On April 28, the 2026 National May Day Labor Award list was announced, with Li Zhifang, Chief Technology Engineer of the Phenolic Resin Division of Jinan Shengquan Group Co., Ltd., among the honorees. Just eight days prior, the State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences titled "Strivers on the New Journey," where Liang Jianying, Chief Scientist of CRRC, President of CRRC Industrial Research Institute, and Director of the National High-Speed Train Technology Innovation Center, shared her experiences.
In the spotlight, they represent Shandong's advanced manufacturing sector, which is characterized by a comprehensive system and vibrant innovation. Shandong has deeply implemented its "Number One Project" for industrial economy, comprehensively promoting technological innovation to lead industrial development. Last year, Shandong saw substantial growth in the output of high-tech products: integrated circuit wafers increased by 19.2%, lithium batteries by 103.1%, and industrial robots by 26.6%. New energy vehicle production exceeded 1.1 million units. Revenue from core artificial intelligence industries surpassed 120 billion yuan, with 148 industry-specific large-scale models, such as those from Inspur Hairuo, Kaos Tiangzhi, and Weichai Qitian, being deployed at scale. Two factories were selected as the nation's first pilot-level smart factories, 27 new factories were recognized as excellent-level smart factories, 130 "industrial brains" were established, and digital transformation coverage among large-scale industrial enterprises exceeded 95%.
Each impressive achievement is filled with years of dedicated exploration and unwavering commitment from scientific research talent. In recent years, Shandong has made substantial efforts to guide various talents towards the frontline of advanced manufacturing.
Shandong has legislated to support the leap of advanced manufacturing by enacting and implementing regulations to promote the sector. These regulations explicitly promote the integrated development of innovation chains, industrial chains, capital chains, and talent chains, establish and improve talent policy systems, enhance the cultivation, introduction, and utilization of talent in advanced manufacturing, and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship and craftsmanship.
Shortly after the Lunar New Year of the Horse, the Shandong Provincial Committee and Government issued several measures to implement more proactive, open, and effective talent policies, optimizing and upgrading key talent policy packages. These measures focus on strengthening support for the construction of a modern industrial system, deeply implementing projects for industrial capability leaps, optimizing and upgrading traditional industries, nurturing and expanding emerging industries, and making forward-looking strategic deployments for future industries. The measures propose accelerating the creation of a strong magnetic field for talent aggregation in emerging fields and building highlands for cultivating urgently needed and scarce talents.
Providing substantial financial support for industrial upgrading and innovative development, Shandong has allocated 625 million yuan for technological transformation and 580 million yuan as reward and subsidy funds for emerging and future industries. Furthermore, between 2025 and 2027, approximately 100 billion yuan will be allocated, focusing on building systems for "Five Major Innovations"—technological innovation, industrial innovation, green innovation, talent innovation, and institutional innovation—to accelerate the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces.
Enterprises are the best judges of whether policy strength and warmth are sufficient. At a recent press conference held by the Jinan Municipal Government, when asked "Why take root and develop in Jinan?", Wang Fei, Chief Engineer of Elecmetal Energy Equipment Co., Ltd., which produced the "world's largest seamless rolled steel ring," responded that with the precise and efficient support from Jinan's "Reward Policy for First (Set of) Major Technical Equipment," the company decided to invest 1 billion yuan to build the world's largest forged ring manufacturing project. During the project's implementation, various departments provided strong support in areas such as land, energy, and administrative procedures, enabling completion and commissioning in just ten months, creating a miracle in the industry.
Similarly, at the recently concluded 2026 Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, the humanoid robot "Xingzhe Taishan," developed by Shandong Ubtech Intelligent Robot Co., Ltd., successfully completed the race with a stable performance. This achievement is attributable to Shandong's accelerated layout in the new track of humanoid robot industry, promoting the autonomous, intelligent, and high-end development of humanoid robots, establishing four major industrial bases in Jinan, Qingdao, Zibo, and Jining, and building a coordinated development pattern with "core leadership and multi-point support."
The high-energy platforms built by Shandong's advanced manufacturing sector are continuously extending olive branches to talents from all directions: come to Shandong to enhance skills and achieve great things. Jinan is accelerating the construction of the Qilu Science and Technology Corridor area, with the Jinan base of the National Laboratory for Quantum Information becoming operational and effective, and the Jinan Science and Technology City of the Chinese Academy of Sciences rising. National manufacturing innovation centers, such as the National High-End Intelligent Home Appliance Innovation Center and the National Virtual Reality Innovation Center (Qingdao), continue to enhance the talent magnet effect of the Qingdao Science and Technology Corridor.
Beyond favorable policies and high-level platforms, Shandong also provides talents with a sense of stability and warmth, a feeling of "where the heart finds peace, that is home." At the Shandong Private Enterprise Symposium held earlier this year, Zhu Zhaoyuan, Co-founder and CEO of Rongming Microelectronics (Jinan) Co., Ltd., repeatedly thanked provincial and municipal support in his speech, mentioning that "the company's video processing chip project was included in relevant provincial plans, indicating broad development prospects. We will root ourselves in Shandong, face the global market, and inject strong technological momentum into Shandong's accelerated development of new quality productive forces."
Starting from Macau, traversing the Greater Bay Area, Chen Zhenjie, Founder and Chairman of Shandong Extreme Vision Technology Co., Ltd., ultimately settled in Qingdao. Attracted by the rich scenarios for AI application and benefiting from the attention and support of the local government, the company forged a path of collaborative innovation combining "demand side + technology side," creating many domestically pioneering and industry-leading vertical models. Chen Zhenjie stated frankly, "Coming to Qingdao was the best decision I ever made."
Manufacturing is the foundation for building a strong country. Shandong possesses the fundamental advantage of covering all 41 major industrial categories, numerous breakthroughs marked by "firsts" and "pioneering," and an innovative ecosystem where talent converges and momentum surges. Driven by the core of technology, the lever of talent, and the base of industry, Shandong merges into the "steel" torrent of Chinese manufacturing, surging towards the future.
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