Leveraging the momentum of the river and showcasing the achievements of the main urban area, Guangling is doubling down on the specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative track to solidify its foundation as a manufacturing powerhouse.

Thanks to the door-to-door service and guidance from the district's industry and information technology bureau, we are fully prepared and confident in our application for the national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'key little giant' designation this year, said Xia Kui, Party branch secretary of Yangzhou Yu'an Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., who along with colleagues had been working tirelessly. After successfully earning recognition as a provincial-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative small and medium-sized enterprise and a national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'little giant' enterprise, this high-growth company, with patient accompaniment from government departments, is once again aiming for an even higher goal this year. In recent years, Guangling District has consistently treated the cultivation of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises as a key lever for advancing high-quality manufacturing development, going all out to promote the building of a manufacturing powerhouse district. To date, Guangling District is home to 12 national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'little giant' enterprises, 1 provincial-level manufacturing single champion, and 94 provincial-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. Specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises account for one-third of the district's industrial enterprises above designated size, the highest proportion in the city. Behind these achievements lies a comprehensive cultivation system built by Guangling District: using refined services to stimulate enterprises' internal drive, using tiered cultivation to consolidate the industrial development foundation, and using digital empowerment to seize the high ground of transformation and upgrading. The three work in concert to collectively paint a vivid picture of a manufacturing powerhouse district. The primary focus of this system is to stimulate enterprises' internal drive through refined services. As Fan Rong, section chief of the Industrial Transformation and Upgrading and Informatization Promotion Section of the Guangling District Industry and Information Technology Bureau, put it: Enabling enterprises to understand and make good use of policies, and helping them get started and go further, is our foremost responsibility. From May to June this year, faced with the change of the application platform migrating from the provincial level to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, nearly 300 enterprises across the district encountered problems such as lost accounts and incomplete data migration. To address this, staff at the Guangling District Industry and Information Technology Bureau worked overtime, seeking guidance from superiors and providing instructions to subordinates, ultimately exploring an effective solution. We spent nearly a month helping all enterprises in the district complete their registration, Fan Rong recalled. There were many similar situations. When one enterprise described a specialty plastic cup as a 'colored plastic cup' during its application, staff members discovered while reviewing the information that the material contained special peptide components with health properties. The enterprise then redefined it as a 'composite functional material container containing bioactive peptides,' fully highlighting the product's technological attributes, innovative value and market advantages, and ultimately succeeded in being recognized as a specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprise. In addition to application coaching for enterprises, Guangling District also actively organizes enterprises to participate in municipal-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative cultivation training, while inviting industry experts to Guangling to conduct special lectures covering key enterprises across the district. I used to think applying was just filling out forms, but now I realize it is a deep review of a company's core competitiveness, Xia Kui remarked. Beyond helping enterprises with the final push in their applications, Guangling District more often sets its sights on broader incremental space, continuously expanding its pool of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises through precise recruitment and tiered cultivation. Cultivating specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises is not achieved overnight. It is like managing a forest, which needs not only towering trees but also shrubs and grass, said Xu Jie, director of the Guangling District Energy Conservation Supervision Center, in a vivid analogy. To achieve this goal, Guangling District has established a tiered cultivation system: innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, provincial-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'little giants,' national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'little giants,' national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'key little giants,' and manufacturing single champions, carefully nurturing and patiently waiting for results. For existing enterprises, we implement refined management with one enterprise, one file, Xu Jie explained. More than 300 industrial enterprises above designated size in the district are all on our radar. We strengthen economic operation monitoring for enterprises, accurately assess their growth stage, and promptly adjust cultivation strategies to ensure that good steel is used on the blade. At the same time, Guangling District keeps a close eye on emerging industry tracks. Relying on the district's 513 industrial system, it precisely recruits high-quality upstream and downstream projects. By leveraging the role of leading enterprises in attracting business through business, it drives the accelerated landing of supporting high-quality enterprise projects, continuously replenishing the reserve force of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises. On this basis, how to guide enterprises to leap step by step to higher levels of specialization, refinement, distinctiveness and innovation? Guangling District's answer is: using digital empowerment to seize the high ground of transformation and upgrading and build a new high ground for industrial competition. While encouraging enterprises to strengthen their internal capabilities and enhance their soft power, Guangling District also vigorously guides enterprises to accelerate intelligent transformation, digital transformation and network connectivity to further enhance their core competitiveness. Walking into the intelligent manufacturing workshop of China Railway Baoqiao (Yangzhou) Co., Ltd., 5G signals cover the entire site, welding robots wave their arms, and AGV carts shuttle freely. Through its steel bridge intelligent manufacturing information management platform, the company has achieved full-process digital management from design to production, with the automated welding rate increased to over 90 percent. Today, China Railway Baoqiao has successfully become a national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative 'little giant' enterprise. This year, a total of 86 enterprises across the district applied for smart factory designation, and 7 have been successfully approved so far, bringing the district's total to 27 smart factories, Xu Jie revealed. In the second half of the year, Guangling District will further invite professional institutions to conduct free health checkups for all enterprises in the district against smart factory standards, precisely identifying shortcomings in equipment networking, data collection, system integration and other areas, and providing prescriptions so that every enterprise knows what it lacks and how to improve, accelerating transformation and upgrading. In addition, Guangling District has introduced special support policies to provide all-round guarantees in funding, talent, scientific innovation and other aspects, vigorously guiding enterprises onto the path of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative development and continuously injecting powerful momentum into the manufacturing powerhouse district. Cultivating specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprises is not the endpoint, but the starting point for promoting manufacturing transformation and upgrading, said Jiang Xingguo, director of the Guangling District Industry and Information Technology Bureau. Next, we will anchor the goal of exceeding 100 billion yuan in industrial invoiced sales by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, using the expansion and quality improvement of the specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative enterprise echelon as a fulcrum to continuously leverage the district's manufacturing sector to accelerate toward high-end, intelligent and green development.