General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "actively explore new paths for transformation and development of resource-based regions." The lack of vitality in urban development in some cities, especially resource-depleted cities and traditional industrial and mining areas, is a problem that must be solved in promoting regional coordinated development. How to achieve industrial transformation and sustainable development? How to solve the problem of employment and reemployment? How to inject new vitality into the city? This edition will launch a series of comments starting today, focusing on the transformation of resource-based cities, talking about methods, experience, and seeking momentum, and gathering consensus and strength to promote high-quality development.

——Editor

Transformation and development are not "what is hot or what is done", but "what is suitable and what is done". Don’t blindly pursue the “window”, find the “interface”, and make good use of unique endowments and industrial advantages, you will be able to make a natural progress and pave a new road

Go to Zaozhuang, Shandong for an interview, leave the high-speed rail station, and take online car-hailing. I heard that the author came to learn about the lithium battery industry. The driver was interested. When passing by the newly built charging pile parking lot on the street, he did not forget to step on the brakes to let him take a few more glances. "In the past, we added coal, but now we charge, and our steering wheel is right!" The master's sigh was simple and pertinent, and it was also a vivid footnote to the transformation of Zaozhuang's industrial transformation.

"Three meals a day, two meals rely on coal." Zaozhuang City Archives, an old photo from 1956 is particularly eye-catching: the steam locomotive was spraying white smoke, and was loaded with "black gold" to sail across the country. Zaozhuang once flourished because of coal. At its highest annual coal output, it accounted for more than 70% of the whole province of Shandong Province, and the contribution rate of related industries to the economy once reached more than 80%. With resource exploitation, problems such as single industrial structure and deterioration of ecological environment are becoming increasingly prominent. In 2009, Zaozhuang was included in the national resource-depleted city list. Development and transformation are imminent and imperative.

Where do you want to transform? Zaozhuang anchors the direction of the lithium battery new energy industry and gives the answer with actions: transformation is not "starting a new job", but "old trees sprout new buds".

Adapting to local conditions is the optimal solution. The choice of lithium battery comes from its precise coupling with Zaozhuang's own advantages. Zaozhuang's coal chemical industry, machinery manufacturing and other industries have natural connection points with the lithium battery industry chain; building materials, chemical industry and other enterprises can provide raw materials such as graphite, electrolyte solvents. In a company in Zaozhuang High-tech Zone, nanomaterials are used for flexible graphite bipolar plate processing after high-temperature puffing. "In the past, graphite materials were mainly made of refractory bricks; now, graphite bipolar plates containing higher 'new' volumes are directly supplied to lithium battery factories." As the company's head spoke, a truck marked "Lithium Battery Special" slowly drove into the loading area. Today, the local raw material matching rate of Zaozhuang lithium battery industry exceeds 60%. Transformation and development are not "what is hot or what to do", but "what is suitable or what to do". Don’t blindly pursue the “window”, find the “interface”, and make good use of unique endowments and industrial advantages, you will be able to achieve success and pave a new path.

How to find the right way? Industrial collaboration is the key. A material company in Zaozhuang used to extract chemical products from coal. After Zaozhuang developed the lithium battery industry, the company took the initiative to strengthen multi-party cooperation and scientific and technological research, extracted the raw materials needed to manufacture lithium batteries from chemical products, and laid out new projects such as lithium battery separator materials, electrolyte solvent materials, electrolyte additive materials, etc., providing high-end material support for downstream power batteries in the industry, and extending the collaboration chain and industrial chain.

The "mix and match" between traditional industries and emerging industries has gradually become a trend in Zaozhuang. Lunan Chemical, which focuses on fertilizers, has entered the field of lithium battery raw materials; mining equipment manufacturing enterprises have developed explosion-proof lithium battery monorail cranes... Thanks to the coordinated development of traditional industries and the lithium battery industry, there are more than 270 companies in the new energy chain of Zaozhuang lithium battery, and the added value of the city's non-coal industry accounts for more than 80%. The "cross-border integration" of the industry and the "genetic recombination" of development have reduced the pain of transformation for a group of enterprises and gradually blossomed and bear fruit in coordination.

Development and transformation must not only lead to industrial upgrading, but also improve people's livelihood and welfare. At 7 a.m., Master Wang drove a pure electric online car-hailing car into the "optical storage and charging inspection" smart station. This station uses a full-power flexible intelligent charging stack, which can intelligently distribute charging power according to different vehicle needs, which is affordable and convenient. Master Wang pointed to the display screen in front of the steering wheel and said, "On a day with a full charge, the electricity bill will save half the cost than the fuel bill!" In Zaozhuang, such new energy online car-hailing and buses exceeding 1,000, which can reduce carbon emissions by more than 50,000 tons per year. These new energy vehicles that travel through the urban context use a sensible and accessible way to allow citizens to share the convenience and comfort brought by urban transformation.

"If you choose Zaozhuang, you must have thick 'lithium'." Behind a city's transformation is the development of industries, the new layout of business formats, and the sharing of welfare of the people. Seize the opportunity, dare to take advantage of practical work, and hit the "steering wheel" of transformation and development, and the path of high-quality development will become wider and wider. (The author is a reporter from our newspaper’s Shandong Branch)