Energy Innovation & Mfg Upgrade: Dual-driven High-quality Dev
Under the dual background of "dual carbon" goals leading and new industrialization advancing, the low-carbon transformation of the energy system and technological breakthroughs in advanced manufacturing are deeply integrated, becoming the core engine for reshaping industrial competitiveness and cultivating new quality productive forces. From the engineering breakthrough of nuclear fusion to the intelligent upgrade of new energy equipment, from the green transformation of traditional industries to the cross-border integration of emerging formats, the coordinated development of energy and advanced manufacturing is writing a new chapter of high-quality development.
Energy is the "blood" of manufacturing, and its green transformation is the foundation of advanced manufacturing. Currently, China's energy revolution is moving from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement at a critical stage, with technological innovation and policy support forming a strong synergy. In the clean energy field, 2026 has become an important critical point for nuclear fusion industrialization—China's EAST device first confirmed the existence of the "tokamak density-free zone," providing a new physical basis for improving power generation efficiency, while commercial companies' "Honghuang 70" device achieved 120 seconds of steady-state long-pulse operation, marking the completion of engineering verification of high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology. At the policy level, the formal implementation of the "Atomic Energy Law" and the strategic layout of the "15th Five-Year Plan" have made the path from scientific exploration to industrial implementation of nuclear fusion energy increasingly clear. Leading enterprises such as CNNC have clearly set a timetable for completing engineering experimental reactors by 2035. At the same time, sodium-ion battery industrialization is accelerating. Companies such as BYD and CATL are promoting its large-scale application in small passenger vehicles and grid energy storage, providing safer and more economical energy storage solutions for manufacturing and further improving the new energy system.
Advanced manufacturing provides key support for energy transformation, and the deep integration of the two has given birth to a new paradigm of industrial upgrading. Under policy guidance, manufacturing is comprehensively advancing high-end, intelligent, and green transformation. The "Guidance on Accelerating Green Development of Manufacturing" clearly states that by 2030, the green and low-carbon transformation of manufacturing will achieve significant results, the green development level of traditional industries will be upgraded overall, and the proportion of green and low-carbon industries will significantly increase. In terms of traditional industry transformation, industries such as steel and petrochemicals have achieved optimization and reconstruction of energy use structure and production processes through technologies such as short-process process upgrades and green hydrogen replacement. The short-process steelmaking ratio target is steadily advancing, and the recycling volume of renewable resources will reach 510 million tons. In the emerging industry field, the digital and intelligent upgrade of energy equipment has achieved remarkable results. The application of technologies such as intelligent sensing, edge computing, and embodied intelligence has transformed energy equipment from "passive operation" to "active optimization," gradually forming an intelligent management system covering the full lifecycle of extraction, conversion, storage, and transportation. More notably, the "green electricity + manufacturing" integration model is emerging. Zero-carbon parks achieve local consumption of new energy through technologies such as distributed energy and intelligent microgrids, promoting comprehensive greening of the manufacturing process and becoming a new benchmark for regional industrial coordinated development.
The deepening of industrial coordination and the improvement of the ecosystem inject lasting momentum into the integrated development of energy and advanced manufacturing. Currently, China has formed an innovation system with "enterprises as the main body and industry-university-research collaboration." State-owned enterprises and private enterprises work together to break through core technology bottlenecks in key fields such as superconducting magnets, energy storage materials, and intelligent control. At the policy level, support policies such as first-set equipment insurance compensation and R&D expense deduction have been implemented effectively, accelerating the industrialization of technological innovation achievements. Recently, the total amount of winning projects in a single bidding cycle in the nuclear fusion field has reached 521 million yuan, and industrial chain investment has entered an upward channel. At the same time, the full lifecycle green management system continues to improve, standards for decommissioning and recycling of photovoltaic and wind power equipment are gradually being perfected, and technologies for cascade utilization and high-value recycling of power batteries continue to break through, making the green development concept run through the entire industrial chain. In terms of regional layout, Anhui, Sichuan, Shanghai, and other places have formed nuclear fusion industry clusters, and regions with clean energy advantages in central and western China are orderly undertaking the transfer of high energy-consuming industries, forming a new pattern of differentiated and coordinated industrial development.
Standing at the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the integrated development of energy and advanced manufacturing is facing unprecedented historical opportunities. From the "future energy" of nuclear fusion to the "current support" of sodium-ion batteries, from the "green reconstruction" of traditional industries to the "cross-border integration" of emerging formats, this industrial transformation is not only about the competitiveness improvement of individual enterprises but also determines China's voice in the global green industrial chain. Looking to the future, with the continuous deepening of technological innovation, the continuous improvement of the policy system, and the increasing maturity of the industrial ecosystem, energy and advanced manufacturing will further break boundaries and deeply coordinate, providing solid support for building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system and advancing new industrialization, writing a more brilliant chapter on the path of high-quality development.
