At the recent unveiling of the list of "lighthouse factories" by the World Economic Forum in October, three companies based in Qingdao, Shandong province, were featured, increasing the city's total number to seven, the highest in the country.

Recognized as being the "most advanced in the world", lighthouse factories represent the pinnacle of global intelligent manufacturing and digitalization.

The recognition of the lighthouse factories in Qingdao reflects the city's remarkable digital transformation in manufacturing and its proactive efforts in promoting green development.

In August 2022, the central government entrusted Shandong with the significant mission of building a pilot zone for green, low-carbon, and high-quality development. Over the past two years, Qingdao has focused on creating a modern industrial ecosystem driven by technological innovation and accelerating the transition to green development.

Liu Kai, deputy director of the city's development and reform commission, said that Qingdao has emphasized upgrading traditional industries, nurturing and expanding emerging industries, and planning for future industries.

These initiatives include constructing eight parks for emerging industries, which have gathered over 100 projects, each worth more than 100 million yuan ($13.93 million); fostering eight provincial clusters for pillar industries and four clusters for future industries.

Also, the construction of 332 key projects for green, low-carbon, and high-quality development at the provincial and municipal levels is accelerating, leading to a rapid optimization of the city's economic structure.

Meanwhile, Qingdao is implementing the concept of green and low-carbon development, with energy consumption significantly lower than national and provincial levels.

The energy structure is rapidly adjusting, with a substantial decrease in the proportion of coal-fired power installations and an increase in the share of clean and renewable energy installations.

Qingdao houses the province's first heavy-duty gas turbine project, which has been completed and put into operation, as well as a 1.15-million-kilowatt offshore photovoltaic project, of which the onshore part has been finished, and several large offshore wind power projects are being planned.

Green transformation extends beyond the energy sector, representing a broad and profound systemic change in economic and social development. The pursuit of ecological prioritization and green development has become a consensus among enterprises, and invisible carbon emissions are becoming a tangible measure of societal progress.

Qingdao's Shinan district, for example, utilizes industrial waste heat, tidal energy, solar energy, and other resources to transform existing communities into zero-carbon ones, and Lingshan Island in the city's West Coast New Area has become the first carbon-negative island in China.

Since 2018, Qingdao has been committed to optimizing the structure of industry, energy, transportation, and agricultural inputs and land use, while promoting coordinated efforts to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, and increase greenery.

As a result, the total emissions of major pollutants have been decreasing yearly, and the city's ecological environment quality continues to improve.

The average PM2.5 concentration in urban areas now remains below 30 micrograms per cubic meter, with the good and excellent air quality rate reaching over 81 percent.