Shenyang has a continued history as the most important manufacturing place in China's North East and is home to the aerospace, automotive, machinery, chemical, pharmaceutical and financial industries.

SHENYANG, China, Dec. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Shenyang, known as the "Oriental Ruhr Area" has been the manufacturing base of China since the 1930s. Very much like its German namesake, Shenyang has a continued history as the most important manufacturing place in China's North East and is home to the aerospace, automotive, machinery, chemical, pharmaceutical and financial industries. Shenyang now finds itself again at the forefront of the tremendous changes in China's manufacturing culture and there is never a shortage of "hard" factors in this city such as new state-of-the-art factories, international schools, modern apartments and high living standards to prove this. Even the monthly average income for its workers is as high as in the capital city Beijing.

Currently the country is facing a tremendous challenge in transforming its manufacturing culture to meet the needs of the future. The Central government in 2015 formulated new goals in the "Made in China 2025" campaign. The rust belt of China so far has managed to cut overcapacity in steel and coal prior to the set targets by the government. Liaoning province alone has closed over 40 coal mines and reduced over 13 million tons of steel capacity. However the central government is only partly providing funds to help the transition of workers from classic industrial work environments into new forms of employment. A huge challenge for the local government that has come up with ideas to smoothly enter into the next phase of the industrial revolution for the region.

Even while other Chinese cities also have made great transitions, Shenyang is more interwoven with its past and its tradition as the industrial revolution's avant-garde in China. Home to eight million people it is one of China's tier-two cities, which are catching up fast and adapting to the new situation. As one of the many efforts to revitalize the region, Shenyang is highly supportive in developing private sector industries. The local government has established a 50 million yuan (7,2 Million Dollar) fund dedicated to fostering the development of private high-tech industries. Qualified companies are eligible to receive tax breaks that reduces their corporate income tax rate from 25 percent to 15 percent. In addition, companies that qualify to obtain high-tech-status also receive a 200,000 yuan (28,750 Dollar) bonus.

Among the most advanced projects in the city, the Sino-German Intelligent Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park is another example of the efforts by the local government to promote not only Shenyang as the world's biggest center of the machine tooling business, but also to attract foreign companies to establish their enterprises close to their customers. The park is to be situated in Tiexi district within the Shenyang Economic and Technology Development Zone. Located in close proximity to BMW's biggest production plant in the world, the Michelin tire factory as well as other international big players, the park is also conveniently connected to the city by a subway line.

The development strategy is based on incentives granted by the local government, to attract and introduce German expertise to the newly created industrial environment. The park focuses on fostering cooperation between China's and Germany's innovative manufacturing industries.

Merging information technologies with manufacturing industries the Sino-German Intelligent Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park is planned to become a pilot zone for "Made in China 2025" and "German Industry 4.0", a demonstration zone for innovative industrialization and a hub for the global equipment manufacturing industry. As part of reviving the Northeast's manufacturing industry the companies in the Sino-German Industrial Park are mainly relying on intelligent manufacturing, which is based on smart automation technology.

Research and Development are at the core of the development strategy for the park. Strengthening cooperation in R&D between China and Germany is one of the main focuses to keep talent in the area and attract more research based companies to the area. To support this there is also a Sino-German development and research center for applied technology in planning.

A well-designed infrastructure and attractive facilities in the park will be provided, such as a smart communications system, a smart power grid, an international hospital, school and community all situated in an environmentally friendly setting.

One of the city's most innovative entrepreneurs is the Chairman of Shenyang Machine Tool Group (SYMG) Guan Xiyou. Recently he has introduced a new i5 series of intelligent machine tools that can be used in all areas requiring high-precision parts. Already 16,000 units of this advanced tooling machine have been sold.

A few miles away is another one of Shenyang's leading industries, Siasun Robot and Automation Co.. 68,000 industrial robots have been sold in China last year while sales of Chinese companies accounted for about one third. Compared with their sales of last year, in the first six month of this year Chinese companies' sales have already reached 19,257 units, reflecting the importance of the robotic industry for the middle kingdom. Siasun's industrial robots are within the top three by market value and within the top ten when it comes to market share worldwide. Their goal is also to be within the top three when it comes to market shares.

Only one year ago, China has implemented its "Internet Plus" and "Made in China 2025" policies to transform its traditional industries. Shenyang can be seen as a leading example of a successful transition process to improve the economic development of China. The goal to use advanced technologies to help China turn into a green and innovative manufacturing power house can be best seen in Shenyang.