Exploring Differentiated Competition Pathways in Future Industries Across Regions

On March 22, Li Lecheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated at the China Development High-Level Forum 2026 Annual Meeting that the Ministry will seize the opportunities of the times, leverage its strengths, deepen open cooperation, and accelerate the innovative development of future industries. He proposed: “Coordinate the orderly advancement of the construction of future industry pilot zones, guide regions to base their development on their comparative advantages, and develop future industries in a manner suited to local conditions and with differentiated strategies.”

China’s layout for future industries is shifting from top-level design to concrete implementation. From the bustling eastern coast to the vast central and western regions, localities are actively exploring practical models for future industries through unique and differentiated paths, forming a vibrant picture of “a unified national strategy” combined with “local特色 development.”

Currently, regions are developing future industries based on their own advantages. For example, Guangdong Province is focusing on key areas, building a development system for future industries, and planning specific facilities in fields like low-altitude economy and commercial spaceflight. Guangzhou plans to build 2,500 new low-altitude takeoff and landing facilities this year, opening up more possibilities for commercial applications and public service scenarios, and promoting innovation across the entire chain of equipment manufacturing, facility support, and operational management.

Similarly, cities like Beijing and Shanghai, with abundant university talent resources and comprehensive innovation industry systems, can form a close-knit, efficient ecosystem from basic research to applied development, from technological R&D to成果转化, and industrialization. Additionally, their well-developed financial service systems can provide ample funding support for innovative projects, driving breakthroughs in originality and the construction of future industry ecosystems.

On March 20, the Beijing Municipal People’s Government Information Office held a press conference on key future industry development initiatives for 2026. It announced that by 2026, Beijing will focus on six major areas: future information, future health, future manufacturing, future energy, future materials, and future space. With 122 detailed tasks, the goal is to promote higher-quality development of future industries. As early as October last year, Shanghai released the “Measures for Accelerating Frontier Technology Innovation and Future Industry Cultivation,” which proposed focusing on future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space, and future health, combined with industrial foundations and resource endowments, to plan and cultivate future industries precisely. The plan emphasizes developing fields such as cell and gene therapy, brain-computer interfaces, biomanufacturing, and embodied intelligence, with a focus on reducing costs, increasing accessibility, building industrial ecosystems, and accelerating product engineering and industrialization.

Chen Xiaohua, Executive Dean of the Education and Scientific Technology Research Institute of China Mobile Communications Association, told Securities Daily that future industries often involve cutting-edge technologies and emerging fields, characterized by high innovation and uncertainty. The development from R&D to mature application requires a long cycle, during which continuous resource investment is necessary for technological breakthroughs, testing, and validation.

More provinces in the central and western regions rely on abundant energy and resource endowments, attracting capital through the “Green Electricity—Green Hydrogen—Green Chemical Industry” supply chain. For example, Hohhot City and Horinger New District in Inner Mongolia are leveraging the “East Data West Computing” project to vigorously develop green computing power industries. In the process of developing the entire green computing industry chain, Inner Mongolia has also established a government-led, multi-party data classification and protection system, improved data privacy and security review systems, and enhanced data security technology systems to ensure high-level data security and high-quality data development. Qingyang City in Gansu Province has attracted high-energy-consuming enterprises through the “Zero Carbon Park” initiative, creating a virtuous cycle from energy advantages to computing power and industrial advantages.

This differentiated layout not only effectively avoids duplication and resource waste but also forms a nationwide innovation network through industrial chain collaboration. Essentially, it is a deep integration and clever utilization of resource endowments, industrial foundations, and strategic positioning. Economically strong provinces (cities) focus on building original technology hubs, making breakthroughs in basic research, general large models, and high-end integrated circuits to lead industrial upgrading nationwide. Meanwhile, central and western provinces, relying on energy, resources, and geographical advantages, vigorously develop green energy, strategic resources, and特色消费产业.

Zheng Lei, Chief Economist of Samoyed Cloud Technology Group, told reporters that one of the core aspects of future industry development is the ability to transform local resources into high-value data assets. Based on the new production function theory, regions should utilize unique scenarios to build closed-loop data feedback systems, transforming traditional resource flows into digital information flows, thereby breaking the scale effect paradox. Policy focus should shift from simple subsidies to constructing an innovative ecosystem integrating the “three chains” of industry chain, innovation chain, and talent chain. This involves market-driven feedback to R&D, promoting knowledge spillover, and achieving differentiated development.

Chen Xiaohua suggested that the development of future industries can be carried out in an orderly manner following a “short-term feasible, medium-term growth, long-term leading” gradient. In the short term, focus on projects and fields with mature conditions that can be quickly implemented and transformed, using timely market feedback to accumulate experience and lay a foundation for subsequent development. In the medium term, pay attention to industry directions with growth potential, providing continuous policy support and resource investment to help them grow and enhance market competitiveness. In the long term, focus on forward-looking and leading technologies and industries, planning ahead to secure a dominant position in future global industrial competition. This gradient approach can strengthen policy continuity, enabling future industries to maintain stable development amid various risks and challenges, and achieve sustainable high-quality growth.