In the prefecture-level city of Heze in East China's Shandong province, Juye county is bolstering green and low-carbon development in a bid to promote the upgrading of its manufacturing industry.

In recent years, Juye implemented the concept of "ecological priority and green development," fully implementing the initiatives of the central authorities, as well as the provincial and municipal authorities, in realizing the dual goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality before 2060.

At Zhenxing New Building Materials Co Ltd, a new batch of sintered bricks are being manufactured in an orderly manner, with robotic arms automatically unloading and grouping the bricks before it is automatically packaged.

Wang Tongli, general manager of the company, said the factory used to rely on manual labor which did little to improve efficiency, however with automated production, their work efficiency has continued to rise.

"Compared with traditional production methods, our production efficiency has increased by 50 percent, and front-line operators have been reduced by more than half," Wang said, adding that ample orders have given the enterprise full confidence in development and made employees more hopeful in their future.

Wang's complete production line — from adobe making to packaging — was designed and manufactured by Shandong Juxiang Machinery Co Ltd, which focuses on research and manufacturing of intelligent high-end equipment.

Through collaboration with research institutes and universities both inside and outside Shandong, such as Xi'an Wall Material Design and Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Sciences, and Shandong Jianzhu University, Juxiang Machinery has independently developed 12 types of wall material production automation equipment and obtained 42 national patents.

Pang Shou'en, chairman of Juxiang Machinery, said: "As one of the earliest companies in our industry to be listed on the New Third Board, Juxiang Machinery has been committed to solving the industry's difficulties and bottlenecks, transforming and upgrading towards green manufacturing."

"We allocate eight percent of our annual sales revenue to research and development funds to meet customer needs. Currently, the 'Juxiang' brand brick machines and kiln equipment have a market share of 15 percent in China, ranking third nationwide," he noted.

He highlighted that green manufacturing is a key link in achieving ecological industry and an important way to enhance green development in Juye.

In order to embark on the path of green, low-carbon and high-quality development, Shandong Jinniu Vehicle Industry Co Ltd implemented a technical renovation project for the automatic production equipment and coating production line of specialized vehicle parts in September 2023.

With a total investment of 60 million yuan ($8.45 million), the project plans to add 20 sets of automatic production equipment for specialized vehicle parts, an electrophoretic powder coating production line and renovate factory buildings comprising 6,000 square meters.

At present, the project's infrastructure has been completed and some equipment have begun installation, said Liu Hongyao, general manager of Shandong Jinniu, adding that upon completion, the project can help save 80,000 kilowatt-hour of electricity and cut 10 manual jobs, boosting social and enterprise benefits.

The intelligent manufacturing industry in Juye is moving towards a high-end, intelligent and green orientation.

In the first half of this year, the county achieved a regional Gross Domestic Product of 23.891 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3 percent, while the growth rate of major economic indicators ranked first in the city of Heze.

Please contact the writer at hanjingyan@chinadaily.com.cn