This photo taken on April 2, 2026 shows a view of a photovoltaic industrial park at the high-tech zone in Yibin, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Lu Zhe)

BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's central and western regions are shedding their traditional dependence on resources to drive a new era of smarter and greener industrial growth, with provinces like Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan emerging alongside coastal hubs as key pillars of the country's economic transformation.

OLD LIQUOR CITY, NEW ENERGY HUB

Yibin, a city in southwest China's Sichuan Province, long celebrated as the "Chinese Liquor Capital," is rewriting its economic DNA. Shedding its reliance on liquor and coal, the city is transforming into a global green energy powerhouse that churns out photovoltaic (PV) products and power batteries for the world.

Inside the workshop of PV cell manufacturer Sichuan Yingfa Ruineng Technology Co., Ltd. in Yibin's high-tech zone, automated guided vehicles move materials seamlessly across 10 battery processing stages, replacing manual labor to boost efficiency and ensure greater consistency.

The conversion efficiency of the company's N-type TOPCon solar cells has hit 27 percent, with its shipment volume ranking second worldwide. "As the first PV enterprise to settle in Yibin in 2022, we have grown alongside the city's thriving industry," said Zhang Weihong, the company's branding director.

The high-tech zone, which strategically focuses on the PV industry, has assembled Sichuan's most complete industrial chain, boasting capacities of 83GW for ingots, 80GW for wafers and 108GW for cells. Bolstered by China's dual carbon goals and the city's development strategy, the sector has cemented itself as a pillar industry in Yibin.

Another pillar industry here is power batteries. Today, one in every ten power batteries produced worldwide is made in Yibin. Anchored by CATL, the city has built a comprehensive ecosystem covering the entire value chain, from raw materials to recycling.

Yibin is expanding beyond manufacturing into energy storage by leveraging local industrial synergy. A key example is the Datang Group's provincial demonstration project, which uses battery cells from local company Sichuan Times and advanced liquid cooling technology to ensure stability, allowing it to supply over 350,000 kWh of electricity to the grid daily.

Over the past two years, Yibin has signed nearly 30 energy storage projects, covering system integration, converters and enclosures. By leveraging chain-leading enterprises like CRRC Corporation Limited (CRRC) and China Energy Engineering Corporation, the city is actively upgrading its industrial chain.

PV products, power batteries and new energy storage are now acting as the three driving forces, charging ahead on the city's green development track. Local data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, value-added industrial output in new energy storage, power batteries and crystalline silicon PV sectors surged by 60 percent, 31.1 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Such robust performance underscores how vital the green transition has become to the local economy. Last year, Yibin's GDP registered a growth rate of 5.5 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the national average.

TURNING ANCIENT ROOTS INTO FUTURE FORTUNE

Once known as the "grey city" due to heavy pollution from mining, Huangshi in Hubei Province is undergoing a profound transformation. For over 3,500 years, this city built on bronze was defined by fire and ore, but today it is emerging as a "city of glory" by transitioning to green and intelligent manufacturing.

Leading this change is local industrial giant Hongsheng Copper, which was recognised as a national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factory in 2025. "We shifted our focus from blindly pursuing full automation to solving actual pain points," said Luo Wei, head of Hongsheng Copper. By integrating technologies like the BeiDou navigation system, the company has turned complex safety challenges into opportunities for intelligent management, he said.

The company serves as a typical example for traditional sectors like the copper industry to forge new edges and invigorate new development momentum. The city has developed an advanced copper processing industry with a value of 115 billion yuan in 2025 and is rapidly expanding into high-tech frontiers like new energy vehicles (NEVs), shipbuilding and intelligent robotics.

Data from local customs shows that the competitiveness of Huangshi's electromechanical products remained strong in 2025, with exports growing by 38.6 percent from a year earlier to hit 11.86 billion yuan. These products now make up over half of the city's total export volume.

Simultaneously, Huangshi is turning "industrial scars" into assets. Abandoned mines are being repurposed into photovoltaic hubs for green hydrogen production, creating a model of mine restoration and hydrogen that converts environmental liabilities into a "sunshine bank."

By fostering an ecosystem where traditional strengths support high-tech applications, Huangshi aims to reach a 500-billion-yuan industrial scale by 2030, offering a replicable blueprint for resource-based cities nationwide.

VIBRANT MANUFACTURING CITY

Zhuzhou, a major industrial city in central China's Hunan Province, is undergoing a profound transformation. Pivoting from its industrial legacy, the city is now at the forefront of developing new quality productive forces, driven by a powerful synergy between state-owned giants and a dynamic private sector.

Leading the charge are the city's "national champions." A local branch of CRRC Group in Zhuzhou is leveraging the group's expertise in rail transit to pioneer new frontiers, successfully crossing over into the NEV sector with advanced electric drive systems. Meanwhile, the Aero Engine Corporation of China recently achieved a world-first with the successful test flight of a megawatt-class hydrogen turboprop, laying the groundwork for decarbonization in global aviation.

This spirit of innovation thrives beyond state-owned behemoths. The BeiDou industrial park in Zhuzhou has become a vibrant innovation hometown for tech enterprises. Supportive policies have fostered a characteristic industrial cluster where the aggregation effect smooths the industrial chain, enabling continuous technological iteration and market development.

Attracted by this ecosystem, a technology company called Hua Meta established its base in Zhuzhou to capitalize on its liquid crystal phased array technology for tracking low Earth orbit satellites. "By tailoring our products to diverse scenarios, we have expanded our industrial applications and extended our value chain here in the park," said Xiu Wei, head of the company.

Local data shows that Zhuzhou's industrial value-added growth led Hunan Province for two consecutive years from 2024 to 2025. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the city is poised to advance its world-class clusters in sectors including aerospace while accelerating the development of emerging industries like the BeiDou system and the low-altitude economy. ■