The intelligent production line at ABB Xiamen Hub in the Torch (Xiang'an) Industrial Zone. CHINA DAILY

As a crucial gauge of economic growth in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, the Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries is primed to create a sound business environment and initiate more foreign trade through expanding opening-up.

Internal drive

A sound business environment is key to improving a city's competitiveness, and in Xiamen, the torch high-tech zone has optimized its services for businesses, including streamlining approval processes and increasingly adopting digital approaches. The high-tech zone's "smart torch" service platform allows businesses to handle their requirements and affairs online and utilizes their technological strength to develop and employ digital application scenarios to aid local digital government construction.

A shining example of the high-tech zone's digital services is the "policy fulfillment intelligent approval system", which was developed by the zone's high-tech business DataExa. The system is the first of its kind to introduce an operation mode that can instantly review materials upon submission, with no need to submit them again if they fail the preliminary review. According to the company, business applicants can complete the application by themselves, correct mistakes and supplement documents via mobile phones or computers, which greatly improves work efficiency by processing everything on the spot.

To support the new quality productive forces, the high-tech zone has mobilized its digital services to promote construction of its "smart torch" business service platform. In 2023, the high-tech zone established a leadership group and a special team for services that benefit businesses, resulting in a series of measures in such areas as developing work proposals and implementation plans and establishing eight service mechanisms for addressing different levels of business demands, including a hierarchical linkage mechanism and an enterprise tracking management mechanism.

Additionally, a number of standardized and institutionalized documents for managing enterprise services have been introduced, and a system connecting officials to service provision has been implemented. Eight specialized services, such as fostering specialized, refined, distinctive, and new enterprises, and improving the zone's financial service platform, the intelligent manufacturing service platform and the corporate innovation tax index service, are now in place, along with an enterprise service hotline to improve government-enterprise interaction.

Since the beginning of this year, the high-tech zone's administrative committee has conducted more than 390 visits to businesses, helping resolve 134 challenges through coordination. More than 20 events, such as industrial matchmaking, policy briefing, financial connections and technology salons, have been organized.

Intelligent transformation and digitalization are essential for the development of new quality productive forces in businesses, and by adopting these practices, companies can transform traditional manufacturing into intelligent manufacturing, local officials said.

The high-tech zone has initiated an intelligent upgrade service model that integrates public and market services. The "torch intelligent manufacturing service platform" has been constructed, bringing together more than 420 high-quality domestic intelligent manufacturers to publish 2,266 product and service offerings. It has provided comprehensive intelligent manufacturing upgrade services in the form of an "online supermarket" for the zone's businesses by using the platform as a vehicle, making it the first of its kind in Fujian province. So far, the intelligent platform has identified 1,297 intelligent transformation demands, implemented 667 related projects with a combined investment exceeding 340 million yuan ($46.92 million).

Meanwhile, the high-tech zone has worked with the China Electronics Standardization Institute to offer a regular training program on the China Manufacturing Maturity Model, an authoritative standard framework that evaluates and guides enterprise progress in the field of intelligent manufacturing. As a result, nearly 180 intelligent manufacturing maturity assessors have been trained for high-tech companies in the zone.

ABB Xiamen Switchgear, the first joint venture of ABB Group in China, is the first domestic manufacturer to achieve level four maturity in intelligent manufacturing capability, according to the CMMM compliance certification. With the assistance of the high-tech zone, ABB Switchgear has identified areas for improvement in its intelligent manufacturing processes through diagnostic assessment. This has helped the company optimize its operations, upgrade lean manufacturing methods and improve overall operational efficiency.

Switzerland technology giant ABB has been collaborating with the high-tech zone for more than 30 years. As early as the 1990s, ABB was determined to settle down in the high-tech zone, and thereafter came the establishment of ABB Xiamen Switchgear in 1992. ABB has continued to expand in Xiamen and now has six branches under its "Xiamen family".

In addition, the high-tech zone is accelerating its push for new industrialization and supporting smart manufacturing initiatives with measures to accelerate the advancement of new industrialization. The plan provides financial assistance to industrial enterprises and offers additional subsidies to small and medium-sized enterprises that reach various levels of digitalization after carrying out digital transformation.

The zone has also addressed financing difficulties faced by innovative companies. To date, its "torch financial services platform" has gathered 46 local financial institutions and its current 189 products and services have directed 12,422 funding applications, with 61.82 billion yuan submitted by businesses. The platform has served 2,563 enterprises and facilitated loans of up to 34.97 billion yuan.

Expanded opening-up

With its excellent business environment, the high-tech zone maintains a strong industrial appeal to attract foreign capital and foreign-funded businesses, and as a critical component of the new energy industry, the electrical power industry plays a leading role.

The high-tech zone is home to representative companies in the electrical power industry such as ABB, Schneider Electric, Xiamen Huadian Switchgear, XJ Electric and Xiamen Minghan Electric, forming a closely-linked industry cluster that spans the low, medium and high-voltage segments and covers components, complete equipment manufacturing and specialized process. French industrial conglomerate Schneider Electric, which settled in the high-tech zone about 20 years ago, has developed into a major enterprise in the electrical power industry in Xiamen and a global core base for medium-voltage products.

Schneider recently expanded its investment in the high-tech zone with its Xiamen torch electrical industrial park phase 1 project, which has officially begun construction. The park will serve as an important research and development center, manufacturing center and supply chain base for the French company to serve the global medium-voltage market, including some countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. The project will be completed in 2025, and Schneider Electric is expected to double its production capacity in the next five years.

"Xiamen is one of Schneider's important strategic cities in China. The establishment of the company's global largest medium-voltage production base in the city is an important measure to strengthen its overall layout in China and the local market," said Xu Shaofeng, senior vice-president of Schneider. "Schneider will work hand in hand with partners to help accelerate industrial innovation in the torch high-tech zone and promote the formation of new quality productive forces."

Apart from foreign-funded businesses, the high-tech zone has attracted more talents to support development of its new quality productive forces. For example, the Xiamen overseas talent center is optimizing talent service models, providing a "green channel" for enterprises to attract foreign talents, and promoting policies for entrepreneurship and employment of international students. It has established a dedicated contact line for companies while serving more than 14,000 people through offline and online services.

Since the beginning of this year, the high-tech zone has held nearly 70 events, promoting its favorable business and policy environment for foreign talents.

Guan Xuan and Wang Qiuling contributed to this story.

Competitors showcase projects at the seventh China Xiamen Overseas Entrepreneurship Competition (United Kingdom division), which concluded at the University of Cambridge in March. CHINA DAILY