In the Intelligent Manufacturing Display and Experience Center at the Northern Research Institute of Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NUST), one will be amazed by the advancements in cutting-edge scientific research, such as intelligent manufacturing, robots, 3D printing, laser, etc. Makers can pursue fun and explore secrets here. However, according to Jia Fengshan, Communist Party Secretary of Hexi District, “This is far from enough. We aim to take the ‘final mile’ so that the most advanced scientific and technological (S&T) achievements can be transformed into products the market needs as soon as possible. This could be a model for Made in China 2025 strategy.” It is a vivid example of the race against time to build “little giant” enterprises through district-university cooperation. On June 10, 2015, the government of Hexi District signed a contract with the Northern Research Institute of NUST. Only two months and five days later, the Intelligent Manufacturing Display and Experience Center was established in the Chentang Science and Technology Commercial District. After the center was set up, a tripartite cooperation agreement was signed between the Chentang Administrative Committee, Northern Research Institute of NUST and China Private Investment Corp. Ltd. on October 31, 2015, taking another two and a half months. All three projects have realized scale-up production in just seven months.

Hexi District is the capital district of Tianjin. As one of the 21 parks in the National Innovation Demonstration Zone, the district has grasped every opportunity provided by the zone and Made in China 2025 policy. It focuses on building “little giant” enterprises to stimulate innovation, restructure and upgrade industries and to improve economic quality and efficiency. In February this year, the district issued Opinions on Upgrading the S&T Little Giant Enterprises, requiring the district to arrange 100 million yuan each year over the next five years. The fund is mainly used to establish leading hi-tech R&D institutions with great potential and to achieve scale-up production.

NUST has a strong team of experts and has achieved a lot in scientific R&D. Since establishment, it has undertaken a large number of major national scientific research projects and has made many landmark achievements over the last 60 years. Yin Qun, Party Secretary of NUST, said, “We prefer its geographical, policy, cultural and environmental advantages. In the context of the Jing-Jin-Ji integration initiative, we want to seize the opportunity to find a new way for district-school cooperation and mutual development.”

The successful district-university cooperation in Hexi has attracted a lot of investment. Fu Ronglin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of China Private Investment Co. Ltd., said they had chosen to cooperate with Hexi District and the Northern Research Institute of NUST because they had a myriad of good projects with a broad market in the future. They plan to invest 6 billion yuan to implement the projects in Hexi District and to boost intelligent manufacturing.

Qian Linfang, Vice President of NUST, told us that three projects had now been achieved scale-up production in Hexi District. First, a high-power fiber laser project, which is one of the most successful R&D results of NUST. Professor Zhu Rihong, director of the project, is one of the leading figures in the Chinese laser field. The second is an all-solid-state thin film lithium battery project. This was carried out at the Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience (HGI) of NUST. The institute is a national-level research center for international cooperation. Professor Gleiter is the former vice president of the German National Academy of Sciences and is an internationally recognized founder of nanomaterial. Professor Xia Hui, director of the project, is the youngest team leader in the institute. Third, an electric vehicle charging system with interactive smart grid was established. Professor Hu Wenbin, director of the team, leads one of the most successful R&D teams of NUST.

Qi Longjiang, Executive Vice President of the Northern Research Institute of NUST, said that the institute was established from scratch after six months of preparation. Over 100 million yuan worth of output is estimated to be generated by the end of this year. In the next one or two years, every project will develop into a whole industrial chain and the output value will double over the years. The “little giant” will be growing even faster.