Lenovo's industrial base in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Photo: Song Lin/GT

China's enterprises and local governments are joining hands to cultivate new economic driving forces by developing intelligent manufacturing, which is in line with China stepping up efforts to promote industrial upgrading to pursue high-quality economic growth.

Tech giant Lenovo Group is testing a 5G Converged Private Network Solution in its self-owned industrial base in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province. 

"5G private networks bring efficiency dividends and flexibility for manufacturing, and empower new use cases for smart factories," according to a statement Lenovo sent to the Global Times on Friday.

Lenovo's industrial base has realized comprehensive digital management, which can monitor the overall production and operation situation in real time. The company's products are shipped to more than 160 countries and regions around the world, Qi Yue, an executive director of Lenovo Group, said at a press conference in Wuhan on Friday.

The Lenovo Wuhan industrial base started operating in 2013, and its industrial output value reached 203.5 billion yuan ($29.3 billion) in June, with export value exceeding $22.4 billion. 

"The Hubei government gave us a lot of support during the setup of the industrial base," Qi told the Global Times on Friday.

Qi also introduced a newly founded Data Intelligence Business Group (DIBG), which has been cooperating with the local government to offer consultancy and solutions for local enterprises to realize intelligent upgrading.

He further noted that the amount of local talent in Wuhan was another reason for the company to choose the location. "Wuhan has the largest number of college students in China," he said, "and the lower housing prices compared to first-tier cities can help us attract more talent as well."

Liu Xuezhi, a senior economist at Bank of Communications, told the Global Times on Friday that it is important for local governments to foster a sound business environment for enterprises as China promotes its economic structural upgrading.

"Enterprises need to strengthen innovation and research, and improve efficiency according to the needs of the industry," Liu said.

China has been enhancing its new tax and fee reduction policy, which will be one of the major economic strategies to further ease the pressure on enterprises, Liu noted.