At the opening of the third session of the 14th Shandong Provincial People's Congress on Jan 20 in Jinan – capital of East China's Shandong province – Li Xiaoliang, deputy to the provincial people's congress, had some important things to say.

He called for efforts to step up the transformation and upgrading of  traditional industry in the province and to expand and enhance the growth of emerging industry, in order to give impetus to the region's high-quality growth.

Li is chairman of the Huatai Group, a China Fortune 500 enterprise specializing in the printing, thermal power, forestry, logistics, trade service and real estate sectors.

He said that challenges were being faced by the paper industry in China – including shrinking demand, supply disruptions, weakening expectations, rising raw material and energy prices and sluggish export markets.

In order to address them, his company has been steadily promoting its industrial upgrading, as well as enhancing quality and efficiency in order to bolster high-quality growth.

At the session of the provincial people's congress, Li advocated the establishment of intelligent manufacturing industry clusters to promote regional cooperation and to facilitate the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises.

He stressed the importance of enhancing technological innovation capabilities and of fostering a collaborative innovation ecosystem that integrates enterprises, academia, research institutions and industrial applications.

Li also underscored the significance of accelerating the green development of industries in Shandong. This involves building green manufacturing and service systems.

It also involves establishing eco-friendly industrial parks, supply chains and factories promoting circular production methods – and enhancing the resources recycling system.