Striving for the 3-trillion-yuan economic milestone, Wuhan aims to foster a "top-ranked leading industry"
According to Changjiang Daily, on September 22, the CPC Wuhan Municipal Committee held a special meeting to study and promote the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry. Sheng Yuechun, Member of the Standing Committee of Hubei Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of Wuhan Municipal Party Committee, presided over the meeting and emphasized that efforts should be made to build a first-class innovation ecosystem, increase cultivation and support, promote the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry, accelerate its development into the "primary industry" of Wuhan, and provide solid support for the construction of Wuhan Regional Science and Technology Innovation Center.
The meeting pointed out that integrated circuit is a key strategic emerging industry prioritized for development in Wuhan. In recent years, the industrial scale has been expanding continuously, the driving role of leading enterprises has been significantly enhanced, certain advantages have been formed in key fields, and the industrial development presents a vibrant and favorable trend. It is necessary to firm up confidence and determination, seize the historic opportunities brought by the development of artificial intelligence to the integrated circuit industry, innovate ideas and measures, make up for shortcomings and weak points, continue to deeply cultivate the three advantageous fields of memory chips, compound semiconductors and sensor chips, make efforts to lay out the three frontier directions of storage-computing integration, optoelectronic integration and 3D integration, fully promote the strengthening, supplementation and extension of the industrial chain, and accelerate the building of integrated circuits into the "primary industry" of Wuhan.
The outline of Wuhan's 15th Five-Year Plan proposes that the GDP will reach 3 trillion yuan in 2030. Calculated based on Wuhan's GDP of 2.2 trillion yuan in 2025, growing to 3 trillion yuan within 5 years means that the average annual growth rate needs to reach 6%. To achieve this goal, the manufacturing industry must take on the main responsibility.
Back in May this year, Wuhan officially announced the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Doubling Plan, with the goal that by 2030, the total industrial output value will exceed 3 trillion yuan, the added value of industries above designated size will reach 800 billion yuan, accounting for about 27% of GDP, and the hard industrial strength will support the city's total GDP to move towards 3 trillion yuan.
How great is the potential of the integrated circuit industry? As the "heart" and "brain" of the high-tech industry, integrated circuit is the underlying support for the development of various emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, satellite internet, communications and new energy. Some market institutions predict that by 2030, the driving coefficient of integrated circuits to GDP will reach 1:150.
In the past, China's integrated circuit industry was highly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Thanks to the driving of the two leading enterprises Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. and Changxin Memory Technologies, Wuhan and Hefei have risen, forming another major memory chip industrial cluster in central China.
Just last month, 17 integrated circuit enterprises completed centralized signing in Wuhan, with a total investment of over 60 billion yuan. Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China, Wuxi Weil Nano Technology Co., Ltd., Zhenbao Technology... the list almost covers the key links of the whole industrial chain including lithography, etching, thin film deposition, polishing, measurement and inspection, materials, components and chip design. These are the first batch of landing projects after Wuhan's "Phoenix Tree Plan" was officially announced earlier this year.
The so-called "Phoenix Tree Plan" takes the leading memory chain enterprise as the core, centrally introduces upstream and downstream enterprises, and builds a "5-minute industrial collaboration circle". At this special meeting, Wuhan also mentioned that it is necessary to cultivate and expand industrial clusters, fully support leading enterprises such as Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. to increase capital, expand production and grow stronger. It is necessary to increase investment attraction, thoroughly implement the "Phoenix Tree Plan", and introduce a number of upstream and downstream supporting enterprises.
According to the statement at the meeting, "memory chips, compound semiconductors and sensor chips" are the three advantageous fields of Wuhan's integrated circuit industry, while "storage-computing integration, optoelectronic integration and 3D integration" are the three frontier directions for focused layout. The former represents the current competitiveness, while the latter is the future commanding height.
The special meeting also mentioned that it is necessary to enhance the function of innovation source, strengthen the overall planning of innovation resources and force organization, support technology enterprises, universities and research institutes to focus on key technology research in frontier fields, give full play to the role of high-level innovation platforms such as the National Advanced Memory Industry Innovation Center, Jiufengshan Laboratory and Jiangcheng Laboratory, and promote the local transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Urban Evolution Theory", written by Yang Huan, authorized for release by 36Kr.