The Grand Canal runs through the city, while the Bohai Bay lies adjacent. Located in the eastern part of the Central Hebei Plain and the southern section of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan circle, Cangzhou stands as a unique urban center. This city is home to millennia of canal civilization, the ancient verses of the Book of Songs, and the reputations of being a cradle of martial arts and acrobatics, with tales of heroes and performers spreading across the nation.
However, Cangzhou's identity is not limited to this ancient heritage. In its modern evolution, the city is undergoing a dramatic transformation. In recent years, Cangzhou has been steering its development with a focus on industries such as new energy, advanced equipment manufacturing, and green chemicals, driving a comprehensive modernization of its economy and urban landscape. This strategy aims to forge a new development path for this historic city, reshaping its very structure and character. In August 2026, a visit to several locations in Cangzhou was undertaken to explore this transformation journey.
Overcoming the Challenge of a Domestic 'Screw'
On August 4th, at Hebei Zhongyi Nuclear Power Equipment Co., Ltd., company officials detailed the story behind the development of an earthquake-resistant bolt. In 2022, Li Liangyu left his long-term position to join a newly established company, embarking on a challenging three-year project with a team of researchers. The objective was a seemingly simple item: a 'screw'.
Why would a 'screw' be so compelling for a new company? This was no ordinary fastener. Officially called a 'nuclear power seismic anchor bolt', it is a critical base component for nuclear power plant construction. "The quality requirements for all components in nuclear facilities are extremely high," Li explained. "These fasteners, used to secure ground equipment, are completely different from standard screws. They must ensure stability under all conditions." He added, "Through years of effort, China has achieved domestic production of nearly all equipment for the civil and installation phases of nuclear plants. The seismic anchor bolt was the last remaining piece."
Until recently, this 'screw' was exclusively produced by foreign companies, leading to high costs – sometimes hundreds or thousands of yuan per bolt – and unreliable supply chains. "We were vulnerable to supply disruptions, which could impact project timelines," Li noted. In October 2022, Li joined the newly formed Hebei Zhongyi as a technical expert, collaborating with researchers from prominent Chinese institutions and universities to solve the technical challenges of the 'seismic bolt'.
The effort took three years. The company's yard is now filled with neatly stacked concrete blocks, each drilled with bolts. These are the test materials, a testament to the project's rigor. Behind these blocks lie 3 years of work, over 70 million yuan in R&D investment, more than 5,700 concrete test blocks, nearly 60,000 anchor bolts, and close to 330,000 data points. By 2025, the seismic bolt was successfully developed, breaking the foreign monopoly and completing the final piece of the puzzle for 100% domestic production of nuclear facility civil and installation components. "Our cost is only about half of the foreign producers," said Gong Chao, deputy general manager of Hebei Zhongyi. "More importantly, domestic production ensures lower costs, reliable delivery times, and smooth project progress."
No Real 'Waste' in the Factory
On August 5th, in the new 'Plain Industrial City' near Cangzhou's Huanghua Port, the office area of Hebei Kaiyi New Material Technology Co., Ltd. presents a unique sight. A traditional Chinese-style building complex with white walls and grey tiles encloses a courtyard filled with bamboo, pines, rockeries, and a pond with blooming lotus and swimming fish. This Suzhou-style garden seems incongruous for a modern chemical company. Only the towering silver-white reaction towers in the adjacent factory area reveal its true industrial nature.
Chen Changyun, deputy head of the production technology department at Hebei Kaiyi, explained that the company transitioned from trading to manufacturing in 2015. They moved into the Huanghua industrial park in 2020. Now, after four construction phases, the company's annual sales exceed 20 billion yuan, with nearly half coming from exports. One product, methyl tert-butyl ether, is over 95% exported globally, with annual exports alone reaching approximately 4.5 billion yuan.
Unlike traditional chemical plants, Hebei Kaiyi's smokestacks are nearly invisible against the sky, emitting no visible smoke or vapor. They stand cleanly under the blue sky, like decorative elements rather than part of a petrochemical facility. Chen explained that the plant uses the latest green production technologies, including a comprehensive 'waste recycling' system that repurposes production emissions and residues. "In petrochemical production, there is no real waste, only resources. Past technologies were inefficient or too costly for their utilization, but now many materials can be regenerated."
Input materials like liquefied petroleum gas are processed, with byproducts like hydrogen, steam, and carbon monoxide channeled through dedicated pipes to different production units. These are used either as energy or raw materials for new products. "Hydrogen itself is an energy source. We have built a hydrogen storage and refueling station that can directly supply hydrogen vehicles," Chen said. "Steam is needed for heating in our own processes. In the past, we had to provide heat separately. Now, we recycle the heat generated from production, saving costs, maximizing resource use, and adhering to green production principles."
