On March 21, at the construction site of CALB's 51GWh power battery and energy storage battery system project in Handan Economic Development Zone, tower cranes stood in great numbers and machinery roared as the main structure entered the steel construction phase. Headquartered in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, CALB is one of China's leading manufacturers of power batteries and energy storage batteries, with its products widely used in new energy passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, drones, and other fields. Wang Tuo, the project manager of the Handan base, stated that the project involves a total investment of 10 billion yuan and is scheduled to be completed and operational by the end of September this year. Once it reaches full production capacity, annual operating revenue is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan, with annual new tax revenue surpassing 500 million yuan.
Feng Changmin, Director of the Handan Investment Promotion Bureau, remarked that the establishment of CALB's project in Handan will further enhance the resilience of the city's new energy industry chain and boost industrial competitiveness. Last year, the bureau focused on nine key industries targeted for development in Handan, including high-end equipment manufacturing and new energy, analyzing upstream and downstream related industries, domestic benchmark enterprises, and industrial cluster distributions to create an industrial investment navigation map. This initiative shifts away from the previous scattered investment promotion approach towards a more targeted strategy.
In 2025, the city signed a total of 816 projects each valued at over 50 million yuan, including 584 projects each exceeding 100 million yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 19.6% and 15.4%, respectively. In the first two months of this year, 103 projects valued at over 50 million yuan were signed, including 62 projects each above 100 million yuan, showing increases of 63.5% and 55% year-on-year, indicating a significant improvement in investment promotion effectiveness.
Leveraging the investment navigation map, Handan precisely screens target enterprises with high compatibility and strong interest, regularly conducts high-level mutual visits and thematic investment promotion events, effectively enhancing the quality and efficiency of industrial investment. Taking the new energy industry as an example, Handan's industrial investment navigation map identifies 58 enterprises involved in the upstream (new energy acquisition, preparation, conversion), midstream (new energy storage and transportation), and downstream (new energy application) sectors, with details specifying the city where each enterprise is located.
Wang Zipeng, head of Handan's Shanghai-based investment promotion team, noted that each investment promotion officer is equipped with a navigation map to target potential investment goals, conduct targeted information collection, feasibility analysis for project introduction, and improve engagement outcomes. Focusing on extending, supplementing, and strengthening the new energy industry chain, Handan has prioritized power battery and energy storage battery enterprises listed in the navigation map for investment promotion. CALB, which ranks among the top nationwide in comprehensive strength, became a key engagement target. From the initial contact in June 2024 to the signing of a cooperation agreement in May 2025, a major 10-billion-yuan project successfully settled in Handan in less than a year.
Beyond the new energy sector, the low-altitude economy, as one of Handan's nine key development industries, has also achieved precise breakthroughs with the aid of the investment navigation map. On March 21, in Workshop No. 1 of Hebei Dexinyi Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. in Feixiang District, Handan, the production line for firefighting drones was already installed and ready for equipment debugging. Liu Jiakun, Deputy General Manager of the company, announced that "Handan-made" firefighting drones will officially roll off the production line in May this year. As a leading domestic manufacturer of emergency firefighting drones, the company attributed its decision to establish a production base in Handan to the precise engagement efforts of the Handan Investment Promotion Bureau.
According to Zhang Lei, Deputy Director of the Handan Investment Promotion Bureau, the industrial investment navigation map specifically compiles key enterprises across the entire low-altitude economy industrial chain nationwide, covering over 120 companies involved in drone materials, components, complete machine manufacturing, scenario operations, and flight support. Relying on the precise guidance of the navigation map, the bureau has accurately engaged high-quality enterprises in the low-altitude economy sector. By the end of 2025, the city had introduced and cultivated 48 enterprises related to the low-altitude economy.
Feng Changmin emphasized that the city will dynamically upgrade the industrial investment navigation map, guiding investment promotion personnel to target investments according to the map and along the industrial chain, aiming to attract a group of industry-leading enterprises with core competitiveness. Simultaneously, the city will improve full-cycle services spanning from engagement and negotiation, project signing, commencement and implementation, to operational efficiency, forming a rolling development pattern of projects that are "planned in batches, signed in batches, and implemented in batches."