Green economy growing fast in Yunnan

After the first car from the Beiqi NEV factory in Kunming rolled off the production line in late 2018, the JMC NEV plant finished installing its general assembly line in March 2019，the first plateau automobile laboratory in China enters the commissioning and operational stages, Yunnan's annual NEV production capacity has reached 100,000 vehicles. Such events signal the province's green energy industry is ushering in an era of explosive growth.

Last year, the Yunnan government proposed to focus more keenly on green energy, green food and the building of a healthy lifestyle destination to transform its development model. It is quickly shifting from industrial development to green development.

The province is speeding up the transformation of its steel and cement industries, among others. In 2018, Yunnan eliminated its backward iron making capacity by 1.07 million tonnes, its steel making capacity by 3.5 million tonnes, and its coal production capacity by 14.66 million tons. A total of 14 state-level green factories were also built, while a number of hydropowered silicon and aluminium projects began construction.

Yunnan is changing its development pattern. By 2020, according to Li Qin, chief engineer at the Yunnan Provincial Energy Bureau, the energy sector will become the province's first pillar industry.

Intelligent manufacturing is also picking up speed. Here, 12 intelligent manufacturing projects—including an intelligent workshop creating single crystal silicon rods, a production line making modern shield tunnelling machines, and a smart parking system—have been put into production.

Another eight intelligent manufacturing projects are also under construction.

Additionally, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, electronic information and other emerging industries are booming. Yunnan’s digital economy is ascendant. A series of smart phone applets are also making travel, government affairs and shopping more convenient.

In 2018, Yunnan achieved rapid development in terms of GDP growth and other economic indicators. The province's leap-frog development is already unstoppable.

Text translated from Xinhua; Photos from Yunnan Daily