In the first half of the year, the Tongling Economic Development Zone reported a 20% year-on-year increase in GDP, alongside a 51.6% surge in total output value of large-scale industries, while the added value of such industries grew by 32.6%. These figures mark record highs for both volume and growth rate, delivering an impressive performance for the zone. What underpins this growth momentum, and how will future drivers be sustained? Behind the quantitative rise, a qualitative transformation is also unfolding.

Production Line Upgrades: Moving Up the Value Chain

The foundation for this growth stems from the full-capacity operation of core enterprises and their steady climb toward higher-value segments of the industrial chain. Inside the Tongguan Copper Foil Company's lithium battery copper foil workshop, titanium rollers spin around the clock, continuously shaping delicate rolls of high-frequency, high-speed copper foil. Amidst a volatile market landscape, the company has sharpened its market-driven focus, prioritizing product structure optimization and production efficiency gains. Manager Zheng Xiaowei explained that by adhering to market demand, the proportion of high-end products like HVLP and RTF has gradually increased, with successful exports to overseas markets. On the production side, the firm embraces green manufacturing, refining processes and promoting energy-saving technologies, resulting in consistent full-capacity operations throughout the year. Zheng attributes stable output and rising profits to deep-rooted internal management practices, noting that a dual emphasis on quality and efficiency, coupled with product upgrades and streamlined operations, has turned losses into gains.

Tongguan Copper Foil is not an isolated case. Key enterprises like Jinxin Copper and Jingda Co., Ltd. also maintain high utilization rates. By establishing service working groups for enterprises with over 100 million yuan in revenue, the zone has actively facilitated capacity release among leading firms. In the first half of the year, industrial electricity consumption climbed 15.6% year-on-year, while newly scaled enterprises contributed fresh momentum as their production capacity came on stream. From traditional smelting to advanced electronic materials, the collective upward movement across the enterprise base forms the solid backbone of the zone's economic expansion.

Seizing New Frontiers: Building Future Capacity

Current high growth is rooted in prior project accumulation, while today's signings and groundbreakings are sowing the seeds for tomorrow's gains. Complementing the humming operations at Tongguan Copper Foil is the race against time at the Lifu Bio project site. In September 2024, Lifu Bio's flagship Tongling plant, an approximately 1 billion yuan investment, broke ground in the zone's eastern park, marking the world's first 10,000-tonne production line for the bio-based monomer furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA). On-site, the 72-mu facility now boasts fully completed main buildings, with exterior finishes wrapping up. Workers inside are fine-tuning and inspecting equipment, handling pipe connections, instrument calibration, and parameter settings, all in preparation for upcoming trial production. Project manager Xu Ming reported that progress has hit 98%, with commercial production slated for October and full capacity expected by early next year. The buzz around FDCA stems from its strong dual-carbon credentials and robust environmental benefits. As Xu explains, traditional PET plastics rely on petroleum-derived PTA with high carbon emissions during production, whereas FDCA sourced from renewable biomass not only offers broad availability but also cuts emissions by roughly 60%. This eco-friendly material holds particular promise for upgrading food and pharmaceutical packaging, high-end fibers, and engineering plastics. Once both phases are operational, annual output value could reach 1 billion yuan. Xu also praised the zone's support, noting assistance with land approvals, water and electricity supply that accelerated progress, embodying a commitment to smooth project delivery.

The Lifu project epitomizes the zone's "future capacity." In the first half of the year, 38 new projects each exceeding 100 million yuan were signed, and 33 commenced construction. In May, Allnex's 160,000-tonne insulation materials project, a 1 billion yuan investment, laid its foundation. These major initiatives, rapidly transitioning from blueprints to reality, form a reservoir for sustained future growth.

Precision Services: Activating Key Catalysts

Projects and capacity alone aren't enough; a critical catalyst is precise service support. The zone's "daily reporting, weekly monitoring, and ten-day scheduling" mechanism functions as an around-the-clock scan of enterprise operations. By tracking core indicators like production plans, order backlogs, and electricity loads of key enterprises, this meticulous management grants the zone intimate insight into business conditions, enabling proactive intervention at the earliest signs of trouble. A more targeted "one enterprise, one policy" assistance framework underscores the precision of its services. For halted or semi-operational firms, the zone takes the initiative, coordinating solutions for raw material supply and market expansion. Shifting from waiting for companies to come to them to delivering services directly, this approach reflects a profound change in service philosophy.

Good policies must transcend paper and land squarely in the pockets of businesses. In the first half of the year, the zone acted as a "policy courier," proactively securing financial support and seizing opportunities from the large-scale equipment renewal initiative. Eight industrial equipment renewal projects were submitted, with an approval rate of 87.5%, successfully obtaining 66.32 million yuan in funding, channeling policy resources into innovation. Beyond approval speed and policy warmth, service excellence shines through spatial efficiency and environmental stewardship. The zone targeted intensive land management, fully achieving its annual goal for redeveloping inefficient land ahead of schedule, revitalizing 662 mu to make room for high-quality projects. Simultaneously, it reinforced essential infrastructure, completing temporary utilities, natural gas pipelines, and permanent power installations for multiple enterprises, guaranteeing readiness for "land-and-build" projects. Additionally, the zone translates ecological green into development gold: smart upgrades to streetlights have cut energy use by over 55%, while a 285 million yuan investment in water environment treatment has resolved chronic flooding issues around enterprises, bolstering high-quality growth with a pristine ecological base.

With signings like the Xuchuang Optoelectronic Information Industrial Park, Anhui Zhongjiang's low-altitude smart drone R&D and manufacturing project, and Tongling Guoke Carbon Core's bamboo-based hard carbon initiative, the convergence of an increasing number of "new quality productive forces" signals a broadening path for this dynamic economic hub.