What comes to mind when you think of Pizhou, Jiangsu? The hometown of ginkgo, garlic, roasted seeds, or a hub for wood-based panels? You might be unaware that this industrially strong county is rapidly transforming into a significant base for new energy vehicle (NEV) core components. At a recent high-quality development conference, Pizhou announced that its NEV core parts industry has surpassed 10 billion yuan in invoiced sales, marking a 129% year-on-year increase. Remarkably, the local area achieved this scale from virtually no industrial base in just four years. What did it do right?
At the production site of Honeycomb Transmission Technology Pizhou Co., Ltd., robotic arms and workers collaborate seamlessly in an orderly, intelligent assembly line. Staff noted that in the first quarter of this year, the company operated at full capacity on two shifts, "producing a new energy hybrid transmission every 113 seconds."
The emergence of Pizhou's auto parts sector is a testament to seizing a strategic opportunity. Six years ago, the local industry consisted only of a few small, low-end assembly workshops, lacking leading enterprises, industrial clusters, or core products. "Information is as valuable as gold," recalled Wang Peng, a member of the Pizhou High-tech Zone Party Working Committee. In May 2020, Pizhou's Beijing-based investment team learned that GWMOTOR was accelerating its new energy transition and planning to establish a core parts manufacturing base in Jiangsu. Seizing the moment, the team promptly visited GWMOTOR's headquarters in Baoding, Hebei, though initial reception was lukewarm. "They weren't initially interested in Pizhou, given it's only a county-level city with limited related industrial foundation," Wang noted. This challenge mirrored the investment struggles faced by many counties.
Recognizing the explosive growth trend of the NEV market, Pizhou persisted with over 30 communications and presentations, demonstrating relentless effort. Wang Peng shared that after the Honeycomb Yichuang project landed in 2022, they discovered GWMOTOR had secretly dispatched a research team to Pizhou for half a month, verifying the city's logistics advantages, business environment, and factory resources, which confirmed the investment team's claims.
In February 2022, the GWMOTOR (Pizhou) Core Components Project was signed, integrating three major segments: Honeycomb Transmission, Mando Electronics, and Jingcheng Gongke. The Honeycomb Transmission project alone involved a total investment of 10.6 billion yuan, covering 1100 mu of land, aiming to establish GWMOTOR's largest national NEV transmission production base. Mando Auto Parts (Pizhou) Co., Ltd. focuses on compressors, with a palm-sized unit containing over a hundred components, requiring six to seven different bolts just for installing a rear cover. Jingcheng Gongke Auto Parts (Pizhou) Co., Ltd. specializes in precision processing for chassis and three-electric systems, maintaining a stable monthly output of 70,000 pieces.
The three projects, representing billions in investment, positioned Pizhou's auto parts industry robustly from the start. Concurrently, local authorities understood the "bringing one, attracting a chain" effect, extending and complementing the industrial chain with GWMOTOR-affiliated enterprises as core anchors. Companies like Tianjian Longwei, Xuli Precision, and Zhongjie New Energy subsequently settled, rapidly forming a tight and efficient industrial ecosystem.
How does chain-thinking guide investment work? Local investment departments proactively engage settled enterprises, precisely identify upstream and downstream supporting needs, and conduct targeted recruitment and business-led investment. To date, Pizhou's NEV core parts industry covers key areas such as hybrid transmissions, vehicle compressors, and automotive electronic modules, gathering over 60 upstream and downstream enterprises. "This vividly demonstrates the cluster effect," remarked a relevant official from the Pizhou Commerce Bureau, noting that business-led investment enhances precision and efficiency, fosters mutual government-enterprise benefits, reduces production, transportation, and collaboration costs through local supporting networks, and continuously strengthens industrial resilience.
Securing a project may involve偶然因素, but cultivating a cluster relies on ecosystem support. Pizhou employs enterprise service task forces as the main抓手, implementing全流程, zero-distance, proactive services, continually刷新 speed records for major projects achieving "signing, commencement, and operation within the same year." For instance, the Honeycomb Transmission project, signed in February 2022, commenced production by November the same year, setting impressive benchmarks for "Pizhou efficiency" and "GWMOTOR speed."
Where does this efficiency originate? "The enterprise service task force is led by municipal top leaders, with staff stationed at construction sites and enterprises, providing全程跟进 for project development," explained Wang Peng. A representative from Honeycomb Transmission Pizhou noted that during factory upgrades, material运输 was affected by pandemic-related factors, but the task force promptly coordinated local resources to resolve material supply issues, ensuring project timelines.
For practical challenges in enterprise development, the task force responds swiftly and accurately. Li Zifei, General Management Department Manager of Gezhida Intelligent Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd., shared that due to business expansion last year, the company faced insufficient invoicing quotas; the task force immediately coordinated tax authorities for an on-site inspection, quickly resolving the bottleneck.
"We will坚持深化 the task force包挂 mechanism, focusing on key areas like resource coordination, recruitment, and logistics保障, to第一时间 respond to project and enterprise needs," stated a relevant official from the Pizhou Economic Development Bureau. Building on the existing industrial foundation, Pizhou continues to对接优质 projects, striving to establish a prominent NEV core parts industry cluster in the Huaihai Economic Zone.