In an AI laboratory, robotic arms simultaneously conduct multiple drug trials. A century-old locomotive factory now produces refrigerated transport units for nationwide cold chains. A helmet-style satellite communication device ensures seamless information flow during emergency disaster drills. This is the story of a traditional industrial city reinventing itself through new productive forces. In Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, a sweeping industrial revolution is underway.
Since 2021, the city has explicitly targeted the development of five trillion-yuan industrial clusters: biomedicine, next-generation electronic information, advanced equipment manufacturing, modern food, and modern commerce and logistics. Over five years, the city's economic output has grown from 604.59 billion yuan in 2020 to 865.17 billion yuan in 2025, with its national ranking climbing from 40th to 34th. All five clusters have now surpassed the 100-billion-yuan mark, accelerating the city's path toward full modernisation.
Where to Begin
After defining the five industrial clusters in 2021, Shijiazhuang swiftly established dedicated leadership groups for each. They introduced and continuously updated industry support policies, fostering rapid cluster effects across numerous sectors. The transformation of the traditional pharmaceutical industry stands as a pioneer in this shift.
Pharmaceutical Renaissance: AI Labs Fuel Modern Biomedicine
Shijiazhuang, once known as the "Pharmaceutical Capital of North China," is home to many leading national pharmaceutical companies. On August 1st, at the AI laboratory of veteran biopharmaceutical firm CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, robotic hands deftly manipulated drug synthesis experiments while an intelligent system automatically delivered various materials. The lab director explained that the group began exploring AI-assisted drug development over a decade ago. This lab, operational since 2024, integrates AI and automation across early-stage project planning, drug discovery, and clinical trials, empowering the entire innovative drug R&D process. The platform uses AI-driven high-throughput screening to rapidly pinpoint dozens of small molecules from billions, shortening early-stage R&D time by one-third.
Across Shijiazhuang, new technologies are rapidly reshaping the traditional pharmaceutical sector, spurred by a series of new industrial policies. An industrial system has been established, led by biotech drugs, with chemical drugs as the mainstay, modern Chinese medicine as a specialty, and high-end medical devices as a supplement. The proportion of high-end formulations, innovative drugs, and biologics is steadily rising, while traditional bulk active pharmaceutical ingredients now account for less than 30%. In the Shijiazhuang High-Tech Zone, the cluster effect of the new biomedicine industry is emerging. The Shijiazhuang International Biopharmaceutical Park hosts over 300 biopharmaceutical companies, accessing 11 national-level science and technology innovation platforms and key national laboratories, accelerating their entry into the fast lane of pharmaceutical innovation.
Within the park, Huapu Bio has gathered R&D, pilot, production, and testing laboratories. The company's deputy general manager stated that their primary product is a CpG vaccine adjuvant, which has been successfully developed. Three innovative CpG adjuvant vaccines are in Phase I/II clinical trials. This C-type CpG adjuvant, developed through three iterations, offers higher antibody titers, faster antibody production, and enhanced cellular and humoral immune responses compared to traditional adjuvants, significantly boosting immune response. It has broken the "bottleneck" technology of China's new adjuvants. As an "enhancer" and "engine" for next-generation vaccines, the CpG adjuvant is poised to revolutionise the vaccine industry, driving upgrades from traditional technology to precise immune regulation and greatly advancing China's vaccine product renewal. Additionally, CpG can promote immune cell killing of tumour cells, achieving anti-tumour effects, with four Class I anti-tumour drugs in Phase I clinical trials simultaneously.
Another company, Luye Jaa, told reporters that they have developed the world's first long-acting sustained-release microsphere formulation for treating Parkinson's disease. Compared to traditional drugs, it requires only weekly administration, making it a more suitable weekly preparation aligned with the "continuous dopaminergic stimulation" concept. A park official noted that numerous support policies have played a crucial role in Shijiazhuang's pharmaceutical transformation. The construction of the biopharmaceutical park gathers upstream and downstream links in the industry chain, providing a better innovation environment. Government-provided financing support has also strengthened enterprises' innovation capabilities. Given the industry's high investment, long cycle, and high risk, Shijiazhuang established special funds for leading industries to support enterprise innovation. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the revenue of Shijiazhuang's biomedical industry grew from 77 billion yuan to 142.3 billion yuan.
Information Sector Acceleration: Technology Products Covering the Sky, Earth, and Space
What changes can a wearable helmet-like satellite communication terminal bring to disaster relief? In Shijiazhuang, based on the industrial foundation laid since the 1960s by the two national teams of the CETC Industry Basic Research Institute and the CETC Network Communication Research Institute, new-generation technologies and products are rapidly developing as representatives of new productive forces.
