This year, Zibo, Shandong province has made outstanding achievements in advancing the development of its "new three" industries - new energy vehicles (NEVs), lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products.

The "new three" industries in Zibo now serve as fertile grounds for developing new quality productive forces and have helped to boost growth in Zibo's foreign trade exports.

Official statistics showed that in the first quarter of the year, the total exports of Zibo's "new three" industries was 80 million yuan ($11.07 million), a year-on-year increase of 931.2 percent. Among them, the export value of NEVs reached 70 million yuan.

The automobile industry is a key industry for evaluating the economic development level and industrial maturity of a country or region. As an important industrial city in Shandong province, Zibo has a strong industrial foundation, solid supporting capabilities, and high-quality services for the development of the automobile industry.

The city already has decent supporting capacity in the automobile manufacturing industrial chain. It has been recognized as a national demonstration city for the promotion and application of NEVs, possessing a strong foundation and unique advantages for developing the automobile industry.

In 2023, Zibo introduced a three-year action plan for deepening the transformation of new and old kinetic energy and promoting green, low-carbon, and high-quality development, clearly identifying the construction of the NEV industry chain as one of its 20 key industrial chains. The focus is on achieving specialized, large-scale, intelligent, and branded development in the fields of NEVs, batteries, motors, and electric controls, and developing an influential industry cluster for NEVs in Zibo.

In 2020, renowned Chinese vehicle maker Geely established an intelligent factory in Zibo. The plant, which is over 95-percent automated, has become Geely's largest NEV manufacturing base north of the Yangtze River and the only production base in China for new energy pickup trucks.

Focusing on new tracks and fields such as NEVs and lithium batteries, Zibo has developed a new energy development platform consisting of a zero-carbon industrial park, a solid-state lithium battery industrial park, and an advanced energy storage equipment innovation industrial park. These parks collectively form a new energy industry cluster integrating R&D, production, and innovation, covering energy storage, photovoltaics, offshore wind power, flexible transmission, and other industrial chains.