HANGZHOU — Zhejiang, a major manufacturing province in eastern China, plans to cultivate 20 new "Eagle Enterprises", or industry leaders, predominantly from the private sector, in 2025.

This initiative aims to further enhance the dominant position and influence of local enterprises in domestic and international resource allocation. The province's GDP growth target for 2025 has been set at 5.5 percent, and was announced during the annual provincial sessions of its legislature and political advisory body, respectively, which began on Jan 14.

Since 2019, Zhejiang has implemented the "Eagle Action" plan, listing its industry giants or leaders in manufacturing and related fields as "Eagle Enterprises", according to industry insiders.

These enterprises are characterized by significant influence, strong cluster support and excellent comprehensive strength. They are also expected to master core technologies, solve major industry technical challenges and play a crucial role in industrial chains, local authorities said.

By the end of 2024, Zhejiang had listed 118 companies as "Eagle Enterprises", including internet giants Alibaba and NetEase, automotive manufacturer Geely Group, and bottled water and beverage producer Nongfu Spring. Most of these listed companies are from the private sector and focus on manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the majority of these enterprises are mainly involved in the fields of new-generation information technology, digital economy, high-end equipment, life sciences and healthcare, as well as new materials.

"Eagle Enterprises are the pioneers of innovation. Listed companies generally have strong innovation capabilities, high research and development intensity, and great potential for growth. Moreover, these enterprises also have a high level of internationalization," said Lou Wanzong, deputy head of the Zhejiang provincial economy and information technology department.

Zhongce Rubber Group Co Ltd was selected as one of the second batch of "Eagle Enterprises" at the end of 2024. In the company's production workshop, also known as a "future factory", one can see a vast 27,000-square-meter factory equipped with tens of thousands of sensors that collect and analyze hundreds of types of data related to production, quality and equipment.

Robotic arms and logistics robots move busily, with a tire rolling off the production line every seven seconds, while less than 10 workers are present on the production floor.

Wu Zhenhua, head of Zhongce's "future factory", said that production efficiency had increased by 200 percent thanks to intelligent upgrading, while the comprehensive utilization rate of energy resources had improved by 5 percent. In addition, the product development cycle had been reduced by 50 percent.

"The rubber industry was once defined as a traditionally labor-intensive manufacturing industry. Now, through digital technology transformation, we have shaped new competitiveness," Wu said, highlighting that Zhongce has become China's largest tire production enterprise and is also among the top 10 globally.

Data show that at the end of 2024,50 companies were added as the second batch of "Eagle Enterprises", with those companies having generated a total operating income of 2.4 trillion yuan ($327.47 billion) in 2023, averaging 48.83 billion yuan per company.

Zhejiang is a major province for the private sector in China, with 10 of its companies featuring on the Fortune Global 500 list in 2024.

In the first three quarters of 2024,Zhejiang's industrial added value stemming from companies above a designated size of 20 million yuan in business revenue had increased by 7.8 percent year-on-year, with private enterprises contributing some 80 percent to this growth.

In 2025, Zhejiang plans to develop 30 national manufacturing champions, 300 national "little giant" enterprises and recognize 5,000 new high-tech enterprises.

Xinhua