On Nov.8^th, the famous economist Ma Guangyuan highly appreciated Sino-German Metal Eco-City, the Gaofushuai project in the field of China’s manufacturing in the future, in his concluding speech at the symposium on the Innovation and Development of Sino-German Metal Eco-City. And he holds that the project construction could transfer the traditional manufacturing into another creative industry.

   According to Ma, Sino-German Metal Eco-City offers a fresh vision to him and explores a road of new urbanization in line with Chinese characteristics. Meanwhile, it brings renewed dynamic and excellent research subjects for the economics with Chinese characteristics in the coming years.

   Ma said he had mistaken the metal eco-city as the financial one before he came to Jieyang. And he was shocked by several aspects of the project. Firstly, the project combines the environmental protection with the most traditional metal industry in China, which is innovative and shows the remarkable concept of exploration. Secondly, it integrates the traditional industry with the German first-class vocational education to co-construct Sino-German Dual University of Applied Sciences and cultivate the mid-range and high-end professionals who are to be the essential support for transformation and upgrading of China’s economy. Thirdly, it covers a whole industrial chain. The project can be called as the Gaofushuai one in manufacturing in the future as it promotes the transformation and upgrading of metal industry based on a high starting point. We can say that the traditional industry has already changed into an innovative one. Last but not least, we are given with a great idea under the governmental guidance and the association’s organization. According to the Third Plenary Session of Eighteenth Central Committee, the market should play a decisive role. This is well shown in the project in which the government functions as a consultant, the industrial association as a director, the market as a playwright and the enterprises as actors. This model is remarkable.    

    Ma hopes the achievements of Sino-German Metal Eco-City could become the effective example in the aspects of economic transformation, new industrialization and industry upgrading. Several suggestions put forth by him are listed as follow. First of all, large attention should be paid to the Chaoshan merchants concerning the private investment, to take the private economy of Jieyang into full play. Besides, the finance should be also taken good use of as its well-development is significant to the whole industry whose upgrading needs lots of risk capital, equity capital and industrial capital. Expanding on the basis of the industrial fund and doing well in the financial ecology with the support of central government have great optimized function for the development of Sino-German Metal Eco-City. Furthermore, it is necessary to push forward the vocational education in Guangdong province which has the largest number of migrant workers. And the German best vocational education is beneficial to the labor upgrading. Top of these, the innovation of technology and concept must be taken seriously and dealt with in a proper way to boost the industry upgrading. Ma expresses that further exploration of the project can be made in the opening-up and all-round cooperation as well.