The 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Summit returns to the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River from October 20-22. Nobel and Turing Award winners will speak on the future and trends of technology, and renowned professors Michael McFarlane and Xiang Biao — who offer relief from anxiety and the era of excessive competition — will engage in a live dialogue!
Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us journey together toward sustainability! [Click to register] In the golden autumn season, Bengbu sets out once again. In September 2026, the 13th Party Congress of Bengbu City convened successfully. Viewed from the broader landscape of Anhui Province, this was merely a routine leadership transition meeting. But viewed from Bengbu's own development trajectory, this meeting carries enormous weight. Those who know Bengbu are aware that over the past year, the city's GDP growth rate climbed to 5.5%. Whether it can maintain this "advancing" momentum this year and beyond — how well will Bengbu perform in the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan"? How will Bengbu deploy its efforts over the next five years? This meeting sets the flag and charts the course, making it particularly critical. Aerial view of Bengbu. (Photo by Cao Yong)
A new chapter, opening from a stronger foundation
"Marked by this Party Congress, Bengbu's development has reached a new historical starting point." Bengbu Municipal Party Secretary Ma Jun stated plainly, positioning the city. This "new" lies in the "newness" of its "foundation." How a place develops depends first and foremost on its industries. In Bengbu, the pace of industrial transformation and upgrading has clearly accelerated. The city is finding its stride in fields including new energy, next-generation display, intelligent sensing, biochemicals, commercial aerospace, auto parts, and life and health. Intelligent sensing has become Bengbu's most distinctive calling card — the China Sensor Valley has gathered 281 upstream and downstream enterprises, forming a complete intelligent sensing industrial system covering materials, design, manufacturing, testing, packaging, and application. It has completed a full-domain layout across the "five senses" of embodied intelligence — force sensitivity, magnetism, inertia, touch, and smell. A single word — "new" — encapsulates the entirety of Bengbu. China (Bengbu) Sensor Valley. (Photo by Bengbu Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department)
A city's "attraction" also lies in the happiness index of its people. Over the past five years, Bengbu's livelihood expenditure grew at an average annual rate of 4.5%, and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 50,594 yuan and 25,299 yuan respectively. The "warmth" of livelihood is embodied in concrete matters that people can feel and access — education, healthcare, social security, elderly care. Whether it is the new construction and renovation of over 90 compulsory education schools, adding approximately 120,000 school seats, or building a student financial aid system covering everything from preschool to higher education, Bengbu has been investing heavily in education, making it more inclusive and higher in quality. Whether it is writing "health" into development plans, accelerating the construction of 2 national regional medical centers and 1 provincial regional medical center, bringing quality medical resources from Shanghai and other Yangtze River Delta areas to ordinary people's doorsteps, or implementing citywide policies such as "one registration valid for three days," "bedside settlement," and "treatment first, payment later" to make medical visits less burdensome and more convenient, a healthy Bengbu is advancing with solid steps. From increasing the renovation and upgrading of old residential communities, resolving residents' pressing concerns such as aging and frequently malfunctioning elevators, to treating ecological governance as a major livelihood project — investing 220 million yuan in the Longzi Lake comprehensive treatment project to better return the lake to the people — Bengbu is polishing its urban character of being "beautiful outside and wise within" through one solid livelihood project after another, with the quality of a livable city upgrading year by year... Urban capacity significantly enhanced, development momentum and vitality continuously unleashed, people's wellbeing steadily improved, ecological environment continuously bettered... These "retrospectives" at the Party Congress resonate deeply with Bengbu's residents. Over the past five years, Bengbu has shouldered burdens, broken through obstacles, and strived forward, achieving solid development results. Every item, every detail, converge into Bengbu's confidence to "rise against the odds."
Seizing momentum — the key lies in "reading the situation"
From a former old industrial base to today's new industrial landscape of "Pearl of the Huai River, City of Intelligent Manufacturing," Bengbu has both "chips" and "screens" in its new track. It is the only city in the province — and one of the few in the country — possessing both MEMS and CMOS process technologies, as well as 6-inch and 8-inch MEMS wafer production lines. It has also produced the world's first 8.6-generation OLED glass substrate and 30-micron flexible foldable glass — original achievements that break through "bottleneck" technologies. Each original innovation, each breakthrough, reflects Bengbu's character of being innovative and daring to venture and experiment. The world's first 8.6-generation OLED glass substrate. (Photo by Chen Ang)
