Hunan to cement powerhouse rank

Central China's Hunan province is set to strengthen its position as a powerhouse in advanced manufacturing and technological innovation over the next five years, Hunan Governor Mao Weiming said on Monday, as the province leverages its growing research capabilities to compete on the global stage.

Speaking at a provincial government information office news conference in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, Mao outlined the province's strategy for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30). The province aims to increase research and development spending by more than 40 percent while focusing resources on overcoming key technological bottlenecks.

According to Mao, Hunan's R&D spending grew at an average annual rate of 11.6 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

The share of advanced manufacturing in the province's industrial output exceeded 50 percent, and the number of high-tech enterprises doubled to 18,000.

Over the coming five years, the province will tap its high-quality educational and research resources — including universities, key laboratories and elite researchers — to translate new technologies, applications and scenarios into tangible productivity, he said.

To strengthen its advanced manufacturing sector, Mao said Hunan will focus on improving key industrial chains, upgrading traditional industries such as construction machinery and rail transit, and accelerating emerging sectors including new energy, synthetic biology and large-scale applications of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System.

The Beidou application industry in Zhuzhou highlights the province's ambitions. Ning Dong, deputy director of the Zhuzhou Beidou Large-Scale Application Development Center, said the city has developed 49 Beidou application scenarios covering transportation, the low-altitude economy and agriculture, and is home to 172 companies in related industries.

Ning cited an example in Chaling county, Zhuzhou, where Beidou technology is being used during the ongoing spring plowing season.

Recently, high-speed transplanters equipped with Beidou navigation systems have been operating in rice fields at a 133-hectare planting base in Huoxing village.

The machines automatically adjust planting depth and control seedling spacing with centimeter-level precision, supporting optimal dense planting and improving the foundation for higher yields.

In downtown Zhuzhou, shared electric bicycles equipped with Beidou's high-precision positioning technology are now common.

Each bike carries a Beidou-enabled chip that provides centimeter-level positioning, a significant improvement over the previous 10-meter accuracy.

The upgrade allows users to locate and return bikes more easily, while operators can manage fleet distribution and charging in real time.

"Moreover, all medium — and low-end Beidou chips are domestically manufactured, with many produced by local companies in Zhuzhou,"Ning said. "This has significantly reduced the cost of Beidou applications in civilian sectors such as shared e-bikes."

By 2030, the Beidou large-scale application industry in Hunan is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan ($14.64 billion), Mao said.

In the construction machinery sector, Hunan-based companies such as Sany Group and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co are expanding their overseas presence.

In February, Zoomlion unveiled its self-developed LW3600-240NB, described as the world's tallest and largest wind power tower crane.

It has a maximum lifting height exceeding 241 meters and a lifting capacity of 240 metric tons — equivalent to hoisting 200 small cars to the height of an 80-story building. The company said the model is designed to meet global demand for increasingly larger single-unit capacities.

Last year, Zoomlion's overseas revenue reached 30.5 billion yuan, up 30.5 percent year-on-year and accounting for 58.6 percent of its total revenue. While maintaining steady growth in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, the company is now targeting high-end markets such as Western Europe and Australia, where it plans to develop products tailored to local regulations and user preferences, a company executive said.