Adhere to innovation-driven construction materials power
Zhou Yuxian
The material industry occupies a fundamental position in the modern industrial system. The development of new materials is an inevitable requirement for China to transform from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing power, and it is a fundamental measure for China to get rid of the “stuck neck” of key materials and technologies. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the new material industry is a strategic and basic industry, and it is also a key area of high-tech competition. We must catch up and catch up. This important discussion provides a fundamental basis for us to seize the historical opportunity and outperform the new material industry track, and points out the way forward.
1. The development of China’s new material industry has a long way to go
“The new material industry is a strategic and basic industry.” The foundation is reflected in the fact that the new material industry has penetrated into all fields of national economy and social life. It is an upstream raw material product industry supporting the development of important industries such as aerospace, new energy, electronic information, and biomedicine. The foundation of innovation in various fields and links such as equipment and new projects. The strategy is reflected in the fact that the new material industry is an important area to seize the commanding heights of future technology and economic development. Behind the rapid growth of the global new material industry and the increasing emergence of high-end material technical barriers, the world including the United States, Germany, Japan, etc. Manufacturing powers use it as a result of policy support for strategic industries.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country’s new material industry has been catching up with developed countries, and has made great progress in terms of industrial scale, system construction, cluster effect, and technological innovation. The scale of the industry continues to expand, and it has formed the material industry system and production capacity with the most complete categories and the largest scale in the world. Since the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan”, the total output value of the new material industry has grown rapidly, from 0.65 trillion yuan in 2010 to more than 7 trillion yuan in 2021, and the total output value is expected to reach 10 trillion yuan in 2025. The innovation system has been continuously improved, and the main role and leading role of enterprises in innovation have been significantly enhanced. Relying on the advantages of regional resources, new material industry clusters such as the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, the central and western regions, and the Northeast have been formed. Continuous breakthroughs in key materials, the research and development of the second generation of new dry process cement technology and equipment and the research and development of the second generation of China’s float glass technology and equipment have promoted the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries such as cement and glass. The new materials independently developed by my country provide an indispensable foundation and guarantee for the implementation of major national projects such as aerospace and engineering construction in China. For example, the low-heat cement material used to build a “seamless dam” in the Baihetan Hydropower Station is used to ensure the safety of the “Shenzhou series” manned spacecraft, the “Tianwen-1” probe, and the core module of the Chinese space station “Tianhe”. Advanced composite structures.
The total annual production capacity of China National Building Materials Group’s wind power blades is 19,660 MW, covering 1.0 MW to 15.0 MW series, with more than 100 models, and has developed a 112-meter offshore wind power blade. The picture shows the Funing production base of wind power blades of China National Building Materials Group.Photo courtesy of China National Building Materials Group
At the same time, the development of my country’s new material industry is also facing many challenges. At present, my country’s new material industry is still in the transitional stage from self-sufficiency of mid-to-low-end products to independent research and development and import substitution of mid-to-high-end products. On the whole, my country’s material field is still dominated by traditional materials, the key technologies of the new material industry are relatively insufficient, the domestic supply of high-end new materials is limited, and the short board problem of being controlled by people is still prominent. An important reason is that the transformation system of scientific research achievements in the new material industry is not sound enough, the upstream R&D design of new materials is out of touch with the downstream production and application, and there are problems of transformation of achievements and difficult connection between production and application, which seriously restricts the high-quality and sustainable development of the industry.
Enterprises are the main force for the innovation and development of my country’s new material industry. State-owned enterprises shoulder the heavy trust of the country and the people. They must consciously continue to make efforts in industrial development, basic research, R&D investment, institutional mechanisms, talent cultivation, cooperation and integration, and give full play to them. The leading and supporting role of strategic and leading industries drives China’s new material industry to overtake in curves. As the national team in the field of new inorganic non-metallic materials in my country, China National Building Materials Group has developed the first concrete admixture, the first quartz glass, the first alkali-free glass fiber, the first artificial crystal and other products in New China. Including high-end cementitious materials, gypsum boards, new glass materials, high-performance glass fibers, high-performance carbon fibers, megawatt-level wind power blades, thin-film solar cells and other new material products that have reached world-class standards, complete sets of technologies and equipment clusters, in order to break through foreign countries It has contributed to monopoly and ensuring the security of the national industrial chain and supply chain. Setting foot on a new journey, China National Building Materials Group should take the responsibility of building “the country’s top talent”, adhere to the drive of innovation, and strive to promote my country’s new material industry to achieve new and greater development.
