Beijing authorities have shut down more than 170 companies that have failed to meet environmental standards or that are excluded from the city's development plan this year.

In an action plan released in December 2015 to advance the national "Made-in-China 2025" initiative, the city government charted a 10-year growth route to the top of the manufacturing industry.

The municipality will focus on developing technology in such fields as superconductors, nanometer materials, graphene, intelligent equipment, robotics and 3-D printers.

The sectors - including integrated circuit equipment, advanced sensors, smart machines and aircraft engines - that made industrial breakthroughs to meet the country's strategic demand are also given priority in the city's manufacturing development plan.

Other sectors that feature services, such as new-generation rail transport facilities, industrial automation and control systems, and internet of things products, are also included in the city's development plan.

Creative designs that help industries to become lighter on assets and wellknown brands catering to the basic needs of residents will also receive government support, according to the plan.

New energy, smart autos, general aviation and satellite technology, as well as healthcare and medical services, are expected to create new industrial eco-systems for local manufacturers, according to the plan.

The government has decided to shut down a group of out-of-date and pollution-heavy plants and relocate another group to other regions to free up space for businesses the city needs, and to help those remaining to upgrade their facilities.

Jiang Guangzhi, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, told Chinese media: "It is the manufacturing sector that plays the most decisive role in the value chain in terms of industrial structure."

Some 70 percent of innovation resources are used in manufacturing and about 90 percent of research results are from the sector worldwide, according to news portal Xinhuanet.

(China Daily 12/20/2016 page12)