I am very pleased to attend the Spring Symposium of the Huangshi Entrepreneurs Association. The theme of the symposium is well chosen, focusing on transformation and development. There are many entrepreneurs participating today, representing large, medium, and small enterprises across various industries, mainly in manufacturing, with fewer in the service sector, which aligns with Huangshi's characteristics. Today, I would like to share a few points for mutual encouragement with the entrepreneurs.

1. Revitalizing the real economy

Despite the current challenges faced by the real economy, especially in manufacturing, the relevant policies from the central government and the State Council in 2017, along with the recent policy directions and information from the provincial and municipal governments, indicate that 2017 will be a crucial year for the development of the real economy, particularly manufacturing. Recently, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed revitalizing the real economy, a new term in recent years, showing that the central leadership has recognized some issues within the real economy. The provincial government has just held its two sessions, and the government work report extensively discusses how to develop the real economy, especially manufacturing and traditional industries, as well as emerging economies. It has continuously issued documents No. 67 and No. 82 to support the development of the real economy. This year's municipal government work report, in line with the goals set at the municipal party congress, outlines four areas of construction for the next five years: first, becoming a hub for advanced manufacturing; second, a new type of port city; third, a historical and cultural city; and fourth, a livable and sports-oriented new city. We have set our core goal, the most important goal, as becoming a hub for advanced manufacturing, which highlights the irreplaceable role of manufacturing and the real economy in Huangshi's socio-economic development. As the mayor, I am clearly an industrial mayor, and it just so happens that I have a background in engineering, but my emphasis on industry is determined by Huangshi's local conditions. A stable industry means a stable Huangshi; a thriving industry means a thriving Huangshi, and I see no other alternatives.

2. Key focus of Huangshi's industrial work this year

(1) Promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. How do we approach traditional industries? First, we must continuously promote technological transformation and the research and development of new products, guiding products towards the mid-to-high end. Today, we have large, medium, and small enterprises attending, and everyone feels that there is an oversupply of everything, with some capacities being tighter and others looser; this reflects the current economic situation in China. The days of producing whatever sells are long gone. What should we do? We need to adjust the industrial structure, and technological transformation and R&D will help products move towards the mid-to-high end. Our new steel company would not have achieved such a good situation today without over 10 billion in technological transformation investments during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. High-end companies like New Steel and low-end companies like those in the mold materials association must undergo technological transformation; even our emerging industry, such as Upda Electronics, must produce mid-to-high-end PCBs, as there is no future in low-end production. Therefore, entrepreneurs, technological transformation and product R&D are essential paths for us this year and throughout the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Recently, the aluminum profile market has been very good, and Fuxing Aluminum is preparing to invest another 500 million for technological transformation and new product development to move products up the industrial chain. Our extrusion mold companies are also undergoing transformation and upgrading. Second, we must fully extend the value chain of our industries. The eight major industries in Huangshi have short chains; we mainly produce basic materials and intermediate products without high-end products. We have special steel but no automobiles, PCBs but no mobile phones, compressors but no refrigerators, all stuck in the mid-to-low end of the value chain, and the chains are not long. Our next step is to extend one industry at a time; only by forming chains can we achieve value enhancement. Currently, our copper chain is relatively good, with existing electrolytic copper, copper plates, and copper cables, and the next step will be copper foil. If this chain is formed, our copper manufacturing industry will be more competitive nationwide. Our special steel industry chain is also short, with few downstream manufacturers around automotive parts. We are actively introducing terminal products for PCBs, such as mobile phones and panels. I told Comrade Baichang that we must bring in refrigerators and home appliance terminal products; otherwise, we will always be working for others. In all industries, including biomedicine and intelligent transportation, we must extend the chains, supplement them, build them, and strengthen them. Once the industrial chain is formed, we will have competitiveness, and business will surely be easier.