On February 25, the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone held a commencement ceremony for major projects in the first quarter of 2026. A total of 18 significant projects officially broke ground, representing a combined investment of 25.195 billion yuan. Located in Changsha County, renowned as the leading county in central and western China, the zone has consistently adhered to a philosophy prioritizing projects as the core driver of development. It has established a comprehensive, closed-loop management mechanism covering the entire project lifecycle, enabling the efficient and accelerated completion and operation of major initiatives. In 2025, the zone commenced construction on 56 major projects and saw another 56 reach operational status, ranking it among the top parks in Changsha by project volume. Of the 39 major projects monitored by the municipal development and reform commission, the total planned investment was 63.694 billion yuan, with an annual investment target of 11.59 billion yuan. The actual completed investment reached 14.364 billion yuan, achieving an investment completion rate of 123.39% and exceeding the annual goal. This progress in project development provides solid support for stable economic growth.

The major projects launched this time primarily cover sectors including engineering machinery, automotive and components, high-end equipment, electrical equipment, new energy, electronic information, new materials, and medical devices. These initiatives involve both extending and strengthening the supply chains of traditional advantageous industries and making early strategic moves into emerging sectors, which will furnish robust support for the high-quality development of manufacturing within the zone.

As the first national-level economic and technological development zone in Hunan Province, the Changsha zone boasts two industrial clusters—engineering machinery and automotive and components—each with an annual output value exceeding 100 billion yuan. Companies such as Sany Group, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, and Sunward Intelligent have consistently ranked among the global top 50 engineering machinery manufacturers for five consecutive years. The number of high-tech enterprises in the zone has grown at an average annual rate of 24%, with 230 new scientific and technological R&D institutions added. It is home to 14 national manufacturing champion enterprises and has cumulatively established 2 world-leading lighthouse factories, 6 outstanding smart factories, and 6 advanced smart factories. In the 2025 national ranking of top 100 parks for high-quality industrial development (advanced manufacturing), the Changsha Economic Zone climbed four spots to 22nd place, demonstrating strong development momentum and continuously improving comprehensive competitiveness. It has become a pioneering base for Hunan's efforts to build "three highlands."

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the Changsha Economic Zone has focused on creating a high-caliber innovation platform matrix to inject a continuous stream of vitality into industrial innovation. Internationally advanced entities such as the Megmeet Global R&D Center, the Stellantis Changsha R&D Center, and the Bosch eAxle (China) Industrialization R&D Center have established roots in the zone. Domestically leading resources, including the Sugon Advanced Computing Institute, the Harmony Ecosystem (Changsha) Innovation Center, and the Hunan Embodied AI Innovation Center, are rapidly aggregating. Furthermore, the Central South University Artificial Intelligence Industrial Base and the Hunan University Future Industry Innovation Center have been established here, providing intellectual and technical support for innovation breakthroughs and the commercialization of results in high-end equipment and future industries. By the end of January this year, the zone hosted a cumulative total of 388 various innovation platforms, including 29 at the national level, forming a comprehensive innovation chain system.

Notably, the Megmeet Intelligent Industrial Base project, which commenced construction this time, involves a total investment of 5.16 billion yuan. It will construct five production and testing buildings and one demonstration center for PV-storage-charging integration technology. The project will primarily focus on establishing intelligent production lines and R&D testing platforms for products such as power supplies, core PV-storage-charging modules, servo drives for engineering machinery, intelligent welding machines, and medical health equipment. The first phase of the Honggong Technology Management Headquarters, Global R&D Center, Assembly Base, and Sales Center project aims to create a smart park integrating minimal manpower, large scale, intelligent operations, and low-carbon features. It will collaborate with renowned domestic universities and leading industry enterprises to establish a national-level Electrical and Intelligent Equipment Research Institute, promoting breakthroughs in core domestic power supply technologies and industrial upgrading.