On August 2nd, at the Yuandong Communication exhibition hall, various new products were on display. A company official explained that Yuandong is a well-known domestic manufacturer of private network communication equipment and high-end timing and frequency devices. Unlike everyday communication methods, private networks serve specific industries like emergency response, metro, public security, electricity, petrochemicals, and airports for production dispatch and command communication. The company's urban rail transit communication business now covers over 300 lines in more than 50 cities nationwide. Yuandong has ingeniously integrated two satellite communication methods into a single helmet, ensuring connectivity in disaster-stricken areas and solving emergency communication challenges. Timing and frequency devices are the "heart" of electronic equipment. Yuandong's self-developed domestic constant-temperature crystal oscillator dedicated chip broke the foreign monopoly, and by 2020, its constant-temperature crystal oscillator products achieved the world's largest market share.
Today, Shijiazhuang has formed an electronic information industry system centred on semiconductor chips, modern communications, space information, new displays, and automotive electronics. This system achieves a full-chain layout from sky to ground, from materials to products, from chips to modules, and from design to application. In Luquan District, there are enterprises that have solved the "bottleneck" technical problem of high-purity electronic chemicals for photoresists, the largest domestic third-generation semiconductor 5G base station power amplifier supplier, and a leading domestic MEMS sensor automated production line. A complete electronic information industry chain, from semiconductor material production to chip manufacturing, packaging, and application, has been established. Data shows that in 2025, the revenue of Shijiazhuang's new-generation electronic information industry reached 153.96 billion yuan, becoming a new engine for the city's economic development.
Furthermore, the development of the artificial intelligence industry, a key area of the information sector, is also advancing rapidly. Shijiazhuang has built an AI computing centre, providing strong computing power support for the development of the AI industry in the city and surrounding areas. It serves as a crucial platform for attracting AI enterprises, fostering an innovation ecosystem, and supporting technological innovation and industry-university-research collaboration. The centre's construction has accelerated the digital transformation of various industries in Shijiazhuang, enhancing the innovation capacity and overall technological strength of the digital economy.
Manufacturing Metamorphosis: Traditional Industries Transform into a Trillion-Yuan Modern Cluster
On August 1st, at a workshop of CRRC Shijiazhuang Co., Ltd., two rows of huge containers were on display, including modern cold chain logistics containers compatible with road and rail, and urban cold chain delivery vehicles. These cooling units use various latest temperature control technologies, including self-developed refrigeration units. A staff member reported that the equipment is already used on trains, such as those on the China-Laos Railway transporting Southeast Asian specialties. It can maintain an internal temperature of around 15 degrees Celsius in over 30-degree Celsius heat, transporting fresh produce like durian and mangosteen from Southeast Asia to North China. The predecessor of CRRC Shijiazhuang was the Zhengtai Railway Shijiazhuang General Factory, established in 1905, one of China's oldest railway vehicle manufacturers and a witness to this old industrial city's century of change. Today, besides producing the latest metro vehicles and logistics equipment, it also undertakes national railway freight car repair and construction tasks. From the company's production command centre, production manager Guo Qi monitored the entire company's task progress in real-time, with production and repair data updating every half hour on this smart platform.
In Shijiazhuang, more traditional industries are transforming into modern "smart manufacturing" industries. Shijiazhuang's metro vehicles are now locally manufactured, new energy vehicles are fully assembled locally, high-end "digital-intelligent excavation and anchoring" products cover the national market, and drone R&D and production are developing rapidly. As one of the five key industries, advanced equipment manufacturing has achieved the goal of "stringing beads into a chain, gathering chains into a cluster" after years of transformation, reaching the trillion-yuan industrial cluster target in 2024.
Located in Luancheng District, CIMC Enric is the world's largest manufacturer of CNG energy storage and transportation equipment. As early as 2001, they produced China's first large-volume steel seamless cylinder, breaking the monopoly held by the US at the time. This product is known as a "pride cylinder." Today, they are pioneers in hydrogen energy storage and transportation in the green production era. As a national-level green factory and zero-carbon factory, sales director Zhou Yahui told reporters that they now provide comprehensive solutions for the entire hydrogen industry chain, from production to transportation to reuse, for customers nationwide.
Food Industry Transformation: "Shijiazhuang Flavour" Brand Influence Continues to Expand
In Shijiazhuang, the new industrial clusters are not limited to high-tech or heavy manufacturing. They also encompass sectors closely related to daily life, such as health and food. In the production workshop of Tonfu Group's Dahe Food City in Luancheng District, each steamed bun has layers folded internally. The company's unique rolling technology creates over 530,000 layers per bun. Tonfu, a national leading enterprise in agricultural industrialisation, started in Shijiazhuang before moving to Anhui. In 2022, the group's national headquarters returned to Shijiazhuang, a decision made and signed within just five months. The local government, through the "enterprise whistle-blowing – department response" mechanism, had experts address the project's energy consumption issues within two days, secured over 10 million yuan in special technical transformation loans, and assisted in establishing three major R&D centres and introducing an AI large model for its digital platform. Now, the production workshop is fully automated, from raw material intake to finished product output, with almost no workers visible. The group's central kitchen IoT traceability system enables full-chain tracking.