Beyond the Bohai Sea: 'Fishery-Solar Complementarity'
On August 5th, at the 'fishery-solar complementarity' photovoltaic station in Nanpaihe Town, Huanghua, Cangzhou, the transformation extends to new energy. More advanced concepts and technologies are becoming a tangible reality. At the energy and environmental pilot test base of Aerospace Changzheng Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. Cangzhou Branch, a variety of new green, low-carbon energy technologies, including hydrogen production from biomass gasification and municipal solid waste, are undergoing pilot-scale verification.
Zhao Feng, the branch's general manager, noted that the company's headquarters is in Beijing's Yizhuang area. Since 2022, they have established this pilot base in Cangzhou, aiming to apply aerospace technology to areas like biomass gasification, waste gasification, and green metallurgy to develop a low-carbon chemical industry. On August 5th, the pilot base's yard was filled with piles of processed agricultural and forestry waste, such as granules and briquettes. Zhao explained that the testing platform has validated the use of materials like corn stalks, soybean stalks, rice straw, fruit tree branches, eucalyptus bark, and poplar offcuts. After simple processing, these are crushed and compressed into shapes suitable for the aerospace biomass gasifier, where high-temperature chemical reactions produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Inside the facility, piles of small black iron balls were also visible. Zhao explained these are materials for exploring green metallurgy, using green energy for more sustainable steel production. Technologies like using biomass to replace coal in chemical processes and green metallurgy, after being pilot-tested in Cangzhou, are quickly integrated into broader industrial chains. "Cangzhou has a well-established industrial chain that allows for rapid conversion of new technologies into production applications. This is a key reason we chose Cangzhou," Zhao said.
As a representation of green, clean technology, these new energy production methods are changing the trajectory of modern industry and the way of life in the region. In Nanpaihe Town, near coastal fishing villages, over 26,000 mu (about 1,733 hectares) of photovoltaic panels stretch across interconnected ponds. These ponds were traditionally used for aquaculture. In 2024, Guohua (Cangzhou) Comprehensive Energy Co., Ltd. began constructing a solar farm here, which was fully connected to the grid by the end of the year. Wang Ce, the project manager, stated that the completed station generates an average of 1.86 billion kWh annually, enough to power 2.79 million people for a year. More importantly, this is the nation's largest 'fishery-solar complementarity' project. It integrates local natural conditions and existing aquaculture practices, developing key technologies for green ecological aquaculture under solar panels and building an innovative technical system to explore a new path for upgrading traditional seawater pond aquaculture.
An 'Industrial City' on Saline-Alkali Land
Cangzhou, located in the southeast of the Hebei Plain, benefits from flat terrain, convenient transportation, and abundant resources, making it a natural industrial base. Modern technologies and new industries are rapidly reshaping the city. Data from the Cangzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission shows rapid growth in green chemicals, equipment manufacturing, and new energy. In 2025, the green chemical industry's revenue was 229.53 billion yuan. From January to May 2026, it reached 91.1 billion yuan. The new energy sector's revenue was 63.08 billion yuan in 2025 and 25.73 billion yuan in the first five months of 2026. Advanced equipment manufacturing saw revenues of 218.18 billion yuan in 2025 and 86.67 billion yuan from January to May 2026.
Simultaneously, Cangzhou's emerging industries are forming more complete clusters and chains, providing stability and strength. For example, advanced equipment manufacturing now encompasses a full chain from upstream raw material production, through midstream processes like casting, machining, and pipe fitting, to downstream products like pipeline equipment, petroleum equipment, power equipment, and CNC machine tools. It also includes specialized clusters for pipeline equipment, power equipment, green casting, hardware, and automotive parts. The pipeline products alone cover over 300 varieties and 3,000 specifications, with a national market share of over 60% for medium and low-pressure pipe fittings and over 30% for high-pressure special fittings. In 2025, the combined revenue of Cangzhou's three major industries exceeded 500 billion yuan, transforming the city's industrial landscape and the lives of its residents. In Huanghua, the industrial park housing Hebei Kaiyi is a new 'industrial city' covering over 2,000 mu. Just five or six years ago, this was a saline-alkali tidal flat where generations of locals dug ponds for fish farming. Now, those ponds have become a modern industrial park, and the residents have transitioned from traditional fishing to roles as modern industrial workers. In Nanpaihe Town, the 26,000 mu of solar panels have changed the lives of over a dozen villages. The station leases the fishermen's ponds, providing a stable annual income of over 1,000 yuan per mu. Furthermore, the 'fishery-solar complementarity' model being explored allows for continued aquaculture in the ponds beneath the solar panels, providing additional income.