. The overall performance reaches the advanced level of foreign同类products. Among them, glass fiber and cellulose filter elements have been fully applied in the power industry, and silicon-free and aluminum-free filter elements have entered the practical application stage, effectively replacing traditional glass fiber filter elements and imported products.
"The first-phase 0.45-micron and 1-micron silicon-free and aluminum-free filter elements have been successfully applied, demonstrating excellent ion leaching control and significantly improved water cleanliness. The relevant technical indicators surpass those of foreign同类products," said a responsible person from Puruiqi Technology (Cangzhou) Co., Ltd. The realization of this achievement not only breaks the long-term foreign technological monopoly but also creates a synergistic effect with companies like Hebei Zhongyi Equipment Co., Ltd. within the Cangzhou Economic Development Zone, fostering the cluster development of the regional power industry equipment sector.
In Cangzhou, the drive for innovation is not about seeking novelty for its own sake but about directly addressing industrial pain points and defining innovation through solving critical challenges.
Forward-Looking Layout Cultivating Future Industries If technological breakthroughs represent突围at specific "points," then the forward-looking layout of future industries involves strategic planning on a broader "surface." Cangzhou has identified new energy and new materials as key development directions, actively promoting the large-scale production of lithium-ion battery energy storage equipment. It encourages relevant enterprises to build and improve the industrial chain for lithium battery anodes, cathodes, and separator materials, aiming to cultivate a new energy storage equipment manufacturing base around core enterprises.
At Cangzhou Zhongfu New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. in the Cangzhou Economic Development Zone, intelligent production lines operate smoothly. In the nearby finished product area, rolls of white gel polymer electrolyte membrane are neatly arranged. This is the gel polymer electrolyte membrane independently developed by Cangzhou Zhongfu, which plays an indispensable role in lithium batteries and holds multiple patents.
Unlike traditional separators, the gel polymer electrolyte membrane achieves innovation at the molecular level from the material source. Through a unique polymer microporous structure, it achieves functional breakthroughs, featuring flame retardancy, high ductility, and high chemical stability, significantly enhancing the safety of lithium batteries. Lithium batteries produced using this membrane are primarily used in electric vehicles and energy storage. This production line has an annual capacity of 50 million square meters of polymer electrolyte membrane. Upon the completion and operation of four additional production lines, it will become the largest gel polymer electrolyte membrane production base in China.
The company has established a joint laboratory with Nankai University, focusing on the R&D and conversion of key technologies for high-performance solid-state batteries, and on innovation in the compatibility between gel polymer electrolyte membranes and battery systems, thereby bridging the innovation chain from basic research to industrial application.
Strategic emerging industries are key to building a modern industrial system. In the Cangdong Economic Development Zone, the second phase of the Vision (Cangzhou) Zero-Carbon Industrial Park project, with a total investment of 10.1 billion yuan, is accelerating construction and is expected to be completed in June of this year. The second phase primarily produces high-quality power and energy storage battery products. Upon reaching full capacity, the estimated annual output value is 20 billion yuan.
To ensure the project progresses at high speed, Cangzhou implemented full-cycle factor support and precision services, resolving over 20 issues including the construction of supporting roads and water, electricity, and gas supply. Merely by inviting industry experts to assist in the upgrading and optimization of products and production lines, approximately 70 million yuan in construction costs were saved for the enterprise.
The strong support for Vision AESC stems from Cangzhou's deep consideration of "accelerating the construction of a new energy system." On February 6, at the Vision (Cangzhou) Zero-Carbon Industrial Ecosystem Partners Precision Matchmaking Event held in Cangzhou City, the Hebei Energy Storage Industry Alliance was established, comprising enterprises covering the entire energy storage industry chain. The alliance will precisely connect companies in the lithium battery and energy storage sectors, deeply participate in the entire development process of Hebei's energy storage and lithium battery industries, and create a better ecological environment for the entire industry.
Cangzhou's innovation drive contains profound considerations for reshaping the industrial structure, propelling the economic engine's transition from traditional momentum to emerging momentum.
Optimizing the Innovation Ecosystem Empowering with "New" Forces The confidence for enterprises to "dare to explore and innovate" is inseparable from a supportive environment. After processes like cutting, pressing, and annealing, it takes less than a minute for robotic arms to place 200 neutral borosilicate glass pre-filled syringes, each with a 20ml capacity, onto the conveyor belt. At the smart factory of Cangzhou Four Stars Glass Co., Ltd. in the Cangzhou High-tech Zone, the independently developed 5.0 neutral borosilicate glass technology fills a domestic gap. The company's intelligent transformation project received a subsidy of 45.82 million yuan from ultra-long-term special government bonds, which, besides transforming the production line, also facilitated the upgrade of over 300 pieces of equipment.
Behind this lies the strong support of the "policy + mechanism + service" innovation ecosystem constructed by Cangzhou. Cangzhou uses institutional innovation to break development constraints, taking the lead in the province in implementing a "unveiling the list and appointing the best" mechanism for key R&D projects. Fiscal funds totaling 50.79 million yuan support 24 municipal projects in tackling key core technologies and critical challenges.
In July 2025, the high-performance water treatment equipment and intelligent integrated water treatment equipment manufacturing project, invested and established by Hebei Jinmo New Material Technology Co., Ltd., officially settled in the Cangzhou High-tech Zone. Just one month later, the company received a 135 million yuan investment from the Cangzhou Membrane Advanced Materials Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Venture Investment Fund. Expressing pleasant surprise, the company's负责人repeatedly remarked that "choosing Cangzhou was the right path."
In recent years, Cangzhou has focused on optimizing the innovation ecosystem to make innovation more vibrant. Aiming to progressively advance institutional and mechanism reforms, Cangzhou City has issued documents such as "Several Measures on Vigorously Promoting Scientific and Technological Innovation Work" and "Several Measures on Further Attracting the Transfer and Transformation of Beijing-Tianjin Scientific and Technological Achievements in Cangzhou," providing strong policy support for optimizing the sci-tech innovation ecology. The newly revised policies in 2025 place greater focus on tangible financial support, offering subsidies ranging from 1 million to 5 million yuan for major proprietary R&D achievement transformation projects undertaken by enterprises. Science and innovation vouchers provide timely help for small, medium, and micro enterprises, with provincial and municipal funds累计投入8.233 million yuan, benefiting over 60 companies.
Beyond mechanism innovation, the iterative upgrading of the policy system provides continuous momentum for innovative development. Precise policy support gives enterprises the confidence to innovate. In Cangzhou, the drive for innovation represents a systematic synergy between the government and the market, reshaping the innovation ecosystem.
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