Xinhua | Updated: 2025-11-16
SHENYANG — Digital transformation is accelerating among small and medium-sized enterprises in Northeast China’s industrial base, aided by supportive technical service system and thriving industrial ecosystem.
In Wafangdian city, a major production base for bearings in Northeast China’s Liaoning province, local manufacturers are exploring digital transformation. At Jingu bearing company, where production once depended entirely on the experience of veteran workers, operations are now guided by precise data metrics.
“Digital transformation has elevated our production capacity and efficiency to a new level,” said Zuo Tongming, owner of the company.
Nearby, at another manufacturer, all product inspection data is stored and updated in real time, with comprehensive reports available on demand for analysis.
“We’ve built a fully automated digital system that streamlines the entire process from order to delivery,” said Zhou Jianhong, head of the company’s information department. “It intelligently breaks down production processes and schedules equipment, allowing workers to manage required materials more efficiently. For precision tasks, they can readily access technical drawings on their phones.”
He added that this digital transformation has increased production efficiency by 20 percent and cut operational costs by 15 percent.
For a long time, the high sunk costs of digitalization — often running into millions of yuan — had been a major hurdle for many entrepreneurs.
“I lay awake at night calculating the return on investment,” admitted one local business owner, acknowledging that the financial strain and unpredictable payback periods left many companies feeling hesitant.
A supportive ecosystem developed by local authorities is helping to boost confidence in digital adoption. In addition to financial subsidies, the government has leveraged advanced industrial Internet platforms and tailored services for the local bearing cluster, offering end-to-end support from diagnosis to system deployment.
Liaoning province has built a comprehensive digital infrastructure system, supported by a foundation of 143,000 5G base stations that ensure full coverage in all cities and key industrial parks. The core of this infrastructure also features a blockchain network and two intelligent computing centers in Shenyang city and Dalian city, providing the critical data backbone for advanced applications.
Such infrastructure development facilitates platforms that connect manufacturers with supply and demand partners. For example, at the Shenyang service center of the national digital supply chain platform for equipment manufacturing, a small components factory uploaded a 3D model and was swiftly matched with a large manufacturer located just 20 kilometers away.
“It’s like an online shopping application for industry. Smart algorithms optimize the matching of manufacturing resources,” said Li Chunwei, an operator of the center. Hundreds of local firms have successfully used the platform, shortening design cycles by 30 percent and saving customer acquisition costs by 40 percent.
Breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) are adding another layer of sophistication. Building on advances in domestic models like DeepSeek, Liaoning is now fostering industry-specific AI applications. For instance, researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics recently launched a large model dedicated to the chemical industry. This model is capable of simulating complex molecular reactions, significantly reducing R&D time and optimizing production to conserve energy.
“Comprehensive industrial system and rich application scenarios provide an ideal foundation for developing such specialized models,” said Pan Hong at digital economy research institute of Liaoning University.
Looking ahead, the momentum is set to accelerate across the Northeast China. In Heilongjiang province, the digital foundation is already solidifying. As of the first quarter of 2025, 51.1 percent of industrial enterprises in the province have achieved comprehensive digitization of their key business processes.
According to the plan of Jilin province for accelerating equipment upgrading in the industrial sector, the province aims to support 1,000 demonstration projects in smart manufacturing and digital transformation by 2027, cultivating 150 digital transformation service providers, establishing 120 provincial-level smart manufacturing demonstration factories and 3 leading industrial internet platforms.
From factory floors to AI models, manufacturers across Northeast China are scripting a robust story of revitalization powered by digital transformation. This tech-driven upgrade goes beyond a mere efficiency boost, serving as the key to unlocking a new chapter of innovation.
Plump, meaty, and rich in roe, the Norwegian brown crab — often called the king crab — has received the green light to enter the Chinese market. The announcement came on Nov 7 from Hanne-Berit Brekken, state secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, who spoke at the Norway Pavilion of the CIIE.
“Norway has always viewed China as one of its most promising and dynamic markets,” said Sigmund Bjorgo, China director of the Norwegian Seafood Council. “After five consecutive years of participating in the CIIE, China has become Norway’s third-largest seafood export market globally and the fastest-growing in export value.”
To capture even more of that potential, the council plans to increase its marketing budget for China by 70 percent next year, according to Bjorgo.
