Shanghai takes the lead in the new wave of industries

Recently, the "Proposal of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee on Formulating the 14th Five - Year Plan for Shanghai's National Economic and Social Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Proposal") was officially released. This guiding document, which is connected with the long - term goals for 2035, has drawn a clear roadmap for Shanghai to become a "modern international socialist metropolis with global influence". Among them, future industries are placed on a more practical path.

The "Proposal" mentions that focusing on six key areas, including future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space, and future health, it is necessary to strengthen the agile layout in fields such as quantum technology, brain - computer interface, controllable nuclear fusion, biological manufacturing, and sixth - generation mobile communication, and accelerate their cultivation and development.

When interviewed by a reporter from the "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", Ding Guojie, the senior deputy dean of the Shanghai Zhongchuang Industrial Innovation Research Institute, believes that this statement is not only a continuation of the existing layout but also sends a clear signal that Shanghai's future industrial development is moving from "directional layout" to "priority management" and "accelerated industrialization".

From the "Five Future Directions" to the "Six Directions", Aligning More Deeply with National Strategies

Ding Guojie pointed out that the six - category classification of future industries in the "Proposal" is highly consistent with the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovative Development of Future Industries" issued by seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in January 2024, which reflects that Shanghai is further aligning its top - level design of future industries with national strategies.

In fact, as early as 2022, Shanghai took the lead in issuing the "Action Plan for Shanghai to Build an Innovation High - ground for Future Industries and Develop and Expand Future Industry Clusters", proposing five directions of "future health, future intelligence, future energy, future space, and future materials" and subdividing them into 16 key areas.

Ding Guojie said that in comparison, the changes are mainly reflected in two aspects:

Firstly, "future manufacturing" is put forward separately. At the national level, cutting - edge manufacturing methods such as intelligent manufacturing, biological manufacturing, nano - manufacturing, laser manufacturing, and circular manufacturing are included in the future industry system. Although Shanghai did not list it separately in the previous framework, it has been continuously promoting it in practice. Whether it is biological manufacturing deeply coupled with synthetic biology or atomic - scale manufacturing, which has been accelerating its layout recently, certain foundations have been established. The addition in the "Proposal" means that Shanghai will participate more systematically in the competition of the next - generation manufacturing paradigm.

Secondly, "future information" replaces "future intelligence" as a primary direction. The two are highly overlapping in specific technologies, but in the national context, "future information" emphasizes more on the generational evolution of communication, networks, and information infrastructure, including 6G, satellite Internet, and quantum information, which also makes the layout of Shanghai's future industries more logically unified.

"Overall, this 'Proposal' strengthens the connection with the national future industry framework and also reflects Shanghai's hope to continue to play the role of a pioneer in forward - looking layout." Ding Guojie said.

▌Which Ones Are Approaching the Industrialization Window Period?

Under the six directions, the "Proposal" names quantum technology, brain - computer interface, controllable nuclear fusion, biological manufacturing, and 6G, and proposes an "agile layout".

In Ding Guojie's view, this is not a simple list but a "re - focus" based on technological maturity, industrial potential, and Shanghai's own advantages. From the perspective of the industrialization process, each sub - direction is not at the same pace:

In the field of quantum technology, quantum computing is still in the stage of parallel exploration of multiple technological routes, and its applications are limited; quantum measurement has begun to be implemented in medical, scientific research, and high - end industrial fields; quantum communication is relatively mature, but there is still a long way to go before large - scale, low - cost networked applications.

The brain - computer interface has clearly entered the "industrialization window period". The application of non - invasive brain - computer interfaces in the field of rehabilitation medicine is accelerating, and many domestic hospitals have established relevant clinics and departments, while invasive brain - computer interfaces are still mainly in the laboratory stage.

Controllable nuclear fusion is still in the early stage of moving from experimental devices to engineering verification, but in recent years, technological breakthroughs and capital attention have increased significantly, and relevant enterprises are accelerating financing and listing.

Biological manufacturing, spanning multiple industries such as food, medicine, energy, and cosmetics, is standing at the critical point of "technological breakthrough and early - stage industrialization explosion".

In terms of 6G, China has completed the first - stage technical test and launched the second - stage test, but it will still take time before commercial applications.

"The common feature of these directions is that scientific research breakthroughs are accelerating, and whether an industrial closed - loop can be formed as soon as possible has become the decisive variable." Ding Guojie said.

Shanghai's Advantages Lie Not Only in Technology Itself

In Ding Guojie's view, Shanghai's competitiveness in the above - mentioned fields does not only come from single - point technological breakthroughs but from a more complete industrial ecosystem.

From the perspective of basic conditions, Shanghai has formed an agglomeration effect in multiple directions: in fields such as quantum technology, brain - computer interface, controllable nuclear fusion, biological manufacturing, and 6G, a number of leading enterprises, scientific research platforms, and high - end talents have gathered. However, the shortcomings are also obvious - the speed of transforming technology into industrialization still needs to be improved, and the space and carriers for undertaking industrialization still need to be strengthened.

From a national perspective, Shanghai's competitiveness in future industries ranks among the first echelon. According to the future industry potential index released by the Shanghai Zhongchuang Industrial Innovation Research Institute, Shanghai ranks second in the country, second only to Beijing, presenting a pattern of "two - city leadership".

Its core differential advantages are mainly reflected in four aspects: first, the high - concentration of innovation resources; second, the rich application scenarios brought by a super - large city; third, the capital allocation ability of an international financial center, including the coordination of state - owned venture capital, industrial funds, and future industry funds; fourth, the relatively early - formed comprehensive ecosystem for future industries, covering multi - level carriers such as pilot zones, research institutes, technical colleges, accelerators, and talent communities.

At the press conference for the "Several Measures on Accelerating the Innovation of Cutting - Edge Technologies and the Cultivation of Future Industries" before, Qu Wei, the deputy director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, also revealed that Shanghai is formulating differentiated cultivation plans for future industries according to different rhythms in the short - term, medium - term, and long - term.

Currently, Shanghai has formed a "four - in - one" cultivation mechanism centered around project manager teams, key task lists, future industry funds, and future industry agglomeration areas, and continuously scans global cutting - edge technologies through dynamic evaluation to optimize and adjust the layout directions.

In Ding Guojie's view, in the next stage, the key to Shanghai's future industrial development lies in strengthening three aspects simultaneously: forward - looking layout, industrialization transformation, and institutional innovation.

On the one hand, it is necessary to always maintain an agile layout in cutting - edge technology fields. Strengthen the tracking of future industry technologies and sub - fields and take strategic initiative in the layout of cutting - edge technologies.

Secondly, explore the paradigm path for future industries from "technology to industrialization". "This is the core of developing future industries." Ding Guojie said. If technology only stays in the laboratory, it is not a "future industry". Therefore, Shanghai needs to deeply explore how to transform technology into industrialization more quickly and smoothly, which may include supporting start - up enterprises, exploring and promoting application scenarios, and promoting the connection between the supply and demand sides of new technologies and new products.

In addition, future industries have great uncertainties in technology and the market. It is necessary to promote the innovation of industrial governance and service methods suitable for future industries, and explore more inclusive and prudent institutional arrangements in terms of market access, industry supervision, and policy support to create a good environment for the trial - and - error and iteration of new technologies and new models.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Science and Technology Innovation Daily". Author: Zhang Yangyang. Republished by 36Kr with permission.