Energy is the "blood" of manufacturing, and its green transformation is the foundation of advanced manufacturing. Currently, China's energy revolution is moving from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement at a critical stage, with technological innovation and policy support forming a strong synergy. In the clean energy field, 2026 has become an important critical point for nuclear fusion industrialization—China's EAST device first confirmed the existence of the "tokamak density-free zone," providing a new physical basis for improving power generation efficiency, while commercial companies' "Honghuang 70" device achieved 120 seconds of steady-state long-pulse operation, marking the completion of engineering verification of high-temperature superconducting tokamak technology. At the policy level, the formal implementation of the "Atomic Energy Law" and the strategic layout of the "15th Five-Year Plan" have made the path from scientific exploration to industrial implementation of nuclear fusion energy increasingly clear. Leading enterprises such as CNNC have clearly set a timetable for completing engineering experimental reactors by 2035. At the same time, sodium-ion battery industrialization is accelerating. Companies such as BYD and CATL are promoting its large-scale application in small passenger vehicles and grid energy storage, providing safer and more economical energy storage solutions for manufacturing and further improving the new energy system.
Advanced manufacturing provides key support for energy transformation, and the deep integration of the two has given birth to a new paradigm of industrial upgrading. Under policy guidance, manufacturing is comprehensively advancing high-end, intelligent, and green transformation. The "Guidance on Accelerating Green Development of Manufacturing" clearly states that by 2030, the green and low-carbon transformation of manufacturing will achieve significant results, the green development level of traditional industries will be upgraded overall, and the proportion of green and low-carbon industries will significantly increase. In terms of traditional industry transformation, industries such as steel and petrochemicals have achieved optimization and reconstruction of energy use structure and production processes through technologies such as short-process process upgrades and green hydrogen replacement. The short-process steelmaking ratio target is steadily advancing, and the recycling volume of renewable resources will reach 510 million tons. In the emerging industry field, the digital and intelligent upgrade of energy equipment has achieved remarkable results. The application of technologies such as intelligent sensing, edge computing, and embodied intelligence has transformed energy equipment from "passive operation" to "active optimization," gradually forming an intelligent management system covering the full lifecycle of extraction, conversion, storage, and transportation. More notably, the "green electricity + manufacturing" integration model is emerging. Zero-carbon parks achieve local consumption of new energy through technologies such as distributed energy and intelligent microgrids, promoting comprehensive greening of the manufacturing process and becoming a new benchmark for regional industrial coordinated development.
The deepening of industrial coordination and the improvement of the ecosystem inject lasting momentum into the integrated development of energy and advanced manufacturing. Currently, China has formed an innovation system with "enterprises as the main body and industry-university-research collaboration." State-owned enterprises and private enterprises work together to break through core technology bottlenecks in key fields such as superconducting magnets, energy storage materials, and intelligent control. At the policy level, support policies such as first-set equipment insurance compensation and R&D expense deduction have been implemented effectively, accelerating the industrialization of technological innovation achievements. Recently, the total amount of winning projects in a single bidding cycle in the nuclear fusion field has reached 521 million yuan, and industrial chain investment has entered an upward channel. At the same time, the full lifecycle green management system continues to improve, standards for decommissioning and recycling of photovoltaic and wind power equipment are gradually being perfected, and technologies for cascade utilization and high-value recycling of power batteries continue to break through, making the green development concept run through the entire industrial chain. In terms of regional layout, Anhui, Sichuan, Shanghai, and other places have formed nuclear fusion industry clusters, and regions with clean energy advantages in central and western China are orderly undertaking the transfer of high energy-consuming industries, forming a new pattern of differentiated and coordinated industrial development.
Standing at the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the integrated development of energy and advanced manufacturing is facing unprecedented historical opportunities. From the "future energy" of nuclear fusion to the "current support" of sodium-ion batteries, from the "green reconstruction" of traditional industries to the "cross-border integration" of emerging formats, this industrial transformation is not only about the competitiveness improvement of individual enterprises but also determines China's voice in the global green industrial chain. Looking to the future, with the continuous deepening of technological innovation, the continuous improvement of the policy system, and the increasing maturity of the industrial ecosystem, energy and advanced manufacturing will further break boundaries and deeply coordinate, providing solid support for building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system and advancing new industrialization, writing a more brilliant chapter on the path of high-quality development.
