I. The big picture of future industry mix
Shanghai promotes future industries with three key considerations in mind:
First, support the deployment of state strategies. In response to the requirements under the "14th Five-Year Plan", Shanghai will work out plans to incubate and catalyze future-oriented industries; implement exemplary projects of cross-industry integration and create application scenarios for future-proof technologies.
Second, act on international trends of cutting-edge technologies. Science and technology and industries are evolving at a quicker pace globally. With the focus on intelligence, health and green, Shanghai, by leveraging its advantages underlying innovation-driven development of industries, has proposed five directions, future health, future intelligence, future energy, future space and future materials.
Third, further enrich the meanings of the city's industrial system. If the "3+6" new industrial system defines "today", then digital economy, green and low-carbon, Metaverse and smart terminal define "tomorrow" and future industries "the day after tomorrow" of Shanghai's industry development. The fusion and evolution of these sectors can add new meanings to and inject new momentum into the modern industrial system Shanghai aims to build.
While charting out a blueprint for its future industries, Shanghai considers five key criteria:
First, cutting-edge technologies. Future industries have both technologies and the target market in its infancy. The optimal technological path should be explored to accelerate growth;
Second, ground-breaking demand. Future industries are meant to meet future demand, representing our vision of information computing, quality of life, resource utilization, and space expansion;
Third, disruptive impact. Future industries are meant to subvert traditional technological fields and routes, exerting revolutionary impact on productivity and production relations;
Fourth, strategic value. Future industries involve areas of strategic significance in global industrial competition and cooperation and will help define international standards and set industry beacons;
Fifth, explosive prospect. Upon maturity of the technologies, future industries are expected to deliver explosive output and bring broad-based benefits to the economy, society, and people’s life.
II. Contents of the Action Plan
The Action Plan is organized into four parts, General Requirement, Future Industries, Main Tasks and Supporting Initiatives, which can be summarized as "1+4+5+6":
“1” General Requirement
Shanghai plans to build itself into a globally influential innovation hub of industries of the future, by promoting the integration of science and technology into industries, combining an effective market and a diligent government, concentrating efforts and providing incubation on a rolling basis. The city aims to achieve an output of about 500 billion yuan for its future industries by 2030.
“4” Development Goals
First, to create a dynamic hub of independent innovation in core technologies for the future. Future-oriented industrial research institutes will be established, about five technical colleges will be built, and some 15 industrial innovation centers will be developed.
Second, to create an engine of industrial cluster development for the future. Shanghai will create five future industrial clusters and about 15 future industrial pilot zones, develop key components, launch high-end products and define Chinese standards.
Third, to create a paradigm for the future that allows enterprises of various sizes to integrate and innovate. The city will orient industry-leading players in the direction of future industries, develop ecosystem-dominant companies, and form some innovation consortiums.
Fourth, to create an open and inclusive ecosystem for the future with factors pooled together. Active participation in international science programs and projects is encouraged and top-flight strategic scientists and entrepreneurs will get onboard.
“5” Future Industrial Clusters
First, to build a future industrial cluster in health. With people's life and health in mind, breakthroughs in R&D and industrialization of brain-computer interface, biosafety, synthetic biology, gene and cell therapy, among other technologies, will be pursued to uncover new frontiers and drive clinical applications. For example, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence (ISTBI) of Fudan University, among other Shanghai-based research institutes, are engaged in brain-computer interface studies. The "minimally invasive implantable high-throughput flexible brain-computer interface technology" developed by Shanghai-based enterprises is ahead of their counterparts at home and abroad in most of the indicators.
Second, to build a future industrial cluster in intelligence. With digitalization and intelligence in mind, breakthroughs in R&D and industrialization of intelligent computing, general AI, extended reality (XR), quantum technology and 6G, among other technologies, will be pursued to foster technological origins and broad-based empowerment, and provide a smarter, more reliable and more integrated technological base for the digital transformation of cities; online ecological parks for new economy and digital transformation demonstration zones will play a role in materializing future-oriented intelligent applications and enabling high-quality economic and social development.
Third, to build a future industrial cluster in energy. With energy security and sustainable development in mind, breakthroughs in R&D and industrialization of advanced nuclear energy and innovative energy storage, among other technologies, will be pursued to overcome bottlenecks and implement pilot and demonstration projects. In the field of hydrogen energy, for example, it is planned to build about 70 hydrogen refueling stations and three to five world-class innovative R&D platforms by 2025. The fuel cell vehicle ownership will exceed 10,000 units, and the hydrogen energy industry will be worth more than 100 billion yuan.
Fourth, to build a future industrial cluster in space. With deep sea and air & space exploitation and spatial expansion in mind, breakthroughs in R&D and industrialization of deep sea prospecting & exploitation and air & space exploitation, among other technologies, will be pursued to deliver on strategies and push the limit. For example, by leveraging the equipment industry, Shanghai will drive research and development of deep and open sea, polar ships and marine engineering equipment, as well as heavy-duty icebreakers, high-ice-class LNG carriers and other polar equipment, in support of the state strategies. New air traffic modes will be explored, supported by breakthroughs in critical flight technologies and the development of manned electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
Fifth, to build a future industrial cluster in materials. With the application of materials in mind, breakthroughs in R&D and industrialization of high-end membrane materials and high-performance composite materials, among other technologies, will be pursued to gain a foothold in the frontier fields and cultivate demand. Top priorities include improving basic structure design of membrane materials and local supply of raw materials, strengthening the high-performance fiber industry chain, providing essential and strategic support for smart terminals and high-end equipment, and enabling the people to lead a better life.
“6” Initiatives Supporting the Action Plan for Future Industries
First, the Future Technology Foundation Building Initiative is aimed at original innovation and research of the fundamentals. Future-oriented technical colleges and industrial innovation centers, among other platforms, will be built to consummate a global innovation network.
Second, the Future Pacesetter Initiative is aimed at building carriers and clusters. Future industrial pilot zones, acceleration parks and testing grounds will be envisaged and built, and benchmark scenarios will be created, to facilitate the conversion of innovation deliverables into real productivity and allow the whole society to benefit from technological empowerment as early as possible.
Third, the Future Partnership Initiative is aimed at nurturing players and discovering teams. An innovation hierarchy consisting of dominant players, innovators and leading teams in the industrial ecosystem will be created.
Fourth, the Future Scenario Open-source Initiative is aimed at technological verification, demonstration and popularization. Cross-industry integration demonstration projects will be implemented and the pace of industrialization will be quickened.
Fifth, the Future Talent Pipeline Initiative is aimed at building a talent pool, the most important asset, integrating various innovation platforms, offering job vacancies to global applicants and allowing all kinds of professionals to realize their dreams in Shanghai.
Sixth, the Future Ecology Rainforest Initiative is aimed at high-quality supply of factors, optimizing a business-friendly ecology, and providing supportive policies and cooperation platforms for the development of future industries.