In a world navigating the hidden reefs of unilateralism and a thickening fog of geopolitical rivalry, the CIIE offers a tangible counter-narrative — one where openness, not isolation, is presented as the path to shared growth, said Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
By leveraging the vast scale and stability of the Chinese market, the expo provides a crucial platform for businesses worldwide to mitigate international volatility, Zhou added.
According to the World Openness Report 2025 released earlier this month, the World Openness Index registered a marginal decline of 0.05 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, reflecting drops of 0.34 percent from 2019 and 5.39 percent from 2008, respectively.
“Global openness remains in a contraction phase,” said Liao Fan, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics.
Europe, Central Asia and North America emerged as the only regions experiencing a contraction in openness, while emerging markets and developing economies saw their openness index rise 0.42 percent year-on-year, the report noted.
Between 1990 and 2024, China’s openness index surged from 0.59 to 0.76, marking a rise of nearly 30 percent. This robust expansion underscores China’s commitment to high-standard opening-up, injecting much-needed stability and certainty into the world economy, Liao said.
Faced with a protectionist wall in the West, Ron Lin, founder and president of a honey product company from Canada, and many other global business leaders are walking through a door China has always held open.
“The United States was originally our major market,” said Lin. “But since the tariff hikes, we have suspended most of our orders to the US — the uncertainty there is just too strong.”
“China is proactively opening its door through platforms like the CIIE,” he said, highlighting not only streamlined Customs and logistics services, but also a clear and welcoming attitude he finds lacking elsewhere.
In his company’s first appearance at the CIIE in 2024, it selected three flagship honey products for the Chinese market. For this year, it had prepared an even wider array of new items to test the waters.
“We are full of confidence in the potential of the Chinese market,” Lin stated. “Given its population base, the Chinese market has every possibility of surpassing the US market in the long run.”
The expo saw robust transaction activity, with intended deals reaching a record $83.49 billion on an annualized basis, a 4.4 percent increase from the previous edition, Wu Zhengping, deputy director-general of the CIIE Bureau, told a news conference after the conclusion of the event.
The expo has long been a showcase for global brands to present their latest products. But for a growing number of multinational firms, it has become something more strategic, a launchpad for deep integration into the Chinese economy.
This shift was crystallized on the first day of this year’s expo, when Porsche opened its China R&D Center in Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Central Business District, designed to accelerate local innovation by merging Porsche’s engineering capability with China’s fast-paced digital ecosystem.
The facility, the German automaker’s first strategic-level research hub outside its home country, spans more than 10,000 square meters and integrates development, procurement, and quality control under one roof.
“China is leading the way in future mobility, combining electrification, digitalization, and new luxury concepts,” said Oliver Blume, chairman of the executive board of Porsche AG.
“Solving the challenges of this transformation isn’t possible from afar — it has to happen here. The China R&D is a strategic pillar that connects German engineering with China’s digital future. This center will help us move faster, learn more, and strengthen Porsche R&D globally,” Blume said.
The same day, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca also announced an additional $136 million investment to expand its production and supply base in Qingdao, Shandong province, just months after unveiling a $2.5 billion plan to establish a global strategic R&D center in Beijing.
“We really see China as a strategic hub for both R&D and manufacturing,” said Tony Pusic, senior vice-president of Supply Asia Pacific at AstraZeneca.
China saw the registration of 48,921 new foreign-invested firms in the first three quarters of this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce. From 2021 to 2025, China attracted over $700 billion in cumulative utilized foreign investment, with 25,000 more new foreign-funded enterprises than in the previous five-year period.
The CIIE is well known for the billions of dollars in deals and investment signed on its floor. But beyond the economic handshakes, global companies arrived with tangible climate solutions.
Carolyn Mortland, executive officer for sustainability of New Zealand-based kiwifruit marketer Zespri, said that the company used the inaugural biofuel-chartered vessel during the 2025/26 season, using fuel derived from used cooking oil, reducing carbon emissions by 18 percent.
Zespri’s practices and explorations in carbon reduction demonstrate that agricultural enterprises can not only adapt to climate change, but also proactively lead transformation, achieving a win-win outcome of environmental benefits and commercial value, Mortland added.
“China holds distinct strengths in new energy and logistics. We are keen to strengthen our collaboration in green transportation for the future,” Mortland said.