Gansu's economy grew by 5.9% year-on-year in the first quarter, exceeding the national average by 0.9 percentage points for the 17th consecutive quarter. The industrial sector contributed 42% to growth, with strategic emerging industries above designated size expanding by 9.2%. The steady upward trajectory demonstrates resilient economic vitality. Behind this strong start to the "15th Five-Year Plan" period lies a more stable growth foundation and enhanced development quality.
Despite its inland location in northwest China, Gansu maintains robust economic momentum. As a key historical industrial base in western China, the province possesses strong foundations in petrochemicals, nonferrous metallurgy, and equipment manufacturing. However, past overreliance on traditional pathways resulted in imbalanced industrial structure, truncated supply chains, and low-value-added products. While eastern regions race ahead in new productive forces like low-altitude economy and AI, Gansu has forged its own path: revitalizing traditional industries through technological upgrades rather than wholesale replacement.
The province is leveraging its inherent advantages through optimized business environments and deep-rooted industrial upgrades. Automated smart production lines now dominate factory floors, with green transformation evident across industries. At Jinchuan Group's nickel electrolysis workshop in Jinchang, new automated lines have slashed production costs while achieving 95% premium product rate and near-zero waste discharge. The 68-year-old Lanzhou Petrochemical is advancing ethylene upgrade projects aligned with carbon goals, addressing gaps in new material industries.
First-quarter data shows double-digit growth in industrial output, profits, and fixed asset investment among provincial enterprises. Beyond equipment upgrades, Gansu adopts holistic supply chain development, integrating upstream-downstream activities and innovation networks. Jinchang now extracts gold, silver, and rare metals from industrial waste, while byproduct sulfuric acid becomes fertilizer feedstock. Jiuquan's wind power equipment cluster has propelled provincial new energy industry scale past 100 billion yuan.
Innovation drives fundamental transformation, with R&D intensity among industrial enterprises rising from 1.6% to 3% since 2020. Breakthroughs include 0.05mm nickel foil, 3.5μm copper foil, and 0.012mm micro-wires meeting international standards. Strategic repositioning includes leveraging power-computing convergence advantages to develop green electricity-computing-industry synergy. Qingyang's computing scale exceeds 142,000 P under the East Data West Computing project, while Gansu transmitted 2.59 billion kWh of green electricity to 26 provinces last quarter.
From the Yellow River banks to the Hexi Corridor, Gansu is reshaping its industrial landscape through innovation-integrated upgrades. The province demonstrates how traditional industrial bases can generate new productive forces by aligning national strategies with local advantages, transforming resources into sustainable economic momentum that contributes to China's broader economic vitality.