East China's Shandong province has been making great efforts in pursuing high-quality development by boosting scientific and technological advances and industrial upgrading, while also making use of its geographic and resource advantages.

With the implementation of the major national strategy for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, the province, where the river meets the sea, has taken on a new look and embraced bright prospects in its push for high-quality development.

A wide range of pre-made dishes are presented at the prefabricated cuisine industrial park in Jinan, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At the prefabricated cuisine industrial park in Jinan, capital of Shandong, a smart food ordering machine attracts visitors' attentions. After selecting dishes on the screen, one only needs to wait 45 seconds and a prepared dish with the same taste as fresh food will come out.

The ready-to-cook meals, including cooked food and pre-prepared ingredients, have become increasingly popular since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, given that only minimum preparations are involved. They are convenient for stay-at-home consumers, with strong appeal to young people.

As a major agriculture base in China, Shandong has unique advantages for developing its prefabricated cuisine sector. Its output of vegetables, meat, eggs, and milk ranks first in the country, as does its output value of food processing.

This intelligent food ordering machine, independently developed by the prefabricated cuisine industrial park, is expected to be used in public places, such as schools, office buildings, and airports, to meet people's dining needs during irregular times, according to Yang Libin, a staff member of the park.

Currently, Shandong has more than 8,500 enterprises engaged in the burgeoning precooked foods segment, gradually forming a complete industrial chain.

Robot arms assemble bodywork at an all-aluminum body integrated production line of the Weiqiao Lightweight Material Base in Binzhou, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In Binzhou, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group Co, a leading aluminum producer in China, is developing a green way to advance the high-end development of the sector.

The group is building a base for the research and development of automotive lightweight materials. The aluminum chassis developed by the base reduces weight by more than 30 percent compared with a traditional steel one, which helps the vehicle reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

The base has established cooperation agreements with more than 20 automobile manufacturers at home and abroad. It also plans to produce new energy vehicles with its self-owned brands in the next five years.

Cities along the Yellow River in Shandong are showing great industrial potential with their advantageous industries. 

In Yuncheng county, Heze, the Beijing Glass Group was attracted by the regional strength of the developing glass industry and chose the county as one site for its branch to establish Beijing Wheaton (Yuncheng) Glass Co with local government support.

A cosmetics glass bottle production line of a factory in Yuncheng county, Heze. [Photo by Liu Chuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Yuncheng is known as the "capital of China's liquor bottle packaging". The liquor packaging in the county started in the 1980s, with a complete glass industrial chain integrating design, research and development, as well as production being formed over time.

Founded in 2016, the company is mainly engaged in producing high-end glass packaging bottles for cosmetics, which helped promote the high-end development of the local glass industry. Its products mainly serve famous cosmetics brands at home and abroad, such as L'Oreal, Avon, Mary Kay, and Dior.

According to official statistics, Shandong saw steady economic growth over the past five years. During the 2017-22 period, the province's GDP registered an average annual growth of 5.4 percent, while the added value of industries above designated scale had an average annual growth rate of 5.2 percent. 

The ccomprehensive advantages of industries along the Yellow River in Shandong are steadily improving with the increasingly completed industrial chains in the region, which helped promote the high-end development of modern industries and further promote the province's high-quality development, experts said.