2. Improve the core competitiveness of “the country’s top talent” with scientific and technological innovation
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The direction of my country’s scientific and technological development is innovation, innovation and re-innovation.” China National Building Materials Group strengthens the awareness of the main body of enterprise innovation, and continuously strengthens the combination of innovation chain and industrial chain in accordance with the requirements of the “four aspects” proposed by the general secretary. Committed to promoting the development of new materials for overtaking in corners.
Facing the frontier of world science and technology, realize self-reliance and self-improvement through technological innovation.In recent years, a new round of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is in the ascendant. There are many kinds of new materials and wide applications. The complexity and difficulty of scientific and technological innovation are high, showing the development trend of multi-disciplinary and multi-technology integration. In this context, strengthen the strategic research and judgment on the new development pattern, focus on new materials that the country urgently needs and long-term needs, solve the original problem from “0 to 1”, and ensure that the “neck” fields and weak links that are controlled by others can achieve success It is becoming more and more important to make substantial breakthroughs and realize the independent supply of key materials. China National Building Materials Group, as the only central enterprise in the field of building materials, with the mission of striving to lead the industry to continuously achieve scientific and technological progress, has developed five key types of optical fiber cones, micro-hole positioning plates, rear-stage optical fiber cones, micro-hole plates, and diffraction plates. The components successfully served and guaranteed the project of high-energy cosmic radiation detection facilities, which provided an important boost for the realization of historic breakthroughs in the high-resolution and high-precision detection, reading and transmission of cosmic high-energy rays, and promoted the leap-forward of my country’s space high-energy cosmic radiation detection technology. develop. In addition, new materials such as quartz glass, large-scale composite structural parts, high-performance ablation-resistant resins, high-strength glass fiber yarns, and special coatings developed by China National Building Materials Group have been widely used in manned spaceflight, Chinese space station, Mars exploration, lunar exploration projects and other national major projects. It has played a supporting role in the smooth implementation of the project.
Facing the main economic battlefield, promote industrial upgrading through technological innovation.With the acceleration of my country’s high-quality economic development and industrial transformation and upgrading, the demand for new upstream materials from strategic emerging industries represented by new infrastructure and new energy has grown on a large scale. It is expected that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, my country’s new material industry will usher in an important strategic opportunity period for industrial base reconstruction and industrial chain improvement. China National Building Material Group insists on promoting the industrialization of new materials for the main battlefield of the national economy. On the basis of accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, it builds a complete industrial chain and promotes the development of the industry in the direction of high-end, mass production and globalization, so that more new materials will be produced. Fly into the homes of ordinary people.” The most common glass is a silicate amorphous inorganic non-metallic material with good plasticity and permeability. It is not only used as a daily building material, but also widely used in the manufacture of display elements, photovoltaic power generation equipment, etc. on glass material. For example, each smartphone includes three types of four-layer display glass, including high-strength cover glass, ultra-thin touch glass, and two-layer thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) glass substrate with liquid crystal injection. technological content. By strengthening R&D and integrated innovation, China National Building Materials Group has achieved breakthroughs in key core technologies such as 0.12mm global ultra-thin touch glass, 0.03mm flexible foldable glass, and 8.5-generation TFT-LCD glass substrates and industrialized mass production, greatly promoting related manufacturing. localization process in the field. The self-developed copper indium gallium selenide and cadmium telluride photovoltaic glass is used for building power generation, and the world‘s largest single-scale 120,000-square-meter thin-film photovoltaic integrated building has been built, with a total installed capacity of 10 megawatts.
