Mianyang has outlined six primary areas of focus for what it terms a "pivotal year" in its development: advancing scientific and technological collaboration and innovation, strengthening industrial clusters and supply chains, expanding and enhancing consumer markets, driving investment through project execution, boosting county-level economic development, and invigorating the private economy.
On March 4th, at the construction site of the Sujiahe super-large bridge for the Mianyang-Suining-Ziyang-Neijiang railway in Santai County, massive bridge piers stood tall as workers intensified efforts to assemble hanging baskets for the imminent full-scale cantilever casting work. On the same day, in Luxi Town, Santai County, the fully automated production line at the 10,000-ton intelligent seed processing center operated at full capacity, with rapeseed seeds flowing orderly through enclosed pipelines. In the Mianyang New Display Industrial Park in Fucheng District, hundreds of large machinery units shuttled back and forth incessantly.
This year marks the beginning of the "16th Five-Year Plan" period and is a crucial攻坚 year for Mianyang's "Three-Year Action" plan to establish itself as a provincial economic sub-center. A recent municipal promotion conference emphasized leveraging the advantages of the China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City to accelerate this goal, identifying the six key areas. Supporting these priorities, the conference concurrently released the "Four Lists" for 2026, detailing major projects, tasks, platforms, and policies.
With clear priorities and an implementation manual, Mianyang is accelerating its pace towards the "provincial economic sub-center" objective. Seizing scientific and technological innovation as a "key variable" is central to this push. On March 4th, technicians at the China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City Low-Altitude Equipment Testing, Inspection, and Certification Center were conducting full-scenario tests on an agricultural plant protection drone. This center, the first of its kind in Southwest China, was included in Sichuan's 2026 key projects list in January.
"Our core capabilities are being upgraded," said Zheng Zhonghao, deputy general manager of the center. Leveraging the airspace advantages of the Beichuan Yongchang Airport, the center aims not only to provide one-stop solutions for drone companies but also to deeply integrate testing technology with applications like agricultural plant protection and emergency disaster relief.
This exemplifies the push for scientific collaboration and innovation during this攻坚 year. Mianyang has explicitly stated its goal to achieve landmark results in the "One City, One Highland, One Center" project developed in collaboration with research institutes. The Photon Science and Innovation City is intended to become a model for the integration of new quality productive forces and new quality combat capabilities, while the Low-Altitude Security Highland and the Testing Center aim to contribute the "Mianyang Model" to national standard system development.
This "key variable" of technological innovation is rapidly transforming into the "greatest increment" for Mianyang's high-quality development. Data confirms this: in 2025, the transaction value of technology contracts in Mianyang exceeded 23 billion yuan, and its R&D expenditure intensity remained consistently high nationally. The 2026 "Four Lists" include several institute-local cooperation projects under major platform construction, targeting deeper breakthroughs in the "research at institutes, transformation in Mianyang" model.
Accelerating the translation of this technological "variable" requires stronger industrial chain support. Last year, focusing on key industrial chains and its five characteristic advantageous industries and five primary industrial承载 areas, Mianyang adopted a tailored "one enterprise, one policy" approach to attract supporting facilities and partners, successfully introducing 159 cluster-strengthening projects. Recently, Mianyang held a key industrial chain investment promotion meeting directly at a major project site, where participants exchanged insights on attracting investment amidst the bustling construction.
"We will further establish an industrial chain mindset, firmly grasping each stage from project signing and landing to commencement and operation," said a relevant official from the Mianyang Economic Cooperation Bureau.
Nurturing "single-event champions" at the county level is another critical strategy. The strength of the county economy is seen as fundamental to the city's overall strength. Mianyang's potential and breakthrough point for becoming a provincial economic sub-center lie in its counties. Previously, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County held a promotion meeting focused on the Shiyi Qiang Village rural revitalization pilot zone, aiming to extend the pilot's successful experiences and advantages across the entire county for coordinated development.
Outside the meeting rooms, production was in full swing: Mianyang Woms Technology Co., Ltd. operated its two intelligent production lines at full capacity, maintaining a stable daily output of 12,000 units; Sichuan Lechuan Technology had all 13 of its production lines running, with trucks loaded with TV stands and communication components ready for dispatch.
"Our goal is to retain enterprises and solidify the county's industrial foundation through a superior business environment," said Li Li, Deputy Director of the Beichuan Economic Development Zone Management Committee, summarizing the strategy as "combining points and chains." This involves addressing specific issues for leading enterprises ("points") while also focusing on打通 supply chain bottlenecks in dominant industries like the low-altitude economy and intelligent manufacturing ("chains").
In Yanting County, construction is progressing vigorously on the local first 10-billion-yuan industrial project—the Yifang Pastoral PCB Industrial Park, with interior work in Zone A and piling for Zone B advancing simultaneously. Upon full completion, the park will host 265 production lines and provide over 5,000 jobs. In 2025, Yanting successfully entered the ranks of the Top 100 Counties in Western China and the Top 100 Districts/Counties in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, with its GDP growth rate ranking third in the city. For 2026, Yanting has a clear target: accelerate the construction of a 50-billion-yuan energy and chemical industry cluster.
Looking across the city, Mianyang's path for county-level economic development is clear: Fucheng and Jiangyou aim for rapid growth, Santai is accelerating its build-out as a municipal sub-center, while Pingwu and Beichuan highlight their ecological strengths. Each county and district is leveraging its unique resources and advantages within the broader municipal industrial layout, striving to become "single-event champions" in their respective areas of specialization.
Stimulating the vitality of the private economy is paramount. The private sector contributes over 60% of Mianyang's economic output and tax revenue, accounting for more than 97% of all market entities, making it the undeniable backbone of the local economy. In 2025, the value-added of Mianyang's private economy reached approximately 279.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. Seven local companies were listed in the "2025 Sichuan Top 100 Private Enterprises," and 3,596 private enterprises were evaluated and included in the database as sci-tech SMEs.
The key question for this攻坚 year is how to invigorate this most dynamic force. Signals from Mianyang's "First Meeting after the Spring Festival" were clear: sincerely implement the "Two Unwaverings" policy to boost the confidence of both private and state-owned enterprises. During the awards ceremony at this meeting, Sichuan Jiuzhou Wire & Cable Co., Ltd., a municipal state-owned enterprise recognized as a cornerstone in strengthening advanced manufacturing chains, took the stage alongside other advanced collectives. The applause acknowledged its status as a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in specific sectors and represented a significant commitment. "We will continue to deepen our involvement across the industrial chain's upstream and downstream, helping Mianyang's industrial capabilities reach new heights," a company representative stated.
Corporate confidence stems from the government's empathetic approach. In 2025, Mianyang established a closed-loop mechanism for tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of resolving private enterprises' demands, handling 3,048 requests with a resolution rate exceeding 90%. The Mianyang Private Economy Development Promotion Center also implemented a "one-to-one" contact system for key private enterprises by industry, resolving 95 specific requests and addressing 119 demands reported in the "Private Economy Information Weekly," achieving a 98% resolution rate.
This year, Mianyang plans to hold a city-wide conference on private economic development and further "raise the stakes" on optimizing the business environment: iteratively upgrade reform policies, regularly publish investment opportunity lists, and support various market entities in participating in projects related to "Two Majors" and "Two News".
"We will focus on the concerns of market entities, utilize the normalized working mechanism for solving enterprise difficulties, and safeguard the healthy development of the private economy with a first-class business environment," said a relevant official from the Mianyang Private Economy Development Promotion Centre.