9908-1501 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.

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.

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.

9908-1501 “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.

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).

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 9908-1501 employment showed a downward trend, while the proportion of producer services employees showed an upward trend.

According to the data listed in the report, in 2013, among the three major urban clusters, the proportion of employees in producer services was higher than that in manufacturing, only Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei (31.12% and 22.05%, respectively); However, by 2021, the proportion of productive services employees in the Yangtze River Delta is also higher than that in the manufacturing industry (29.34% and 28.33% respectively), and the difference between the two data 9908-1501 in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei has exceeded 11 percentage points. “The good coupling of producer services and manufacturing is crucial to achieve high-quality development of urban agglomerations, and the fact that the proportion of employees in producer services is much higher than that in manufacturing is an important reason for the low level of manufacturing in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.” “The report said.

From the distribution of the manufacturing industry in the three major urban agglomerations, the report data shows that the growth rate of the manufacturing industry in the core cities has slowed down, and the scale gap between the core cities and the hinterland cities has narrowed. In 2021, the growth rate of manufacturing enterprises in the hinterland cities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei will be 7.83%, higher than that of the core cities of 0.66%; The growth rate of manufacturing enterprises in the hinterland cities of the Yangtze River Delta was 6.10%, higher than that of the core cities (1.54%) and secondary core cities (4.12%). The growth rate of manufacturing enterprises in the hinterland cities of the Pearl River Delta was 8.61%, higher than that of the core cities, which was 3.19%.

With the relaxation of Beijing’s non-capital functions, some manufacturing enterprises have moved to Tianjin and Hebei. From 2015 to 2021, the growth rate of the number of enterprises in Beijing’s manufacturing industry is negative, and in 9908-1501 2020, the growth rate of the number of enterprises in Beijing’s manufacturing industry will reach the lowest value in seven years – 7.43%. The growth rate of the number of enterprises in Tianjin-Hebei’s manufacturing industry has always maintained a positive growth rate, and the growth rate of the number of enterprises in Hebei’s manufacturing industry is much higher than that in Beijing and Tianjin.

In terms of innovation ability, manufacturing enterprises in the Pearl River Delta are much higher than those in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta. From 2013 to 2021, the average number of authorized invention patents per manufacturing enterprise in the Pearl River Delta is higher than that in the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The strong innovation ability of core cities and hinterland cities in the Pearl River Delta is an important guarantee for the exchange and cooperation of manufacturing technology among cities in the Pearl River Delta.

From the perspective of industrial structure, among the top ten cities with high-tech manufacturing enterprises in 2021, Shenzhen and Dongguan ranked the top two, with 51,108 and 20,822 households respectively, far exceeding other cities in the three major urban agglomerations.

From the perspective of manufacturing specialization advantages, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is more obvious. In 2021, there will be 19 advantageous manufacturing industries in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, 14 in the Yangtze River Delta and 13 in the Pearl River Delta. In addition, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei raw materials and resources processing and manufacturing industry has significant professional advantages.

“The characteristics of the collaborative development of the manufacturing industry in urban agglomerations are mainly reflected in the interactive relationship between the core city and the hinterland city manufacturing industry. Industrial transfer is an important way to achieve industrial collaborative development. Through industrial transfer, the core city and the hinterland city optimize the spatial layout of the manufacturing industry and improve the development level of the manufacturing industry in urban agglomerations.” “The report said.