Logic and implementation details of the preliminary work for the 12th Five - Year Plan of the instrumentation industry
I. Background of the planning initiation and the inevitability of the commissioned industry
The 12th Five-Year Plan period was a crucial window for China's equipment manufacturing industry to shift from "scale expansion" to "quality breakthrough". As the "sensory nerves" and "control center" of the equipment system, the technological level of instruments and meters directly determines the core competitiveness of strategic industries such as high-end equipment, new energy, and biomedicine. At that time, the industry faced three major pain points: high-end products relied on imports (for example, the domestic production rate of core products such as mass spectrometers and high-precision sensors was less than 15%), there was overcapacity in the mid - and low - end sectors (products such as traditional electric meters and ordinary thermometers had serious homogenization), and basic components were weak (key links such as sensors and core chips had long been monopolized by overseas players). To prevent the plan from being "out of touch with reality", the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology selected the China Instrument and Meter Industry Association as the executor of the preliminary research. This institution is not only a "bridge" between enterprises, research institutes, and end - users, but also familiar with the industry's pain points (such as enterprises lacking core technologies and users longing for domestic substitution) and masters the demand scenarios (such as new energy enterprises needing detection instruments that can withstand extreme environments). It can effectively integrate opinions from multiple parties to ensure the scientific nature and implementability of the plan. In July 2009, the commission officially took effect, marking that the 12th Five - Year Plan for instruments and meters entered the stage of transforming "from demand to solutions".
II. Core framework and refinement directions of previous research
The preliminary work is carried out around four major dimensions, adhering to the principles of "problem - oriented, demand - driven, and goal - quantification".
1. Precise targeting of research objects: Focus on "key products + core technologies"
Key products cover four categories:
Industrial automation instruments (such as DCS distributed control systems and PLC programmable logic controllers): The "brain" of industrial production, directly affecting the efficiency and stability of production lines.
High-end scientific instruments (such as mass spectrometers and gas chromatographs): the "eyes" of scientific research and high-end manufacturing, supporting basic research in fields such as biomedicine and new materials.
Medical diagnostic instruments (such as MRI and biochemical analyzers): The cornerstone of precision medicine, which is related to the diagnostic ability of the medical system.
Basic components (such as MEMS sensors and high-precision analog-to-digital converters): The "cells" of instruments and meters, which determine the accuracy and reliability of products.
The core technologies are targeted at three major directions:
High precision (e.g., the error of flow meters is reduced from Class 0.5 to Class 0.01), intelligence (e.g., industrial instruments with AI predictive maintenance), and modularization (e.g., analytical instruments that can be quickly combined) - all target the "chokepoints" at the international advanced level.
2. Requirement matching: Closely align with national strategies and terminal pain points
On the one hand, it deeply connects with the "Adjustment and Revitalization Plan for the Equipment Manufacturing Industry" issued in 2009, and embeds instrumentation into the overall layout of "revitalizing high-end equipment":
- The new energy field (photovoltaic, wind power) requires monitoring instruments that can withstand extreme environments (such as component efficiency detectors for photovoltaic power plants).
- The high - end equipment field (aerospace, intelligent manufacturing) requires highly reliable control instruments (such as temperature sensors for aircraft engines);
- Environmental protection instruments that require real-time monitoring in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection (such as VOCs detectors for exhaust gas emissions).
On the other hand, by investigating the real needs of end-users:
- New energy enterprises reported that "imported instruments are expensive and difficult to maintain."
- High - end equipment enterprises hope for "interconnection between instruments and equipment" (the prototype of the industrial Internet);
- Scientific research institutes need "customized high-end instruments" (such as ultra-low temperature instruments for quantum computing) — these pain points are directly transformed into the "demand orientation" of the plan.
3. Industry Analysis: Quantify the Current Situation and Forecast Trends
The current situation analysis covers four major dimensions:
Production capacity structure: There is overcapacity in mid - and low - end products (for example, the capacity utilization rate of ordinary electricity meters is less than 60%), and high - end products rely on imports (for example, the import proportion of high - end scientific instruments exceeds 70%).
Technical level: The localization rate of core components (such as sensors) is less than 30%, and key technologies (such as the ion source of mass spectrometers) are still monopolized by overseas companies.
Market pattern: Foreign brands (such as Siemens and Emerson) dominate the high-end market, while domestic enterprises are concentrated in the mid - and low - end markets (such as small and medium - sized instrument factories in Zhejiang and Guangdong).
