As a major manufacturing town in southern Jiangsu, Zhangjiagang has always been underpinned by its private economy, which forms the deepest foundation of the local economy.
In 2025, private enterprises contributed 63% of the city's above-scale industrial output value and generated about 70% of its revenue, profits and taxes, and fixed-asset investment, making them the main force for stabilizing employment, foreign trade, and innovation.
Facing a complex and volatile external market environment, a group of local private enterprises have remained undistracted by the noise and unafraid of the storms. Some have stayed rooted locally to deepen their industrial work and protect their core business; some have ventured into uncharted innovation territory and laid out new cross-sector tracks; and some have joined hands to pool strength and explore new paths for industrial chain collaboration. The determined breakthroughs of countless business entities together paint a vivid picture of this industrial city advancing new industrialization and developing new quality productive forces.
Deep Cultivation at Home: Sinking Industrial Roots into Native Soil
In August in Leyu Town, machines roared and colorful banners fluttered. At the foundation-laying ceremony for the high-end intelligent beverage machinery production line project of Jinmaxing, Bao Jianhua, a native of Sanxing and chairman of Zhangjiagang Jinmaxing Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., stood on the project plot and looked back on the company's more than ten years of growth with deep emotion.
In 2013, Jinmaxing Machinery started from selling single units of equipment worth tens of thousands of yuan, took root in the manufacturing fertile ground of Zhangjiagang, and devoted itself to the research, development, and manufacturing of high-end intelligent beverage filling equipment. After more than a decade of tempering, the company can now deliver complete intelligent production lines worth tens of millions of yuan, with products sold to more than 90 countries and regions worldwide and recognized by international customers such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Even under a complex international environment, the company has still risen against the trend and doubled its output value for two consecutive years. "We have been rooted in Zhangjiagang for many years. The local packaging machinery industrial chain is complete, and relying on the Yangtze River port gives us outstanding foreign trade and logistics advantages. At the same time, the government's business environment is considerate and efficient, and the overall conditions are uniquely favorable. Therefore, after the original plant's capacity became saturated, we still firmly chose to expand investment here," Bao Jianhua said in an interview.
The high-end intelligent beverage machinery production line project that broke ground this time involves a total investment of 312 million yuan and is expected to generate an annual output value of 450 million yuan after reaching full production. For Bao Jianhua, locating the new project in Leyu Town is a "return" full of sentiment and also a "new start" aimed at the global market.
According to the plan, the company will advance plant construction in parallel with equipment procurement and talent reserves, strive to build a high-end beverage equipment base integrating research and development, intelligent manufacturing, and foreign trade export, continue to deepen its presence in the global market, and drive the coordinated development of the local industrial chain.
The story of Jinmaxing is a microcosm of countless local private enterprises in Zhangjiagang that remain committed to industry. Shagang Group, Yongzhuo Holdings, Dongdu Group, Changshun Group... Thousands of private enterprises like Jinmaxing have settled down to deepen their work in segmented tracks, built factories in their hometowns, and sunk their roots into native soil.
Starting from township and village enterprises, generation after generation of entrepreneurs have upheld the spirit of "daring to think and act, daring to strive and win." Relying on complete industrial supporting facilities, the locational advantage of river-sea connectivity, and a continuously improving business environment, they have quietly cultivated their respective segmented fields and grown from small factories into industry participants facing the global market.
The persistence of enterprises cannot be separated from the nourishment of fertile ground. This confidence in deepening industrial work comes not only from the internal motivation of entrepreneurs to start businesses, but also from the continuously optimized development ecosystem of the locality.
The Zhangjiagang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have continued to deepen the special action of the "three services," adhered to the principle of "no disturbance when not needed, response whenever needed," cleared obstacles and built platforms for enterprise development, and allowed private enterprises to operate with peace of mind and pursue development with confidence. A large number of enterprises have based themselves locally, calmed down to polish products and expand overseas markets, stabilized their operating foundation amid the storms, accumulated competitive confidence in segmented tracks, and built a solid foundation for the city's real economy.
Breaking Boundaries Through Innovation: Moving Toward the New to Open Up a Blue Ocean
One must protect the core business, but also dare to break new ground. In Zhangjiagang, many private enterprises rely on their own technological accumulation and use scientific and technological innovation as a key to jump beyond the boundaries of their original industries. While strengthening and optimizing their main business, they bravely enter emerging tracks, opening up entirely new growth space where traditional main businesses and future industries intersect.
In August this year, the signing ceremony for two major key projects of Jiangsu Canqin Technology Co., Ltd. was held as scheduled. This local Zhangjiagang enterprise established in 2004 is a listed company on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and a national-level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giant" enterprise. It has for many years deepened its work in high-end electronic ceramic components, providing key supporting components for communications, aerospace, and semiconductors, and has honed strong capabilities in the electronic ceramics track.
With this signing, Canqin Technology took a key step of "staying upright and expanding into the new." The 6G mobile communication and advanced ceramic packaging R&D industrialization project will continue to increase the company's investment in main-business research and development, focus on overcoming key processes, and enhance the company's core competitiveness in communications and semiconductors. Meanwhile, the intelligent unmanned vertical take-off and landing aircraft project in cooperation with Shanghai Jiumi Aviation is a bold cross-sector move: based on its technological accumulation in ceramic materials, the company is entering the new low-altitude economy track, carrying out aircraft research and development, manufacturing, and test testing, promoting the integration and complementarity of industrial resources, and exploring the possibility of cross-sector development for traditional technology enterprises.