Facing the country’s major needs, it serves the country through technological innovation.The development of high-performance carbon fibers is a typical example. This is a new fiber material with a carbon content of more than 90%. Its strength is 7 to 10 times that of steel, and its density is 1/4 of that of steel. It has high strength, light weight, high temperature resistance, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, softness and flexibility. Due to its superior characteristics such as processing, it enjoys the reputation of “King of New Materials”. It has obvious advantages in reducing the weight of the aircraft, reducing the fuel consumption, reducing the maintenance cost and prolonging the service life of the aircraft when it is applied to the aircraft. However, the carbon fiber preparation process is difficult, the production process has many variables, and the investment cost of fixed assets and technical barriers are high. my country’s carbon fiber industry has long faced the problems of few high-end products and difficult application and development. China National Building Materials Group has been rooted in the carbon fiber field for decades. In September 2021, it will invest in the construction of the largest 10,000-ton high-performance carbon fiber production base in Xining, Qinghai. It is the first in China to realize the independent and controllable complete set of high-end carbon fiber technology, breaking the long-term technology blockade of developed countries. and market monopoly, ensuring the application demand of aerospace, key equipment and other major equipment, and accelerating the process of localization of carbon fiber in my country’s high-end application market. Deploy and implement major special projects on composite materials for large aircraft, and cooperate with COMAC to further promote the localization of aviation-grade T800 carbon fiber and its prepregs, and the research and development of key materials for domestic large aircraft, such as primary and secondary load-bearing structures, and become a domestic wide-body large aircraft. 3 fuselage segment suppliers.
China National Building Material Group fully promotes the technological self-reliance and self-improvement of China’s new glass material industry. The picture shows the 0.03mm flexible foldable glass independently developed by Triumph Technology, a subsidiary of China National Building Materials Group, which is mainly used in the field of electronic display.Photo courtesy of China National Building Materials Group
Facing the life and health of the people, realize green development through technological innovation.With the in-depth development of my country’s economy, facing the strong constraints of resources, energy and ecological environment and the hard task of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality planning goals, the task of accelerating the green transformation and development of the new material industry is more urgent. China National Building Material Group, in the planning of the technology system and the layout of the innovation system, highlights the concepts of green, low-carbon and ecological environmental protection, and strives to solve major key common problems such as slow development of green building materials, heavy environmental load, low energy efficiency, and resource bottleneck constraints, and integrates green technology. Research and development are closely combined with market demand, and strive to achieve “two conversions and two substitutions”, that is, conversion of low-carbon products and conversion of green processes, and increasing the proportion of new material substitution and new energy substitution in production. In terms of low-carbon products, more than 10 projects involving green and low-carbon industries, such as complete sets of thin-film solar cell technology and engineering applications, and the development of large-scale offshore wind power blades, have been carried out, and the research and development and application of low-carbon building materials such as new cementitious materials and low-carbon concrete have been strengthened. Accelerate the promotion of green building materials product certification and application promotion, and lead the building materials industry to accelerate green transformation. In terms of process greening, 72 national-level green factories and 45 green mines have been built, cement kilns have been upgraded and renovated, and industrial solid waste, medical waste and domestic waste have been co-disposed of high-temperature functions, and 47 disposal lines have been built in 36 cities across the country. The city standard is to protect the city’s ecology and residents’ health. Explore the implementation path of “dual carbon” in the building materials industry, formulate the timetable and roadmap for “carbon reduction”, “carbon sequestration” and “carbon management”, and jointly build the first national raw material industry “dual carbon” public service platform.
3. Build an innovative ecology that creates a “national talent”
The characteristics of new materials are first reflected in “new”, and the development of new materials industry should be promoted closely around innovation. It is necessary to strengthen the system concept, strengthen forward-looking thinking, overall planning, strategic layout, industrial chain coordination, and overall promotion, take industrialization as the guide, create advantageous industrial clusters, cultivate leading enterprises with original core technology competitiveness, and give full play to Synergistic effect to form a good innovation ecology. China National Building Materials Group has always adhered to the innovation-driven construction of “the country’s top talent”, actively promoted the system mechanism, management, and open innovation, and provided a leading and supporting role for the leap-forward development of my country’s new materials industry.
