Chongqing Liangjiang New Area gets smart
XIAOKANG@GRASSROOTS
A xiaokang society, or a moderately prosperous society, has been the dream of Chinese people for thousands of years. Our reporters travel around the country to cover the arduous efforts being made in order to realize the dream.
In 1988, Huang Zhonglu got a job as a welder for Chang'an Auto, the Chinese carmaker that had employed both his father and grandfather.
To prevent being burned by flying sparks, welders must wear thick clothes that cover the arms and ankles, even in the hottest weather. Collars and cuffs must be tightly closed, and goggles, protective masks and airtight headgear must be worn.
"Despite the protective measures, I still got several burn scars on my legs and arms from the welding in the past," Huang said.
But technology has greatly improved working conditions as the company built smart factories in recent years.
In 2016, Chang'an installed more than 400 robots on the welding production line at its new smart factory in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area. The robots not only weld but can perform automated tasks that once required a human, from laser examinations to the movement of parts assemblies along the line.
Huang no longer works on the production line. Instead, he became a robot welding technician, supervising the work and adjusting the machines.
His story is an example of the Liangjiang New Area's smart city plan to upgrade traditional manufacturing through big data and smart technology.
A smart city is defined as an urban area that uses advanced information technology to promote sustainable development. As the gateway to Southwest China and a major industrial base, Chongqing — located on the upper Yangtze River — has played several important roles in the country's development, including as a national defense manufacturing area in the 1960s.
Now, it has established one of the world's largest IT industrial clusters and has become one of China's biggest auto manufacturing bases.
In 2010, China's third national development zone, Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, was established after the Shanghai Pudong and Tianjin Binhai new areas. Since then, it has explored new approaches for inland reform and opening-up.
The annual Smart China Expo has been hosted in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area since 2018 to showcase new products, technologies, business formats and modes of smart technology through conferences, exhibitions, summits and competitions.
Last year's expo attracted more than 1,800 participants and 843 companies from 28 countries and regions, including 13 Nobel Prize laureates, four Turing Award winners, a number of Fortune 500 business leaders and tech giants including Intel, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi.
A pioneer in smart city development, the new area had established its digital economy industrial park in 2017. So far, it has attracted more than 4,500 companies worth of 146.7 billion yuan ($20.96 billion) and achieved an annual growth rate of 17.7 percent.
Liangjiang International Cloud Computing Industrial Park has built 10 data centers and is one of the largest data centers in western China.
Traditional manufacturers, such as Chang'an Auto, which boasts a 157-year history, is also upping its game in many areas, including self-driving technology. It will invest more than 20 billion yuan to develop smart cars over next 10 years, so that by 2025 all car functions controlled by voice and vehicles using the latest autopilot systems can be mass-produced, the company said.
In addition to smart manufacturing, Liangjiang has introduced information technology to people's daily lives in 42 smart communities.
At Longhu Yunding Community, residents can enter by flashing their faces past a facial recognition scanner; phones can connect to bluetooth in public areas to play music; and a smart security system safeguards homes while the owners are away.
The mobile phone application developed by the community management is very popular among the residents.
"You can do almost everything through the app — shopping, booking, paying fees and chatting with neighbors," said Wu Lin, who moved to the community in January. "It's so useful we cannot live without it."
The new area is planning to expand its smart community project to every home and build a smart society by integrating data and services related to health care, education, transportation, business, public security and social services.
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