"The signing of the two projects is not only an important milestone for the company to strengthen its main business and focus on innovation, but also a new starting point for cross-sector collaboration to open up new tracks," said Zhu Tianzhong, chairman of Jiangsu Canqin Technology Co., Ltd., in a speech at the signing site. The 6G mobile communication and advanced ceramic packaging R&D industrialization project is expected to begin production in 2029, while the unmanned aerial vehicle cooperation project will customize specialized factories according to business development and steadily advance large-scale development.
Canqin Technology's cross-sector breakthrough is not an isolated case. Based on the "5+5+N" layout of traditional, emerging, and future industrial systems, many private enterprises in Zhangjiagang are consolidating their traditional main-business advantages while seizing the trends of the times, achieving "new sprouts from old trees" under innovation-driven development.
Shagang Group has continued to increase research and development investment, transformed toward high-quality special steel, tackled key materials for aero engines, and filled domestic gaps with multiple technologies. Haiguo Co., Ltd., based on years of accumulation in high-end forging manufacturing, has expanded into the energy storage track, laid out high-end flywheel energy storage component projects, and promoted independent controllability of key raw materials for energy storage equipment. Guofu Hydrogen Energy, relying on the local industrial foundation, has grown into a listed enterprise across the entire hydrogen energy equipment industrial chain, laid out the hydrogen energy drone field, and driven the accelerated formation of the local hydrogen energy industry cluster...
From deepening the main business to cross-sector layout, behind this are both the company's continuous scientific research investment and the local government's careful cultivation of innovation. Zhangjiagang continues to encourage enterprises to "cultivate excellence and strengthen capabilities," supports local enterprises in exploring new tracks based on their own advantages, does not simply separate traditional industries from emerging industries, and promotes the mutual flow of technology, talent, and industrial chain resources, so that more enterprises dare to innovate, can innovate, and are good at innovation, opening up a blue ocean on top of their original advantages.
A Two-Way Journey: Strong Alliances Build a New Collaborative Pattern
A single tree cannot make a forest; only when all trees flourish does spring arrive. In the face of market competition, private enterprises in Zhangjiagang are no longer satisfied with "fighting alone." Local enterprises break down industry barriers, carry out deep collaborative cooperation, achieve complementary advantages and strong alliances, and gather the capabilities of individual enterprises into the overall combat power of the industrial chain, forging a new path for local enterprises to upgrade together.
In March this year, the Suzhou Longjie artificial intelligence plus high-performance special fiber intelligent manufacturing project with a total investment of 1 billion yuan was signed. The project was jointly created by two local enterprises in Zhangjiagang: one is Suzhou Longjie Special Fiber Co., Ltd., a "hidden champion" in the field of high-end textile materials, and the other is Jiangsu Newamstar Packaging Machinery Co., Ltd., a "technical vanguard" in the intelligent equipment industry. A two-way journey between local enterprises thus began.
The story originated from a keen discovery during a government visit and survey. When the Enterprise Service Bureau of Zhangjiagang Economic and Technological Development Zone conducted "three services" visits to enterprises, it learned that with capacity expansion, Suzhou Longjie had more than 700 tons of raw materials entering the plant and more than 700 tons of products leaving the plant every day, putting logistics and warehousing space under strain. Meanwhile, Jiangsu Newamstar had mature full-set solutions for intelligent stereoscopic warehousing and digital twins and urgently needed to expand application scenarios.
With a real pain point on one side and mature technology on the other, the development zone acted as a bridge, promoting two local enterprises originally in different tracks to conduct docking discussions and facilitating deep strategic cooperation. They moved beyond a simple buying-and-selling model toward deep integration of the industrial chain.
According to the plan, the project covers about 70 mu, adds about 60,000 square meters of building area, and will build a high-performance special fiber intelligent manufacturing workshop, an intelligent stereoscopic warehouse, and a research and development center. Jiangsu Newamstar will provide an overall intelligent solution, build a 35-meter ultra-high intelligent stereoscopic warehouse, realize storage capacity of about 50,000 pallet positions, and use AI algorithms and digital twin technology to create an industry-leading "dark factory." After the project reaches production, it is expected to add an annual capacity of 50,000 tons and annual sales of 800 million yuan.
The digital technology of the equipment enterprise will be directly embedded into the entire production process of the materials enterprise, building an industrial closed loop from intelligent equipment to high-end textile materials and achieving a synergy effect of "1+1>2."
"Breaking the traditional warehousing model and seeking space in the air saves land and improves management efficiency, creating room for the company's long-term development," said He Xiaolin, director and deputy general manager of Suzhou Longjie Special Fiber Co., Ltd. He said the cooperation is a pragmatic action to promote the development of new quality productive forces. Lin Lei, general manager of Jiangsu Newamstar Logistics Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the company plans to use three to five years to push sales in the intelligent logistics segment past 1 billion yuan and increase the proportion of overseas business.
Across Zhangjiagang, such collaboration stories are constantly unfolding. The government acts as a "matchmaker," enterprises play the leading role, promoting resource exchange among enterprises on the chain and cross-industry collaboration. Enterprises break down barriers, change from "fighting alone" to "forming a fist with fingers," fully release the advantages of local industrial supporting facilities, and in strong alliances achieve mutual technological nourishment and complementary production capacity, jointly raising the development height of the regional industry.
The great river surges, and those who row hard advance. Looking back, the breakthrough of Zhangjiagang's private economy reflects entrepreneurs' persistence in taking root locally and serving the country through industry, their innovative courage to dare to venture and try and sharply seek change, and their strategic wisdom to pool strength and advance together. Looking to the future, under the guidance of the "5+5+N" traditional, emerging, and future industrial system, a large number of private enterprises will continue to rise under pressure and keep moving forward on the path of high-quality development.