In Shijiazhuang, the modern food industry focuses on being "healthy, safe, delicious, distinctive, and branded." The "Shijiazhuang Flavour" brand influence is steadily expanding. In 2025, the modern food industry crossed the trillion-yuan threshold, becoming a new growth pole. Located in Luquan District, the Junlebao Science and Nutrition Research Institute is set within a several-hundred-acre pasture. From a distance, the green pasture is dotted with exquisite wooden houses and barns. The institute integrates scientific research, innovative product incubation, national project demonstration, and consumer experience, covering the entire chain from pasture grass planting, dairy cow feed nutrition, embryo breeding, dairy technology, to new product development. Junlebao is expanding from Shijiazhuang into high-consumption markets in East China, Central China, and South China, building dairy production clusters covering dairy farming, fresh milk sales, processing, and industrial tourism, effectively covering core national markets. It now operates 33 modern self-owned pastures and 20 dairy production factories, with 200,000 cows, ranking third nationally in breeding scale. Junlebao is also accelerating its global market layout, with its fresh milk brand "Yuexianhuo" entering markets in Singapore and other regions, gaining international recognition. Driven by modern digital intelligence technology, the food industry is undergoing profound changes. As the "15th Five-Year Plan" begins, Shijiazhuang is guiding and encouraging food enterprises to accelerate digital transformation. Simultaneously, by nurturing traditional advantageous food production areas and local specialty food industries, the city aims to create a product matrix and brand phalanx of "top-tier masterpieces, a strong middle tier, and distinctive single items," using brands to lead enterprises in expanding market share and promoting high-quality development of the modern food industry.
Logistics Industry Expansion: A Commodity Distribution Hub in the North China Hinterland
Shijiazhuang, located at a key transportation hub, is known as the "thoroughfare from north to south, the throat of Yan and Jin." In the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Shijiazhuang, as a regional central city in the Beijing-centric world-class city cluster, carries the mission of helping Hebei Province build a national modern commerce and logistics hub. The city has formed six major logistics agglomeration areas in the Economic Development Zone, Luancheng, Luquan, Zhengding, Gaoyi, and Xinle. It has been approved for multiple national-level pilots, including the Land Port-Type National Logistics Hub, the Production Service-Type National Logistics Hub, and the National Backbone Cold Chain Logistics Base, with the core carrier being the Shijiazhuang International Land Port. In 2025, the port successfully gained approval as a Central China region China-Europe Railway Express assembly centre. International trains departing from Shijiazhuang reached 1,282 trips, a sharp increase from 212 trips in 2021. Currently, on 18 regular international routes from the port, an average of 5-6 China-Europe (Asia) trains depart daily, reaching over 50 regions across Eurasia, radiating the logistics network globally. In the first half of 2026, 814 trains have already departed, a year-on-year increase of 42.06%.
While international logistics expands, locally focused logistics are also optimising. Located in Dahe Town, Luquan District, the Shijiazhuang International Agricultural Products Wholesale Trading Centre is situated east of the Beijing-Kunming Expressway Shijiazhuang West Service Area. The connection between the market and the service area allows pedestrians and cyclists to pass through. Those resting at the service area can purchase fruits and vegetables from the market, and market visitors can shop and relax at the service area's commercial centre. In August, the wholesale market is filled with the scent of fruits. The busiest time is early morning, when tens of thousands of vendors enter the 1,000-mu complex to wholesale goods from over 2,500 merchants, which then spreads to retail markets and supermarkets across Shijiazhuang and surrounding cities. Market manager Jia Wenlong noted that the centre is a result of the city's efforts to decentralise functions, reshape space, and upgrade clusters, turning locational advantages into development advantages.
The Shijiazhuang Eastern Modern Logistics Hub Base in the Economic Development Zone is another example of the city's modern logistics industry. This 3.2-square-kilometre modern logistics park hosts numerous leading logistics companies, with over 3 million parcels circulating daily. The park adopts a green production model, with photovoltaic panels on warehouse roofs meeting 70% of the park's electricity needs. It also integrates production enterprises, combining manufacturing and logistics. Today, Shijiazhuang has 95 logistics enterprises rated 3A or above, with the cluster effect becoming increasingly apparent. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the scale of the commerce and logistics industry expanded continuously, with revenue maintaining double-digit growth for four consecutive years. The number of enterprises above a designated size increased from 1,340 in 2021 to 2,338 in 2025, driving the city's rapid economic growth and providing more people with the convenience of modern logistics.