Organizers of the Guangdong provincial high-quality development conference arranged five parallel forums on Wednesday, pinning hope on their contribution to the province's high-quality development in 2025.

During the one of them, focused on the development of strategic emerging and future industries, Gao Song delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the pivotal role universities play in leveraging their integrated advantages in education, technology and talent to propel industrial advancement.

Gao, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Sun Yat-sen University, underscored the university's commitment to addressing the strategic needs of Guangdong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

He highlighted the university's utilization of its robust technological innovation capacity, supported by cutting-edge scientific facilities and platforms. By focusing on key core technology research and fostering new quality productive forces, Sun Yat-sen University has collaborated with 1,150 companies annually, achieving an average annual growth rate of 12 percent.

At the same gathering, Zhang Xu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of the Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology, highlighted the broad prospects for mutual advancement between industries and advanced technologies, such as brain-like intelligence, within Guangdong.

Zhang expressed confidence in the province's leading position in developing brain-like intelligence, foreseeing significant innovation in this domain that would chart a new developmental path for brain-like intelligence technology and high-end manufacturing in Guangdong.

At another parallel session centering on the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, participants highlighted the foundational role these industries play in the modern industrial ecosystem.

These traditional sectors not only underpin the stable operation of Guangdong's economy but contribute significantly to sustaining local economic growth, employment and foreign trade.

Also, the province's proactive implementation of national and provincial policies supporting traditional industry development has yielded multiple top-ranking technological indicators nationwide and fostered a dense network of innovation platforms.

In a parallel session dedicated to accelerating the development of financial and modern service industries, Yu Haiping, director general of the Guangdong Financial Supervisory Authority, outlined plans to implement moderately loose monetary policies and proactive fiscal measures to bolster investment, consumption, and foreign trade vitality, providing robust impetus for constructing a modern industrial framework.

At the forum on the high-quality development project for Guangdong's counties, towns and villages, Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said that the provincial commission is set to introduce regulations by yearend to promote economic development at the county level, with the province's county economy exhibiting promising growth momentum.

During the forum on coordinated development of foreign trade, foreign investment, service outsourcing, international economic cooperation, and high-caliber international professionals, Zhang Jingsong, head of the Guangdong Department of Commerce, said the province achieved a remarkable 9.8 percent year-on-year increase in trade volume in 2024, reaching a significant milestone of 9 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion). He attributed this success to the province's well-established industrial and supply chains.

Guangdong's steadfast commitment to prioritizing the manufacturing industry has led to the emergence of eight 1 trillion yuan, three 500 billion yuan, and seven 100 billion yuan industry clusters, showcasing the province's robust industrial landscape.

"Guangdong's market is very attractive to BASF. It is home to many of our clients and encompasses several rapidly growing industries such as transportation, consumer goods, household and personal care, and electronics," Haryono Lim, president of BASF's mega projects in Asia, said at the subforum. He added the core part of BASF Integrated Site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, is under construction and is scheduled to start operations by the end of this year. In his view, the smooth progress of the project is inseparable from Guangdong's focus on innovation, improvement of the business environment, and attention to sustainable development, which all boost the company's faith in investing in Guangdong.

The premises of BASF Integrated Site (Guangdong) CHINA DAILY