Import and export situation: In 2009, the import value of instruments and meters reached 12 billion US dollars (mainly high - end products), while the export value was only 6 billion US dollars (mainly mid - and low - end products).
Demand forecasting is quantified by fields:
- Industrial automation field: Annual growth rate of 15% (resulting from the automation upgrade of the manufacturing industry);
- In the field of scientific instruments: The annual growth rate is 20% (due to the increase in scientific research investment).
- Medical instrument field: Annual growth rate of 18% (due to the demand from an aging population and precision medicine).
III. Specific Directions of Strategic Design and Support Requirements
Based on the analysis, previous studies have proposed three strategic ideas:
Make up for the weaknesses: Break through the core technologies of high-end instruments (such as mass spectrometers and MRI machines) and increase the domestic production rate.
Promote upgrading: Drive the transformation of mid - and low - end products towards intelligence (for example, upgrade traditional electricity meters to smart meters);
Strengthen the foundation: Build an independently controllable supply chain for sensors and core chips.
The expected goals are quantified as:
- By 2015, the localization rate of high-end instruments increased from 15% to 30%.
- The technical level of key products has reached the international advanced level (for example, the response speed and accuracy of industrial automation instruments are on a par with those of Siemens).
- Cultivate 5 - 8 leading enterprises with an annual revenue of over 5 billion yuan (such as Shanghai Automation Instrumentation and Zhejiang SUPCON).
- Form 3 - 5 industrial clusters with international competitiveness (such as the industrial automation cluster in the Yangtze River Delta and the sensor cluster in the Pearl River Delta).
Projects and policies requiring national support:
Science and technology projects: It is recommended to establish a "special project for tackling key core technologies of instruments and meters" (such as the project for tackling key problems of mass spectrometers in the National 863 Program).
Construction projects: Promote the construction of national-level R & D platforms (such as the National Engineering Research Center for Instrumentation) and industrial bases (such as the Sensor Base in Kunshan, Jiangsu).
Reconstruction projects: Support enterprises in technological transformation (e.g., upgrading the precision machining production line to improve the machining accuracy of instrument parts);
Policy measures: Tax incentives (the additional deduction ratio for R & D expenses has been increased from 50% to 75%), financial support (special low - interest loans), and talent policies (settlement subsidies for attracting overseas high - end R & D talents).
IV. Progress Advancement and Time Arrangement
As of the end of 2009, the association had launched five major tasks:
Establish an expert committee: It is composed of enterprise leaders (such as the president of Zhejiang SUPCON), experts from scientific research institutions (such as researchers from the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), and user representatives (such as the head of the new energy department of Huawei) to ensure the scientific nature of decision-making.
Field research: It covers three major industrial clusters, namely the Yangtze River Delta (sensor enterprises in Ningbo, Zhejiang), the Pearl River Delta (medical instrument enterprises in Shenzhen, Guangdong), and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (scientific instrument enterprises in Beijing), as well as two major user sectors, namely new energy (photovoltaic enterprises in Wuxi, Jiangsu) and high-end equipment (aerospace enterprises in Shanghai). More than 2,000 questionnaires were collected.
Three types of symposiums were held: an industry and enterprise symposium (to discuss production capacity and technological bottlenecks), a scientific research institute symposium (to discuss the connection between industry, academia, and research), and a user symposium (to discuss pain points in demand), with over 500 participants.
Data sorting: Integrate the data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the General Administration of Customs to form the "2009 Development Report on the Instrument and Meter Industry".
Draft outline: Transform the research results into specific chapters such as the "High-end Instrument Research and Development Project" and the "Foundation Component Strengthening Project".
The schedule is clear: In the first quarter of 2010, complete the research and data analysis; in the second quarter, form a draft and solicit opinions; before the third quarter, revise it into an official manuscript and submit it to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology - this not only ensures the depth of the research but also leaves enough room for the subsequent review of the plan.
Summary
The preliminary work for the 12th Five-Year Plan of the instrument and meter industry is essentially a process of "transforming the industry's voice into policy proposals" - by focusing on key products, aligning with national strategies, and quantifying target requirements, it ensures that the plan "connects with the national policies" (in line with the national industrial direction) and "is in touch with the grassroots" (addresses the pain points of enterprises and users). This process not only laid the foundation for the industry's upgrading during the 12th Five-Year Plan period but also provided an early policy framework for the subsequent localization process of instruments and meters.