Pillar and emerging industries are promoting the development of Changchun's economy jointly under the conditions of industrial transformation and upgrading.

The total industrial output of Changchun ranked at the top among main cities in NE China in 2016 and the growth value of medical, food, and new energy industries in Changchun reached 13.3 percent, 13.2 percent, and 6.8 percent respectively in the first two months of 2017, which helped boost the industrial growth.

Highlighting the strategic position of emerging industries, developing high-tech-driven industries, and promoting industry-study-research integration models are the secrets behind Changchun's continuously growing economy.

Making emerging industries stand out

The growth of Changchun's economy does not solely rely on its strong pillar industries anymore. Emerging industries are playing a more and more significant role.

According to government statistics, the output of the automobile industry – one of the pillar industries in the city – accounted for only 55.9 percent in 2015, lowered by 21.2 percent compared to that of 2005.

Meanwhile, automobile enterprises are attempting to follow the emerging industry promotion trend and have started to transition to the manufacturing of new-energy-driven vehicles

Strategic emerging industries were valued at 151 billion yuan ($21.90 billion) from January to November in 2016, with a year-on-year growth of 10.6 percent, among which advanced manufacturing, photoelectric information, bio-pharmaceutical, new energy vehicles, new materials, and big data are the top six fields with the highest growth.

"We will concentrate more on developing these potential industries and promote them into key contributors so as to the increase the economy," a staff member at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of Changchun City said.

Developing high-tech-driven industries

Changchun Beihu Science Park, located at Changchun New Area, has attracted many innovation-driven enterprises to settle down and has become a test zone for the transformation and upgrading of the old industrial bases in Northeast China.

"Innovations in electronic information, bio-pharmaceutical, and new materials are the most advantageous programs for Jilin province and we will focus on the cultivation and service of these enterprises," said Yu Zhuan, general-manager of the park. "Traditional, labor-intensive companies would not be accepted at the park."

Meanwhile, another aerospace industrial park is under construction and will be completed by the end of 2017 and will be able to manufacture 30 satellites and 200 unmanned drones per year.

The new park will become a strong power for promoting the development of this industrial cluster.

Promoting industry-study-research integration models

Several universities and colleges have built bases at the strategic industrial cluster base at Jiutai Economic Zone in Changchun in recent years, which has greatly supported the development of industry-study-research integration models.

The industry-study-research programs can both create profits for local people and offer employment.

Qu Shuangyue, manager of Changchun Zuanzhi Bio-tech Corporation, said "Jilin University successfully developed a new medicine which is a kind of anti-cancer protein in March 2017, and the mass production of the medicine provided 500 positions and can bring 1.5 to 2 billion yuan of income into the area."

Changchun University, Jilin Business and Technology College, and other universities are also in the process of developing innovative programs whose products can be mass-produced.