Today, an intelligent sensing chain links the hundred-billion-yuan ambition of "chips" and "screens." Commercial aerospace is expanding from "Long March rocket supporting components" to full-chain efforts spanning "rockets, satellites, and ground terminals." Brain-computer interfaces are accelerating from laboratories to operating tables and toward industrialization... The way people view Bengbu today is filled with "novelty" and "innovation" everywhere. The old foundation is "transformed beyond recognition," emerging industries are flourishing, future industries reach for the stars, and county-level economies each showcase their strengths. Today's Bengbu continuously surpasses itself, leaving behind its own footprints of striving. Since the beginning of this year, Bengbu has seized the momentum, demonstrating the pragmatic spirit of "shedding eight petals of sweat from a single drop," and new speeds are being achieved across economic sectors. Data is a vivid "signal light." In the first half of 2026, Bengbu's economic growth rate further rose to 5.9%, ranking 3rd in the province. The added value of above-scale industries grew by 10.1%, ranking 5th in the province and first in northern Anhui. Step by step, pressing forward — wherever the footsteps reach, there are gains. However, looking beyond the data, Bengbu is still in a period of accelerated catch-up. Whether Bengbu can run the "15th Five-Year Plan" relay well is particularly critical. How to start? How to accelerate? This autumn's Party Congress clarified direction, outlined paths, and illuminated the way forward for Bengbu. "We must never become complacent or slacken off just because we have achieved some results. We must abandon the mindset of being satisfied with small progress and content with modest comfort, and strive to be at the forefront in the comprehensive revitalization of northern Anhui." Bengbu sees itself clearly — it must not rest on its "laurels," but must aim high, open up its格局, and find its position within the broader development landscape of the province, the Yangtze River Delta, and the nation. Looking at Bengbu from outside Bengbu, the situation is not easy. From the perspective of regional competition, Bengbu has benchmarks ahead and pursuers behind. "See the challenges, grasp the opportunities, and press forward with the tenacity of sleeping late and waking early, putting in hard work." "The next five years are the golden five years for Bengbu to leapfrog and accelerate revitalization." "Maintain focus, persist with sustained effort, hammer after hammer, step by step, two steps at a time."... At the Party Congress, the word "press forward" appeared at high frequency, linking together like beads on a string, becoming an important focal point of Bengbu's "reading the situation." This means that every step Bengbu takes next must be faster and more precise than others. More importantly, we must clearly see that although emerging industries such as intelligent sensing and commercial aerospace have gained momentum, the industrial chains are still in their formative stage, and there is still a difficult road from "gaining momentum" to "achieving full momentum." The Anhui Provincial Party Committee has also assigned Bengbu the positioning of "regional central city" — a heavy responsibility on Bengbu's shoulders. The situation is pressing — not advancing means retreating, and slow progress is also retreating. Bengbu especially needs to "make further progress."
Bengbu — revitalizing through relentless effort
"Accelerating Bengbu's revitalization is not something shouted out or written down — it is achieved through the hard work and struggle of every comrade who drinks Huai River water and eats Bengbu grain!" Bengbu Municipal Party Secretary Ma Jun spoke with weight and pragmatism. Weight — because the responsibility for revitalization is placed on everyone's shoulders, and revitalization is treated as a shared cause to strive for. Pragmatism — because it reveals the simplest truth: over the past five years, Bengbu was able to break through adversity and run at the forefront of the technology track precisely by working steadfastly, step by step. Bengbu is focusing on laying out the brain-computer interface industry. (Photo by Bengbu Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department)
It is imaginable that the next five years will be five years of Bengbu "running." Standing at a new starting point and looking ahead, the outline of a "New Bengbu" is becoming increasingly clear. A Bengbu on the industrial chain is coming into view. From the goal perspective, "building a strong city through intelligent manufacturing, establishing the city through industry" remains the overarching tone, and "vigorously developing industry, vigorously developing manufacturing" remains the overarching approach. Promoting the clustering of emerging and future industries such as intelligent sensing, new energy, commercial aerospace, and brain-computer interfaces into chains and clusters — Bengbu is making its moves... It is evident that Bengbu is starting from the industrial end, striving to make its industries bigger and stronger, truly transforming its "technological specialty" into "industrial specialty," allowing this old industrial base city to showcase new excellence on new tracks. China Bengbu Commercial Aerospace Technology Industrial Park. (Photo by Yuhui Propaganda Department)
A Bengbu that gathers talent is drawing nearer. Undertaking ventures, the key lies in people. As Bengbu deepens its cultivation along the industrial chain, it will inevitably attract more talent and create more new employment in the technology sector. Especially with the cultivation and growth of emerging industries such as intelligent sensing and commercial aerospace, Bengbu is beginning to show signs of net inflow of technical talent. "Youth Blooms in Bengbu, Right Here in the Pearl City" talent recruitment and intelligence attraction initiative, the "Hundred People Serving a Thousand Enterprises" service is being deepened, Anhui students' visits to Bengbu and visits by students from universities in Bengbu to enterprises form a "combined punch," attracting young talent to work in Bengbu... Holding talent in the "palm of its hand," making cultivation solid and detailed — Bengbu's potential is accelerating its release. A happy Bengbu with improved livelihoods is within reach. People first, livelihood foremost. The warmth of a city lies in the daily lives of its people. Focusing on the employment, education, healthcare, elderly care, childcare, and housing issues that weigh on people's minds, Bengbu implements precise policies — from continuously improving the efficient collaborative handling mechanism for public demands, deeply carrying out the "I am a hotline operator, I am a supervisor" activity, to deepening and solidifying the "streets and townships blow the whistle, departments respond" working mechanism, and vigorously promoting the "four members and two teachers" into villages (communities)... On the new journey, Bengbu continuously extends its livelihood list, responding to the expectations of the people, ensuring that every step of development lands in the hearts of the people, making the quality of revitalization fuller and the foundation of happiness brighter. Stars do not fail those who hurry on their way. With real effort, real success — Bengbu will surely succeed! Acting upon it, a brand-new "Pearl of the Huai River, City of Intelligent Manufacturing" is emerging! (Zhou Jun, Li Xu)
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