During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, high-quality development has become the central theme of economic growth . Changes and trends in the regional economic landscape depend to a large extent on the planning and layout of industrial clusters. Clear positioning and planning help facilitate differentiated regional development.

How to accurately define the positioning of regional industrial clusters has become one of the top priorities for local economic authorities.

Recently, industrial consulting services provided by the Guichuan Industrial Research Institute to Lingtang Hui Ethnic Township in Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province, successfully resolved various uncertainties and concerns regarding the transformation and upgrading of the local wire and cable industry.

Emerging Industry Traits Gradually Taking Shape

The Wire and Cable Industry Enters a Fast-Track Development Phase

Benefiting from China’s rapid economic growth, the wire and cable manufacturing industry—often referred to as the “nerves” and “blood vessels” of the national economy—has experienced rapid development. After more than 40 years of growth, Gaoyou City has also formed a relatively complete industrial chain for the wire and cable manufacturing sector. However, the resulting overcapacity in low-end production has inevitably pushed this traditional industry into a period of adjustment.

Is it still necessary to continue developing the wire and cable industry? How should it be developed? These questions have long plagued Lingtang Hui Ethnic Township (hereinafter referred to as “Lingtang”).

▲ Lingtang Hui Ethnic Township, Gaoyou City—Jiangsu Province’s only ethnic township

After in-depth research into the wire and cable industry, its upstream and downstream industrial chains, regional industrial development, and corporate needs, the Guichuan Industrial Research Institute has concluded: the industry must continue to develop.

First, the production and utilization of electricity are indispensable foundations for the development of modern civilization. At the same time, under the “dual carbon” goals, the large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy, the improvement of energy efficiency, and deep emissions reductions have become the direction of development for the energy industry, driving continuous growth in demand for wires and cables in related fields.

On the other hand, the development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy requires a large volume of new types of cables to support them. In the future, the market will be driven by specialty cables such as nuclear-grade cables, submarine cables, charging station cables, and robotics cables.

It is evident that the wire and cable industry is becoming increasingly intertwined with strategic emerging industries, exhibiting the characteristics of an emerging sector.

Regional Industrial Agglomeration Offers Significant Advantages

The Wire and Cable Industry Holds Great Potential

Given the vast potential of the wire and cable industry, is it suitable for development in Lingtang?

In early 2021, when Guichuan Lianhang assisted Zhenjiang New Area in attracting Hengtong Group (one of the top three global players in the optical fiber communications sector), the firm conducted an in-depth survey of Jiangsu’s wire and cable industry. With investment promotion specialists—who possess experience in project settlement—serving as consultants, the industry advisory group gained a more detailed understanding of the sector’s needs.

▲ In early 2021, GuChuan United assisted Hengtong Group—one of the world’s top three companies in the optical fiber communications sector and a member of China’s Top 500—in establishing operations in Zhenjiang New Area, with an investment of 6.8 billion yuan to build a new industrial R&D and production base.

In recent years, Jiangsu has set clear goals for accelerating the development of advanced equipment manufacturing, with 13 advanced manufacturing clusters—including cutting-edge new materials, new-type power equipment, and construction machinery—emerging one after another.

At the same time, Jiangsu is encouraging and guiding coastal regions to develop clean energy industries such as photovoltaic and wind power. As various strategic emerging industries cluster within the province, the demand for new types of wires and cables is growing.

The wire and cable industry in Lingtang began in the early 1980s. With more than 100 enterprises, represented by Shuguang Cable, the region has formed a relatively complete industrial chain and achieved significant agglomeration advantages.

▲ Inside Shuguang Cable’s workshop, workers are manufacturing high-voltage power cables, ultra-high-voltage power cables, and specialty cables.

More importantly, Gaoyou City places great emphasis on the development of the wire and cable industry, having specifically proposed a development strategy focused on “supplementing, expanding, and strengthening the industrial chain,” which provides significant guidance for the industrial development direction of Lingtang. Taking into account practical issues such as the impact of copper prices, the importance of stable power supply, and the transformation measures of local enterprises , the Guchuan Industrial Research Institute outlined a breakthrough strategy for the optimization and upgrading of the wire and cable industry in its industrial consulting report. It provided recommendations on issues such as enterprises’ policy sensitivity and requirements for industrial platforms, earning unanimous recognition from the local government.

Guchuan Industrial Research Institute

Rooted in practical experience, applied to practical challenges

Traditional consulting firms often suffer from a disconnect between industrial consulting and investment promotion. The solutions they produce may appear professional but lack practicality, resulting in projects that cannot be effectively implemented.

In contrast, the Guichuan Industrial Research Institute closely integrates industrial planning with investment promotion implementation. Leveraging 12 years of hands-on experience in the investment promotion sector, we distill insights from real-world practice and apply them back to the field, delivering precise and actionable “industrial chain research and investment promotion” solutions.

Leveraging a database of over 580,000 project resources accumulated through years of hands-on investment promotion experience and a powerful team of industry consultants, GuChuan Alliance is able to quickly gain a deep understanding of target industries and effectively implement industrial chain-based investment promotion.

While providing industrial consulting services to Lingtang, GuChuan Alliance also offers comprehensive commissioned investment promotion services to Gaoyou—the successful establishment of the Zhongshang Intelligent project serves as a testament to this.

Moving forward, Guchuan United will leverage its four-dimensional strengths — "industry expertise, planning proficiency, resource access, and investment attraction capabilities" —to ground its work in precise industrial positioning. By adopting breakthrough innovative thinking in investment promotion, the firm will effectively implement industrial chain-based investment attraction initiatives to support regional industrial optimization and upgrading.