China Innovation-Industrial Chain Integration: A Dynamic Perspective

In the first half of the year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing increased by 9.5%; the output of industrial robots and service robots increased by 35.6% and 25.5% year-on-year respectively; a total of 33 national-level manufacturing innovation centers were built; nearly 410,000 technical contracts were registered nationwide, with a transaction volume of more than 3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.2%... Looking through the "semi-annual report" of China's economy, these indicators confirm that the transformation of scientific and technological achievements is driving the accelerated development of new quality productivity.

Behind the data is a vivid practice of the integration and dance of the innovation chain and the industrial chain. During interviews in many places recently, the reporter learned that the policy side and the industrial side resonated at the same frequency, and the front-line enterprises took active actions to promote the deep integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, so that the "golden ideas" of innovative achievements can be turned into the "golden key" for industrial development.

Tackle key technologies and activate the source of innovation

Slowly driving out of the station, speeding up step by step, the maximum test speed exceeded 450 kilometers per hour! ——Not long ago, the CR450 EMU train conducted a mainline test on the Wuyi High-speed Railway. At present, relevant staff of the participating research unit CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. followed the train for the next test.

"There is no mature experience to learn from during the development process, and we have to rely entirely on independent innovation to explore in the 'no man's land'." Zhu Yan, deputy chief engineer of CRRC Changke, said that in order to increase the commercial operating speed by another 50 kilometers per hour, under the leadership of the National Railway Group, many participating research units have overcome the difficulties of reducing drag and consumption, reducing vibration and noise, and integrating all-factor lightweight systems. For the first time in the world, a 400-kilometer-per-hour EMU technology system has been created, achieving comprehensive innovation in theory, technology, equipment, standards, and management models.

The source of the innovation chain comes from scientific and technological innovation. Since the beginning of this year, key technical research products have been reported frequently.

Look at the "flying in the sky" - the large amphibious firefighting aircraft AG600 has obtained the type certificate and production license from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and the first independently developed electric manned airship AS700D has completed its scientific research maiden flight.

Look at "the one swimming in the water" - in the first half of the year, the second large cruise ship "Aida Huacheng" was successfully floated, the overall construction progress reached 78%, and the first domestic 16,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship was delivered.

Through the "semi-annual report" of China's economy, the data shows the strong pulse of innovation-driven development: the added value of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing accounted for 35.5% and 16.4% of the above-scale industry respectively; the output of 3D printing equipment, new energy vehicles, and industrial robots increased by 43.1%, 36.2%, and 35.6% year-on-year respectively...

"The results of innovation-driven development are becoming increasingly apparent." Cheng Nan, director of the Institute of Science and Technology and Standards of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that in recent years, my country's scientific and technological innovation has gone from "following" to "running side by side", and even "leading" in some fields has been continuously improved. Focusing on the construction of a modern industrial system, the results of scientific and technological innovation are timely applied to specific industries and industrial chains, continuously enabling the high-quality development of the real economy, and continuously cultivating and growing new quality productivity.

Accelerate platform construction and smooth the "middle station" for transformation of results

Speed up the research and development of common technologies, so that source innovation can go out of the laboratory and smoothly move towards industrialization. A number of manufacturing innovation centers and pilot platforms are playing an active role in smoothing the "middle station" from technological innovation to market application.

AI quality inspection laboratory, smart home laboratory, adjustable reverberation laboratory... At the National Intelligent Voice Innovation Center in Hefei, Anhui, R&D personnel are debugging the corresponding algorithms based on real-time data feedback from simulated industrial production lines and application scenarios.

"We are upgrading industrial acoustic technology from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. Not only can we detect problems on the surface of equipment through sound, but we can also accurately detect abnormal sounds inside equipment such as aircraft engines and rail transit. It has been applied in multiple scenarios such as rail transit, mining, and electricity." Song Ruomiao, general manager of the test platform of the National Intelligent Voice Innovation Center, said.

In the face of the continuous development of large models and human-computer interaction technology, the innovation center is also developing and upgrading human-computer interaction evaluation robots, relying on a database of more than 3 million records to evaluate the safety and reliability of large models and human-computer interaction. "Since its commercial use last year, this evaluation robot has been used in more than 20 application scenarios, bringing tens of millions of yuan in industrialization results." Song Ruomiao said.

At present, the construction of industrial innovation platforms continues to advance. In Qingdao, the National High-end Intelligent Home Appliances Innovation Center aims at key areas such as home appliance chips and pan-terminal operating systems to make technological breakthroughs, with an annual R&D investment of more than 60%; in the Panjin Fine Chemical Pilot Base in Liaoning, 22 high-standard pilot workshops are located in it, which not only provides supporting equipment conditions for pilot projects, but also covers the entire process from technology source introduction, engineering optimization to results transformation.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of June this year, my country has built 33 national-level manufacturing innovation centers, and 241 pilot platforms have been included in the key cultivation pool.

"We strive to cultivate more than 5 national-level manufacturing pilot platforms by the end of this year." Xie Shaofeng, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the next step will be to enhance the pilot capacity to enable the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and do a good job in three aspects: industry layout, service efficiency, and achievement transformation. Among them, a high-level pilot platform catalog and a public service resource list will be released to accelerate the open sharing of pilot resources; multiple channels will be used to support the construction and development of pilot platforms, and accelerate the engineering breakthrough and industrial application of scientific and technological achievements.

Strengthen the main position of enterprise innovation and crack the "two skins" of the technology market

The industrial humanoid robot Walker S2 took the initiative to walk to the charging station, bent its arms to take out the battery block embedded behind it, and then installed the new battery. The whole process took up to 3 minutes... Recently, UBTECH released new achievements in the autonomous replacement of batteries by humanoid robots.

"In addition, Walker S2 has also carried out a number of technical iterations based on market demand, including the use of a pure RGB binocular vision solution on the head, and the use of a bionic body with a fourth-generation dexterous hand, etc., to further meet the needs of industrial scenarios." UBTECH Chief Brand Officer Tan Min said that the main position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation has been continuously strengthened, and the development environment has been continuously optimized, so that scientific and technological innovation results are closer to the market and closer to the industry.

The innovation chain and the industrial chain are integrated and danced together, and enterprises are a key link. At present, many places and departments are actively working to strengthen the gradient cultivation of high-quality enterprises, support leading enterprises in the industrial chain to improve their ecological dominance, and encourage manufacturing single champions and specialized "little giants" enterprises to work hard in the subdivided fields and forge unique skills.

At present, my country has accumulated more than 600,000 science and technology and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, more than 140,000 specialized small and medium-sized enterprises, and 14,600 specialized "little giants" enterprises; the total R&D funds invested by high-tech enterprises account for more than half of the total R&D investment in the whole society. More and more enterprises not only accelerate technological breakthroughs, but also promote the coordinated upgrading of upstream and downstream industrial chains.

"Strengthening the leading position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation is conducive to solving the problem of 'two skins' between science and technology and the market, and is conducive to opening up the channel from strong science and technology to strong enterprises and industries, and transforming scientific and technological innovation into economic benefits." Cheng Nan said.

She also suggested that in the next step, on the one hand, we should continue to play the leading role of science and technology leading enterprises, support them to form task-oriented and systematic innovation consortia, deepen the close cooperation between industry, academia, research and application, and large, medium and small enterprises, and build an innovation ecology led by enterprises with deep integration of industry, academia, research and application; on the other hand, we should strengthen the cultivation and support of science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, support them to form "fist" technologies and products with core competitiveness, and become an indispensable link in the industrial chain.