On September 16th, the Beijing-Hebei Robotics Industry Shared Manufacturing Cooperation Conference was held in Beijing. The theme of "Building Industrial Ecosystem and Deepening Industrial Collaboration" clearly demonstrated the determination and confidence of both Beijing and Hebei regions to promote resource sharing, capability synergy, and innovative integration in the robotics industry, supporting high-quality development of regional manufacturing.

**Solid Foundation: "Mutual Advancement" Under Collaborative Development Strategy**

"With the integrated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, we want to explore potential cooperation opportunities with companies in Tangshan," said Mr. He, representative of a Beijing venture capital firm at the conference. In his view, Tangshan possesses superior geographical advantages, "being very close to Beijing, companies can establish R&D operations in Beijing and manufacturing in Tangshan, creating excellent complementarity between the two locations."

Ms. Guan, from a Beijing-based surgical robot development company, came with specific challenges: "Our robot orders are approaching tens of millions of yuan, but production capacity is insufficient, mainly because our current factory space cannot meet production demands."

"What size area do you need? Are there requirements for height and floor load capacity?" Facing Ms. Guan's inquiries, relevant officials from Tangshan High-tech Zone carefully recorded details and thoroughly inquired about specific factory requirements while providing detailed information about the zone's industrial policies.

During interviews, many companies chose to develop robotics businesses in Tangshan primarily due to its excellent geographical location. As a port-type national logistics hub city, Tangshan connects to over 200 ports worldwide, with cargo throughput consistently ranking second globally. The Beijing-Tangshan intercity high-speed railway's Tangshan West Station and Tangshan Airport are located in Tangshan High-tech Zone, with high-speed rail reaching Beijing in just 30 minutes, and the airport connecting to over 20 major domestic cities.

Since the implementation of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative development strategy, regional industrial cooperation has continuously deepened. With dual demands from Beijing's non-capital function relocation and Hebei's industrial transformation and upgrading, the robotics industry has become the optimal integration point for complementary advantages and "mutual advancement."

Beijing possesses the nation's most concentrated technological innovation resources, gathering numerous top universities and research institutions, but has limited manufacturing space. Tangshan, as a traditional industrial powerhouse, not only has a complete industrial system but also abundant application scenarios and manufacturing foundations. This complementarity naturally makes the robotics industry a pioneering field for regional collaborative development.

Statistics show that in 2024, Hebei Province had 369 robotics companies with operating revenue of 14.64 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 42.3%. Among these, Tangshan has over 200 robotics companies, accounting for 60% of the province's total, making it the core region for Hebei's robotics industry development.

Another important reason attracting companies to "settle" in Tangshan is the remarkable achievements in robotics industry development. Tangshan is the core region of Hebei Province's robotics industry, hosting numerous industry-leading enterprises and forming a cluster valued at approximately 10 billion yuan. Tangshan High-tech Zone has established an industrial system focusing on robot system integration, special-purpose robots, and sensors.

"Tangshan High-tech Zone concentrates 90% of the city's robotics companies, with multiple robot products holding the number one market share domestically. It serves as the main carrier for robotics industrial chain development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative development 'six chains, five clusters' framework," said Dong Xuezhong, Deputy Party Secretary and Director of Tangshan High-tech Zone Management Committee. He emphasized that transitioning from initial industrial transfer to deep collaborative innovation represents new requirements for the second decade of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative development. Currently, Tangshan High-tech Zone is actively exploring the "Beijing Innovation, Tangshan Transformation" development model, striving to connect Beijing's abundant scientific and technological resources with Tangshan's comprehensive manufacturing capabilities.

**Early Start: Tangshan's "Robot Army" at Full Power**

Capable of aerial operations, ground operations, and underwater missions... In Tangshan High-tech Zone, there exists a special integrated sea-land-air "combat force" - the "Special Robot Task Force" that can replace human workers in specialized scenarios.

Tangshan's robotics industry development began early, with the establishment of a robotics industrial base in the 1990s. In the early 21st century, as urban industrial transformation and upgrading accelerated, Tangshan's robotics industry development gained stronger momentum. Particularly in recent years, Tangshan has experienced rapid development in welding robots, special-purpose robots, and service robots, with continuously expanding application scenarios.

