MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 The manufacturing industry is the foundation of the real economy and an important support for urban agglomeration to enhance its international competitiveness. As the key carrier of China’s economic growth, the three major urban agglomerations in eastern China – the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region – play an important role in breaking through the development predicament of the manufacturing industry.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 Recently, Beijing University of Technology and Social Sciences Academic Press jointly released the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Blue Book: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Manufacturing Development Report (2023)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). The report compares and analyzes the development scale and trend of the manufacturing industry in the three major urban agglomerations in the east.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 The “14th Five-Year Plan” proposes to promote the development of advanced manufacturing clusters and encourage the eastern region to accelerate the cultivation of world-class advanced manufacturing clusters. The three major urban clusters in the east have optimized the spatial layout of the manufacturing industry and promoted the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has formed a manufacturing development pattern led by Beijing and Tianjin. The Yangtze River Delta has formed a multi-center manufacturing development pattern led by Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou and Suzhou. The Pearl River Delta has formed a manufacturing development pattern led by Shenzhen and Dongguan.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 “From 2010 to 2022, the proportion of industrial added value in the Yangtze River Delta region has remained above 20%, and the proportion of industrial added value in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has dropped from 7.84% to 6.25%. The proportion of manufacturing added value in the regional GDP has declined rapidly, and the lack of power in the real economic sector dominated by industry has significantly weakened the economic growth momentum in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.” “The report said.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 The report shows that the absorption capacity of the manufacturing industry in the three major urban agglomerations is declining. From the perspective of the number of manufacturing employees, from 2013 to 2021, the number of manufacturing employees in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta has always been higher than that in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. In 2021, the number of manufacturing employees in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta will be 8.6642 million and 7.6229 million, respectively, much higher than that in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (1.973 million).

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 From the point of view of core cities, compared with Shanghai and Shenzhen, Beijing and Tianjin’s manufacturing advantages are not strong. In 2021, the total number of manufacturing employees in Beijing and Tianjin will be 1,116,300, which is much lower than Shenzhen (1,965,200) and Shanghai (1,263,300). In terms of hinterland cities, the average number of manufacturing employees in the hinterland cities of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta in 2021 will be 182,700 and 331,700, respectively, much higher than the average number of hinterland cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (66,300).

From the number of enterprises in the manufacturing industry, from 2013 to 2021, the number of enterprises in the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta has always been higher than that in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Pearl River Delta. In 2021, the number of manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta will be 1.394,900, 1.89 times that of the Pearl River Delta (739,900) and 3.26 times that of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (427,600).

From the perspective of industry, the labor force of the three major urban agglomerations has gradually shifted from manufacturing to producer services. From 2013 to 2021, the proportion of manufacturing employees in the end of the employment showed a downward trend, while the proportion of producer services employees showed an upward trend.