Beijing high-level meeting in the first half of this year, has come to an end.

There are eight key points, including "industrial development" plate, re-emphasizing the development of new pillar industries, and promote the quality and upgrading of industry.

Economic provinces to pick the beam, Shandong has long been deployed.

Some time ago, the mayor of Qingdao went south to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, to carry out the investment trip.

In just three days, intensively visited the leading artificial intelligence enterprises, central enterprise groups and top research institutions, and launched cooperation talks with them.

01 South investment roadmap

This Qingdao mayor's trip to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the logic behind and starting point, and Qingdao's industrial planning is closely related.

Based on the existing industrial foundation and future development needs, the main target three major areas.

Look first at the artificial intelligence and robotics industry. In Shenzhen visited Leju Robotics, Lingtu Technology, Ubiquitous, Shenzhen Kaihong and other leading enterprises in the field of artificial intelligence, around the intelligent hardware and other directions to deepen cooperation.

Among them, Ubiquiti, as the industry's leading enterprise, has settled its Northeast Asia headquarters in Qingdao.

The negotiation has a clear goal - it will promote the landing of AI arithmetic infrastructure and scene application.

The mayor of Qingdao, during the visit, expressed his hope that the company will increase the layout of humanoid robots, vertical large models, operating systems and other industries in Qingdao, and actively participate in the development of the body-intelligent industry.

Then look at new energy and high-end manufacturing, and Guangzhou Automobile Group reached a consensus on the application of new energy commercial vehicle scene.

The mayor of Qingdao promised to escort the policy support, resource integration, etc., to help BAIC Hino eco-companies and industrial pilot projects in Qingdao to set up camp.

In addition, Huatong Group and China Merchants Group joined hands to sign the signed Qingdao shipyard investment bill.

Behind this, Qingdao leveraged the central enterprises "east wind" to promote the local shipbuilding industry to high-tech, high-value-added direction of transformation, so that the traditional industry to hit the high-speed development of the "express".

Lastly, the modern service industry and hub economy. In China Southern Airlines Group, the two sides to increase capacity, the construction of logistics transit center to start docking, help Qingdao to build Northeast Asia international shipping hub.

These series of combinations highlight Qingdao's dual logic of "building chains in emerging industries and strengthening chains in traditional industries":

On the one hand, it fills the gaps in the AI industry chain through the introduction of headline companies such as Ubiquitous; on the other hand, it relies on the resources of centralized enterprises such as Guangzhou Automobile Works (GAW) and China Merchants to enhance the capacity of the manufacturing industry.

In addition to face-to-face exchanges with enterprises, the mayor of Qingdao also came to the Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Institute, Tsinghua University Research Institute in Shenzhen, LianDong U Valley - Yihang Intelligent Science and Technology Park and other parks and institutions, to learn from the experience and ask questions.

It is worth mentioning that in the second half of last year, the then mayor of Qingdao also traveled south to Chongqing and Shanghai, visiting a total of nine key enterprises for inspection.

The itinerary, with the mayor as the "chain leader" of the artificial intelligence industry chain related.

The two mayors successive south investment, are aimed at the field of artificial intelligence and other emerging industries, what are the considerations behind?
02 Three Key Factors Driving

Currently, Shandong's industrial structure is dominated by labor-intensive and resource-intensive industries.

In recent years, Shandong's shipbuilding industry has seen some development, but there is a gap with provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

In terms of electronic information industry, Guangdong consumer electronics, Jiangsu integrated circuits lead the country, and Zhejiang Al industry is rising strongly.

Simply put, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang have a number of "hard core" industries, while Shandong's competitiveness needs to be improved.

Since 2024, Shandong has continued to make efforts to adjust the industrial structure, clearly mentioned to build the development of new quality productivity according to local conditions, "1 + 1 + 5" planning system.

At the same time, the issuance and implementation of the artificial intelligence action plan, to promote the acceleration of the creation of integrated circuits, low-altitude economy and other industrial demonstration of high ground, high-tech industries accounted for more than 52% of the output value.

Shandong is the country's first comprehensive pilot area themed on the conversion of new and old kinetic energy. The State Council's Opinions on Supporting Shandong to Deepen the Conversion of Old and New Dynamics emphasizes the formation of a number of replicable emerging industry clusters by 2027.

And Qingdao, as a leading city, has the urgent task of vacating its cage and changing birds, and needs to take the lead in making breakthroughs in areas such as artificial intelligence and new energy.

In addition, there is a "north-south imbalance" in science and technology resources.

Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as the core cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, have gathered 70% of the AI enterprises in Guangdong. or more AI companies, or co-laboratories in related fields.

Qingdao has platforms such as the Marine National Laboratory, but it still needs to catch up in basic research and industrialization capabilities in fields such as robotics and semiconductors.

This time, Qingdao focuses on Shenzhen Tsinghua University Research Institute, Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Institute, aiming to "enclave incubation + Qingdao transformation" mode, the south of the technological resources and the north of the market space docking.

Then again, the giants are settling in Guangzhou, and regional competition is becoming increasingly fierce.

Jitterbug, Ali, Lonestar Holdings and other companies have set up new companies in Guangzhou, which is precisely the "deployment" of regional resources.

Jitterbug took 1.2 billion yuan of land in Pazhou, Guangzhou, to build a "town of science and technology", focusing on new retail and innovation incubation.

Also landing in Guangzhou, there is a domestic semiconductor equipment leader in the Microelectronics Corporation, the project total planning 130 acres.

Leading companies can have a far-reaching impact on any city by bringing about an industrial clustering effect.

These actions remind Qingdao that if it does not accelerate the layout of emerging industries, it may face the risk of "high-end factor loss".

03 How to shape an advantage in the North-South competition

Regional competition is a tactical game. For Qingdao, there are two key directions to break through:

One is to build a land and sea linkage and open up the highland by relying on the advantages of the port.

Qingdao Port, as the largest port in the north, completed a cargo throughput of 694 million tons in 2024, ranking first in cargo throughput of northern ports for 12 consecutive years, and fifth in the global port ranking. Their core advantages are also reflected in:

➢International logistics channel:

Strengthening the construction of land and sea channels along the Yellow Sea, and promoting the normalization of the operation of "Shandong Port Qingdao Port - Beijing Pinggu" sea-railway intermodal liner, which opens up a "fast channel" for the inland enterprises to open up a cost logistics. The "fast channel" to reduce the cost of transportation.

➢International Trade Hub:

Last September, 36 key projects were signed in the FTZ, covering the fields of modern finance, shipping and logistics, etc., and projects of the world's top 500 companies such as Continental AG of Germany and COSCO Shipping landed in the area, promoting the extension of the industrial chain to the high-end.

Through the linkage of "port+industry+trade", Qingdao has become a logistics and trade hub connecting North and South, Europe and Asia, attracting regional headquarters of multinational enterprises and supply chain node projects to come and settle down.

In the process of docking with enterprises and projects, the investment promotion people can use these advantages.

For example, when negotiating with enterprises for cooperation, Qingdao's radiation capacity as the headquarters of Northeast Asia is highlighted, and when docking with logistics and aviation enterprises, Qingdao's logistical advantages as a hub for China-EU trains are emphasized.

Secondly, the city will carry out staggered competition and build an industrial synergy model of "southern technology + northern market".

Through the subdivision of the track precise investment, in the field of high-end manufacturing to form and the southern city mismatch competitive advantage.

For example, breakthroughs in the fields of automotive-grade chips and magnetic memory chips have filled the gaps in the northern industrial chain.

In terms of the digital economy, the strategic cooperation agreement signed between Qingdao and Shenzhen makes it clear that the two sides will build an industrial ecosystem in areas such as artificial intelligence and low-altitude economy.

For example, Shenzhen's Ubiquitous Technology, in cooperation with FAW-Volkswagen Qingdao, carries out practical training for humanoid robots in smart factories, and accelerates the realization of the technology by relying on the smart factory scenarios of Haier and Hisense.

This model of "southern technology research and development - Qingdao scene verification - northern market promotion" is becoming a typical path in the field of digital economy.

In terms of manufacturing, Qingdao's traditional industries such as home appliances and rail transportation can complement the new energy and new material enterprises in the south.

For example, Gree Electric Appliances has set up a Shandong regional sales and service center in Qingdao, relying on the local cold-chain logistics network to expand into the northern market;

Ningde Times has laid out its power-changing business in Qingdao, with a plan to build 100 power-changing stations within two years, and has cooperated with Shandong Province's port group to explore the construction of a smart green port.

Writing in the end

Qingdao's mayor's trip to the south to attract investment is a proactive move by the northern city to cope with regional competition.

To benchmark the industrial innovation, capital operation and ecological construction of southern cities, Qingdao needs to build its own mace in the digital economy, new energy vehicles and other fields.

For the front-line merchants, this is not only a proving ground for their ability, but also an opportunity to shape the city's competitiveness.

Only out of specialization, precision, ecological investment thinking, can stand out in the "North-South competition".