In the past two years, industrial parks have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.

When selecting a location, companies always give careful consideration to numerous factors, including the industrial environment, policy incentives, and transportation convenience.

In response, industrial parks have rolled out various strategies, putting significant effort into everything from preferential policies to service offerings. However, the resulting “price wars” and “policy wars” in investment promotion inevitably raise concerns about the long-term development of these parks.

In my previous article, “Three Key Strategies for the Refined Operation of Industrial Parks,” I offered an initial exploration of industrial park operations.

Today, let’s delve deeper into this topic to explore how to enhance industrial clustering and build industrial parks with core competitiveness. I hope these insights will provide some inspiration.

01 Industrial Planning: Defining the Direction of Development

The development of industrial parks hinges on a clear industrial plan.

A sound industrial plan can define the park’s leading and distinctive industries, guide resources toward competitive sectors, and foster industrial agglomeration.

When formulating an industrial plan, it is essential to ground the strategy in the park’s actual conditions and fully tap into its inherent potential.

Abundant raw materials, a solid industrial foundation, convenient transportation, and unique locational advantages—these are the park’s resources and serve as crucial foundations for industrial positioning.

In the early stages, market research can be conducted to identify the most promising broad categories of leading industries.

Next, by combining the local industrial development landscape with the park’s actual conditions, the most suitable sub-sectors for development should be selected.

You can focus on 2–3 industries with the greatest potential, continuously deepen your expertise in them, and develop your own distinctive industries.

For example, a high-tech industrial park can establish electronic information, biomedicine, and new energy as its leading industries from the outset.

Secondly, an overall assessment of regional value must not be overlooked. Factors such as urban planning, locational attributes, land value, industrial policies, and investment promotion elements determine the caliber and scale of the industries.

Industrial policies, in particular, play a significant role, as many cities have introduced tailored support policies based on local conditions.

For instance, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region prioritizes support for textiles, petrochemicals, and advanced agriculture, while western regions like Sichuan focus on biopharmaceuticals and the information technology sector.

By aligning their industrial positioning with these policy directions, industrial parks can secure greater government support during the investment promotion phase.

Understanding the division of labor within the industrial chain and targeting specific market segments is also a critical step.

Industrial parks must identify their region’s strengths within the industrial chain, determine which segments need to be supplemented, pinpoint current weaknesses in the chain, and understand common industry needs—only then can they formulate specific development strategies.

For example, large-scale parks can adopt a broader strategic focus and cultivate a relatively complete industrial chain on their own.

If they can attract leading enterprises, the clustering effect of the industrial chain will be amplified exponentially, drawing in more related companies and creating a virtuous cycle.

Smaller-scale parks, on the other hand, need to position themselves more precisely. They can choose to focus on a specific segment of the industrial chain—whether upstream, midstream, or downstream—or provide specialized support services for a particular leading enterprise.

This “small but specialized” positioning model allows small parks to forge their own distinctive path of development.

02 Factory Planning: Allocating Resources

Once the industrial plan is established, the next step is facility planning. Facility planning involves not only spatial layout but also the efficient allocation and organic integration of resource elements.

During the planning process, key considerations include location and transportation, policy conditions, physical space, and technical resources.

The higher the alignment between these elements and the industry, the stronger the attraction for industrial clustering. Therefore, the planning team must thoroughly analyze the characteristics and requirements of these elements to ensure that facility planning is closely integrated with industrial development.

For R&D and production activities—such as medium-scale manufacturing, light manufacturing, light processing, R&D, and testing—dedicated spatial planning is required to ensure the smooth operation of the entire industrial chain.

In this way, regardless of the stage of development a company is in, it can find a production and R&D environment suited to its needs, thereby driving industrial innovation and development.

For example, in some first-tier cities, many enterprises have relocated their production lines on a large scale, yet their headquarters remain there.

Certain R&D and testing teams need to maintain close ties with headquarters. To address these needs, developing R&D-oriented industrial facilities is a viable solution.

For large-scale industrial parks, they possess sufficient resources and space to leverage these advantages in building a diversified, comprehensive industrial ecosystem.

Imagine a park that integrates business offices, technology R&D, and production and exhibition into a single, full-lifecycle service hub. Then, whether startups, SMEs, or industry leaders, all can gather here to form a powerful industrial driving force.

Smaller parks, on the other hand, can adopt a more strategic approach by focusing on one or two specific sectors. By refining and deepening their product offerings, they can address unmet industrial space needs within the region and maximize the park’s value.

The design of industrial space is also crucial. Particularly at the architectural planning level, it must be closely aligned with the industrial positioning.

From column spacing, floor-to-ceiling height, load-bearing capacity, freight elevator configuration, corridor width, to loading zones—every detail impacts spatial efficiency and the daily operations of businesses.

For different types of industrial parks, architectural design should also reflect distinct industry characteristics, striking a balance between versatility and specificity.

This requires us to engage directly with businesses on the ground to gain a thorough understanding of their actual needs, ensuring that every design element complies with industry standards while also meeting the company’s specific requirements.

03 Tenant Recruitment and Onboarding to Promote Industrial Clustering

Once the industrial positioning and park planning are established, the next step is to identify target enterprises that align closely with this positioning—which is often the most challenging phase of the industrial park’s tenant recruitment process.

Many industrial parks miss out on their ideal tenants due to a lack of effective investment promotion channels.

So, how can we effectively attract and onboard enterprises to achieve industrial clustering?

In this regard, the success story of the Qingguang Industrial Park may offer valuable insights.

Located in Tianjin’s Beichen District, the Qingguang Industrial Park has long served as a core hub for Tianjin’s industrial development. With high-end equipment manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, new energy and new materials, and electronic information as its four pillar industries, the park is dedicated to optimizing and upgrading its industrial structure, fostering new growth drivers, and enhancing the industrial chain.

Qingguang Industrial Park has precisely defined its investment promotion strategy along the industrial chain and possesses a deep understanding of the current industrial landscape. Building on this foundation, it has actively introduced innovative operational models and advanced management practices.

For instance, it emphasizes the coordinated development and resource integration of upstream and downstream enterprises within the industrial chain. Through measures such as establishing public service platforms and attracting high-end talent, it continuously enhances the park’s industrial competitiveness and innovation capabilities.

Furthermore, leveraging the advantages of the Guchuan Technology Industry Digital Platform, as well as its investment promotion network and the "Xuan Naer" mini-program, the park has enhanced investment promotion efficiency and reduced operational costs, truly keeping pace with the times.

At the same time, with enterprise needs as the starting point, we are fully committed to building a one-stop service system.

From initial project consultations to meticulous site planning, detailed explanations of policy support, and comprehensive follow-up on post-establishment operations, every company that settles here experiences the convenience and efficiency of our services.

It is precisely for this reason that the Qingguang Industrial Park has successfully attracted wave after wave of tech giants and high-quality projects to settle here.

Global leaders such as Gaobiao Electronics Technology (a manufacturer of electric vehicle drive controllers), Yaxin Digital Energy (a subsidiary of AsiaInfo Technologies), and Nanomax (China’s first company to pioneer solvent-free, naturally curing conductive silver paste), as well as enterprises and projects including Haoye Technology, Dikoma, Xinchi, and Yinuokang, have all taken root in the Qingguang Industrial Park.

An innovative, high-quality industrial ecosystem is gradually taking shape here.