In today’s economic wave of globalization, the opening up of inland areas has become an important issue for China’s economic development.
Shanxi Datong Economic Development Zone Pharmaceutical Town is writing a new chapter of opening up to the outside world with its unique “green electricity + foreign trade” model.
Walking into the intelligent production workshop of Sinopharm Weiqida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. located in Datong Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shanxi Province, a picture of the integration of technology and green unfolds before our eyes.
The robotic arm accurately grasps the clavulanate potassium raw material, and then neatly stacks it after sterile packaging.
Outside the workshop, continuous photovoltaic panels shine in the sun.
These photovoltaic panels provide 70% of the green electricity power for the production line, allowing drugs with the “Green Electricity Manufacturing” logo to be sent to the Southeast Asian market through the “Datong-Bangkok” international route.
After more than 20 years of industrial accumulation, Datong Economic Development Zone has created a complete industrial chain of “pharmaceutical raw materials-pharmaceutical research and development-pharmaceutical manufacturing-international logistics”.
In 2024, its pharmaceutical industry will be selected as a provincial-level professional town in Shanxi Province.
Guided by the concept of green development, the district has made full use of local abundant wind power and photovoltaic resources to promote the use of green electricity throughout the entire industrial chain; on the other hand, it has invested 130 million yuan in special funds to support enterprises in clean production transformation.
By the end of 2024, the annual output value of the pharmaceutical industry in Datong Economic Development Zone will exceed 10 billion yuan, of which green electricity products account for 45%, and energy consumption per unit output value has been reduced by 18%. This has laid a solid foundation for dealing with green trade barriers such as international “carbon tariffs”.
Policy support is an important guarantee for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Datong Economic Development Zone.
Datong City has issued “Several Measures to Promote the Development of Biomedicine and General Health Industries”, providing electricity price subsidies to enterprises that use more than 50% of green electricity, and rewarding export products that have obtained international green certification with a reward of 2,000 yuan per ton. It has also established a “Green Power Talent Introduction Plan”, which has provided more than 120 professional talents to enterprises.
Datong Economic Development Zone has also established a “special class” service mechanism for green projects, which has solved a total of 32 practical problems such as green power access and carbon emission accounting for enterprises, and promoted the coordinated development of industrial clusters.
Infrastructure construction is crucial to opening up foreign trade channels.
The “Datong-Bangkok” international freight route opened at the end of last year covers more than 10 countries in Southeast Asia and shortens the delivery cycle from 20 days to 5 days, greatly improving the international competitiveness of Datong pharmaceutical products.
The route adopts “green freight” standards and reduces carbon emissions by 12% for a single flight.
Currently, 80% of exported pharmaceutical products come from companies covered by green electricity, and the average monthly export volume reaches 300 tons, an increase of 40% compared with before the opening of the route.
In terms of customs clearance facilitation, Datong Economic Development Zone and the customs department have launched a series of innovative measures.
The first pest screening and identification room in Shanxi Province was put into operation, compressing the quarantine process from 5 days to 1 day; realizing the electronicization of the entire process of cross-border e-commerce bonded stocking business, increasing the capital turnover efficiency by 90%; setting up a “green customs clearance window” to provide priority inspection services for green electricity products, and shortening customs clearance time by another 30%.
In order to ensure a stable supply of green power, Datong Economic Development Zone has built a trinity energy system of “distributed photovoltaic + green power trading + energy storage supporting facilities”.
At present, 10 distributed photovoltaic power stations have been built with a total installed capacity of 50 MW; through the Shanxi Green Power Trading Platform, green power purchases by pharmaceutical companies will account for 65% of total power consumption in 2024; the supporting 20 MW energy storage power station has reduced the company’s average annual power outage time from 12 hours to 0.5 hours.
This energy system saves enterprises more than 30 million yuan in electricity bills every year and reduces carbon emissions by 450,000 tons.
Leading enterprises play a leading role in the development of pharmaceutical foreign trade in Datong Economic Development Zone.
All 31 production lines of Sinopharm Weiqida use green electricity, forming a complete green production chain.
Its quality standards are in line with international standards, and its products have obtained international certifications such as the US FDA and EU CEP. The potassium clavulanate series products occupy 35% of the global market share. In 2024, the export volume of core products will increase by 18% year-on-year.
The company’s quality director said that green electricity has become a “bonus item” for exploring the international market, and it is currently planning to set up warehouses in Europe to further expand the market coverage of green electricity products.
At the same time, Shanxi Shuangyan Biopharmaceutical Industrial Park focuses on penicillins and acetin products, forming complementary categories with Sinopharm Weiqida to jointly explore the international market.
The industrial park adopts a “green power park” design and is equipped with 20 MW of distributed photovoltaics to achieve green power coverage throughout the park.
After the first phase of the project is put into operation, it is expected to increase export volume by 1 billion yuan, driving the total pharmaceutical export volume of the Economic Development Zone to increase by 20%.
The rapid development of pharmaceutical foreign trade has significantly improved the comprehensive benefits of the pharmaceutical town in Datong Economic Development Zone.
At the economic level, its pharmaceutical industry output value accounts for 52% of the industry in Shanxi Province, and exports account for 60% of the province’s total pharmaceutical exports.
The special development fund of 130 million yuan has leveraged social capital investment of more than 2 billion yuan, forming a sound development mechanism of “government guidance, enterprise leadership, and market operation”.
In terms of social benefits, the pharmaceutical industry has provided more than 3,800 high-quality jobs and promoted the transformation of local residents from traditional agriculture to modern industries.
At the cultural level, Datong combines the long tradition of planting medicinal materials with modern pharmaceutical manufacturing. Through the innovative model of “traditional medicinal materials + modern technology + green electricity manufacturing”, it enhances the cultural added value of products and revitalizes the thousand-year-old medicinal culture in the international market.
With the further advancement of the “green electricity + foreign trade” model, Datong is using green as the background color and innovation as the ink to paint a more brilliant future on the picture of international trade, and also provide replicable and promoteable practical experience for the high-quality development of national pharmaceutical foreign trade.