"We developed an agricultural robot, and this project has reached preliminary cooperation intentions with Tangshan Baichuan Robot Shared Manufacturing Factory," said Wang Dongzhao, engineer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Equipment Engineering Laboratory, who found an ideal innovation partner at the Beijing-Hebei Robotics Industry Shared Manufacturing Conference.

The Tangshan Baichuan Robot Shared Manufacturing Factory that Wang mentioned represents an innovative hub on the new track of Tangshan's robotics industry - integrating technology, talent, and manufacturing resources from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, capable of simultaneously producing orders from over 30 companies. For startups with technology and creativity but facing funding shortages and factory equipment limitations, this often becomes a constraining bottleneck.

"You have the creativity, we'll implement it," said Zhao Hui, General Manager of Tangshan Baichuan Robot Shared Factory. As the nation's first shared service platform focused on non-standard robot product R&D and manufacturing, the platform provides six major services including design and development, material procurement, production manufacturing, and financial facilitation, comprehensively supporting innovation and development of small and medium enterprises.

Data shows that Baichuan Robot Shared Factory has served over 200 innovation entities including enterprises, universities, and research institutions, creating output value exceeding 200 million yuan.

Simultaneously, Tangshan High-tech Zone has built a shared intelligent manufacturing cluster, forming a collaborative development pattern with Baichuan Robot Shared Manufacturing as the leader, complemented by CITIC Industrial Design and Key Laboratory, Yate External Combustion Engine Manufacturing and Vehicle Testing Center, Lukai Mining and Coal Preparation Intelligent Screening Equipment Factory, and Xuhua Intelligent Electronic Products Factory.

"We aim to create a 'platform order reception, process-based decomposition, multi-factory collaboration' shared manufacturing model, providing enterprises with one-stop services including design and development, concept verification, inspection and testing, and logistics after-sales," Dong Xuezhong stated.

**Promising Prospects: From Industrial Collaboration to Innovation Community**

"Our developed fermented bean curd automatic bottling robot represents a典型 example of 'Beijing Innovation, Tangshan Transformation,'" said Chen Yaoqi, Chairman of Tangshan Siwei Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., pointing to production line videos on the demonstration screen. This robot not only solves production pain points for the time-honored brand Wangzhihe but can also be promoted throughout the entire seasoning industry, offering broad market prospects.

As Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative development enters a new phase, robotics industry cooperation is also advancing deeper. In the future, the three regions will further strengthen cooperation in policy coordination, platform co-construction, scenario opening, and talent exchange.

Guo Rui, Director of the Industrial Project Investment Division of Hebei Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, stated that as an important task for provincial economic collaborative development, they will jointly revise the robotics industry chain map with Beijing and Tianjin, develop "Robot + Industrial Park" co-construction, and promote industrial chain integration and cooperation. They will also further improve the "Fund + Voucher + Insurance" support system and promote mutual recognition of standards and qualifications across the three regions, making innovation factor flows smoother.

Deep exploration of application scenarios becomes a key breakthrough. Tangshan possesses the world's largest steel industry cluster and abundant equipment manufacturing scenarios, providing vast application space for robotics technology. The "human-to-robot replacement" demand in the steel industry alone exceeds 10 billion yuan. Currently, Tangshan has identified 110 mature application scenarios and regularly publishes and conducts "challenge-based competition" activities, encouraging enterprises to conduct innovative R&D based on market demands.

In talent development, Tangshan is implementing the "Phoenix Talent" program, establishing a 20 million yuan special talent development fund to create a robotics talent highland in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. By establishing "innovation enclaves" in Beijing, R&D teams remain in familiar innovation environments; by building "manufacturing enclaves" in Tangshan, Beijing enterprises' R&D achievements can be directly imported, achieving "move-in ready, immediate production."

"Steel manufacturing has long been Tangshan's dominant industry. In the robotics field, Tangshan should leverage its steel manufacturing industrial advantages, combined with Beijing's R&D advantages in robotics. I believe that in the upcoming ecological cooperation between Beijing and Tangshan, they will certainly leverage Beijing's strengths while enabling Tangshan's manufacturing industry to develop even better," said Professor Yu Junli from Peking University's School of Government and Director of China Emerging Industry Innovation Research Center, expressing confidence at the conference.