Stimulate the power and vitality with the innovation of system and mechanism.In the final analysis, technological innovation is a talent issue. China National Building Materials Group has deepened reform and innovation in terms of employment system, incentive mechanism, talent training, and talent reserve, and provided strong support for building an innovative ecosystem with first-class talents, first-class teams, and first-class policies. The new material industry has high research and development costs, difficult industrialization, and long investment return cycles. It needs to rely on institutional reforms to resolve resistance and stimulate vitality. It is necessary to speed up the pilot reform, improve the talent mechanism for market-oriented management, promote a series of institutional and mechanism innovations suitable for the characteristics of the material industry and enterprises, and stimulate the innovation enthusiasm of scientific researchers and cadres and employees. Deeply promote the three-year action of state-owned enterprise reform, continuously deepen the reform of three systems, and innovate the talent introduction mechanism. From the actual point of view, the scientific and technological achievements of independent research and development are divided into three categories: A, B, and C, which are the A-type achievements formed to serve the national strategy, the B-type achievements formed around the main business of the group, and the C-type achievements that can be transformed externally. A multi-level and systematic positive incentive system has been established according to the categories of achievements, in accordance with the mid- and long-term incentive and restraint guidelines and 7 supporting guidelines. Select some science and technology enterprises to pilot the incentive mechanism for participating in the distribution of science and technology elements. Promote the transformation of scientific research institutes, high-tech enterprises, and listed companies to carry out incentive measures such as equity incentives, market-based remuneration, incentives for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, key employees’ shareholding and co-investment, and implement the group’s key core technology research projects. Yingcai provides an innovation arena, enabling innovative talents and enterprises to share market risks and development achievements, allowing scientific and technological personnel to reflect value in the transformation of achievements, and inject lasting power into scientific and technological innovation.
Strengthen cohesion with management innovation.Technological innovation does not exist in isolation, and requires excellent management to build bridges and create a good environment. Material innovation is a high-risk business, and innovation investment must be consistent with the general direction of the corporate strategy and take into account market returns; it must not only focus on output efficiency and economic benefits, but also respect the laws of long-term continuous investment and high risks. Carrying forward the spirit of entrepreneurship and clearing obstacles for entrepreneurs to innovate management is the key to innovation and development. It is necessary to benchmark the standards of “loyalty to the party, courage to innovate, well-managed enterprises, promising enterprises, honesty and integrity”, and centering on the goal of leading in China and world-class, and giving full play to the leading role of new material innovation obsessed, Build a platform for them, build a ladder, send care, encourage innovation, tolerate mistakes, and create a growth environment for entrepreneurs to focus on their careers. Effectively enhance the innovative ideas of personnel at all levels, form a cultural atmosphere of linkage and focus on innovation, and attract and train a group of outstanding entrepreneurs. Carry out the benchmarking of world-class management improvement actions, implement the “three fine management” of lean operation, fine organization and fine management, and create conditions and environment conducive to scientific and technological innovation.
Increase influence with open innovation.The development of the new material industry is constrained by upstream original technologies and downstream application scenarios. It is rare that scientific research and innovation results are quickly put into large-scale applications. Enterprises need to continue to expand in the application market, carry out technical exchanges, and adopt scientific and technological cooperation, technology transfer, resource joint development and Use and participate in the formulation of international standards and other methods to expand the global influence and voice of my country’s new material technology innovation. Focusing on the national strategy and the high-quality development needs of China National Building Materials Group, adhere to open sharing and collaborative integration innovation, give full play to the scale advantages of the application scenarios of super-large manufacturing enterprises within the group, among central enterprises, and between production and research, and promote the combination of production, study and research, and the integration of upstream, mid-stream and downstream. Large and medium-sized enterprises should collaborate to promote the construction of a national “dual-carbon” public service platform for the raw material industry, a composite material industry center, and a national glass new material innovation center, and actively organize a new material industry technology innovation alliance to create a joint innovation body for scientific and technological breakthroughs.
Author: Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China National Building Materials Group