A staff member works in an R&D center at an optoelectronic company in Jilin. [Photo provided to CHINADAILY]

Innovation leaders

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, a State-owned railway equipment manufacturer, is a world leader in the sector. It developed the Fuxing bullet train which can travel at speeds of 350 kilometers per hour. It can also make maglev vehicles, a technology grasped by just a few countries.

The railway equipment manufacturer has also carried out research on train materials and components. It produced the nation's first mass transit vehicle fully made of aluminum alloy and upgraded the carbon-steel body of mass transit vehicles to stainless steel. The company also made an attempt at using carbon fiber in subway vehicles.

"The company has received great support from the provincial government in terms of basic R&D and design, so it can solve problems and make progress in the core technologies such as in the engine drawing, braking and network control," Zhang said.

The company is working on a cross-border high-speed train capable of traveling 400 km/h. The project is expected to be finished by the end of this year.

This year, a new high-speed train developed by CRRC Changchun is being tested. The train will serve the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway, a route linking the two host cities of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Changchun-based GeneScience Pharmaceuticals, established in 1996, has grown into one of the top biopharmaceutical companies in China.

About 80 percent of its new medicines in gene engineering are the first of their kind in the domestic or global markets, according to the company.

Their products so far have been sold to 17 countries and regions, with sales revenue growing at a rate of 30 to 50 percent annually for the past 16 years.

"Our innovation heavily relies on our R&D team and continuous input," said Li Chunmei, assistant to the general manager of GeneScience.

The company has built a 500-member R&D team centered around 15 doctorate degree holders. The company said 10 percent of its annual sales will be invested in new product development. In 2018 alone, nearly 300 million yuan ($43.5 million) was invested in R&D.

Jilin Chemical Fiber Group has been a national leader in large-tow carbon fiber production. It set up a joint venture with Jinggong Group to build a large-tow carbon fiber production plant which will have a production capacity of 8,000 metric tons a year. Total investment in the project will reach 1.8 billion yuan, according to the company.