Deepening East–West Collaboration: Huangpu and Dushan Jointly Drive Quality and Efficiency Improvements in the Bearing Industry

In recent years, as the Rural Revitalization Strategy has been deepened, Dushan County has focused on industrial development as its core pillar, leveraging cross-regional collaboration to drive rapid growth. Relying on the East–West Collaboration Mechanism, Guangzhou’s Huangpu District and Dushan County have concentrated on Dushan’s bearing industry, using resource integration and targeted assistance as key levers. In doing so, they have not only enhanced the quality and efficiency of the industry but also boosted local incomes and injected strong momentum into rural revitalization.

Promote equipment iteration and upgrades to enhance production efficiency.

Stepping into the workshop of Guizhou Yuancheng Industrial Co., Ltd., one sees robotic arms deftly performing precise movements—grasping, grinding, and machining bearing blanks. Every step adheres rigorously to established standards, ensuring consistent bearing quality while dramatically boosting production efficiency.

“The iterative upgrades to our production-line equipment have been made possible thanks to funding provided through inter-regional collaboration between eastern and western China,” said Lin Wei, Deputy General Manager of Guizhou Yuancheng Industrial Co., Ltd., as he pointed to the operating production line. He explained that the equipment upgrades have not only significantly boosted production efficiency and product precision but have also broken through previous quality bottlenecks, enabling the company to more quickly and reliably fulfill bulk orders from overseas markets.

At the other end of the industrial park, the workshop of Guizhou Fengda Bearing Co., Ltd. has also seen remarkable changes thanks to automation upgrades.

On the production line, precision equipment operates continuously, with spindles precisely machining bearing blanks. After grinding and calibration, the parts are gently conveyed along the assembly line to the inspection stage, where seamless integration between equipment and processes underscores the orderly and highly efficient nature of automated manufacturing.

“Since the infusion of funds for east–west collaboration in 2023, we immediately invested in equipment upgrades,” said Cen Xianli, General Manager of Guizhou Fengda Bearing Co., Ltd., to our reporter. The addition of more than 130 new precision machines has elevated product accuracy from P6 to P4, not only meeting the demand for high-precision components but also creating 80 local jobs, thereby achieving a dual impact of technological breakthroughs and improved livelihoods. “Going forward, we will continue to deepen the integration of equipment and technology, expanding production while creating even more employment opportunities,” Cen Xianli added.

According to reports, in order to ensure that collaborative resources are precisely aligned with and empower industries, Dushan County has deepened the east–west collaboration model of “Guangdong resources plus Guizhou enterprises.” Leveraging the leading role of flagship enterprises and closely attuning to market demand, the county has allocated a total of RMB 12.8 million in collaboration funds from 2023 to 2025 to build a dedicated automated production line for precision bearings. Upon completion, the facility will be operated through a leasing arrangement in partnership with related enterprises.

“We pool collaborative funds for the procurement of core production equipment and establish stable partnerships with enterprises through equipment leasing,” said Liu Yidong, a staff member of the Project Management Office in Baiquan Town, Dushan County. “Currently, the rental income is being channeled into livelihood dividends and the village collective economy, providing targeted support to all monitored households and formerly impoverished households across the town. This ensures that the collaborative funds deliver sustainable benefits to the people and effectively strengthens the foundation of social safety nets.”

Liu Yidong explained that this “funding for equipment procurement, leasing to stimulate circulation, and revenue benefiting the people” model not only injects new momentum into the bearing industry cluster, accelerating the automation transformation and boosting production capacity of enterprises within the park, but also establishes a solid bridge between industrial expansion and increased incomes for local residents.

Strengthen Technical Support to Solidify the Quality Control Defense

The continuous upgrading and iteration of equipment have effectively enhanced enterprises’ production capabilities, while professional technical support has acted as a “safety valve” for the high-quality development of the Dushan bearing industry, resolving the technological challenges that have long hindered enterprise growth.

Inside the Bearing Industrial Park Testing Center, technicians hold bearings awaiting inspection: first conducting a preliminary dimensional measurement with an external diameter gauge, then securing the bearing under a high-magnification microscope to meticulously examine surface defects and dimensional deviations point by point. Nearby, calibration instruments continuously calibrate the testing equipment, while all data are meticulously recorded and archived, providing precise technical support for quality control throughout the enterprise.

This precise and efficient quality-control process represents a major initiative by Dushan County to focus on joint park development and address key industrial challenges, while deepening consultations with Huangpu District and coordinating resources from both sides to tackle technical bottlenecks and bridge development gaps.

In 2023, the two regions pooled RMB 1.9 million in east–west collaboration funds to jointly build a bearing industry park testing center. The center offers more than ten types of testing services, meeting the annual testing needs of the park’s production capacity of 1 billion bearing sets and conducting over 100 tests per year on average, with more than 1,000 bearings sampled for inspection. The establishment and operation of the testing center not only help enterprises reduce costs and improve efficiency, strengthen quality control, and enhance market competitiveness, but also attract upstream and downstream firms to cluster in the park through reliable quality assurance, thereby fostering collaborative development across the industrial chain and accelerating the clustering and industrialization of the bearing sector.

Enhancing Public Occupational Skills and Strengthening Talent Support

In addition, Dushan has consistently focused on the talent needs of the bearing industry, strengthened specialized training for professionals, and made every effort to inject “fresh blood” into the development of the industrial cluster.

To address the shortage of skilled industrial talent, in 2024 Dushan County leveraged RMB 3 million in East–West collaboration funds to renovate its bearing training facilities and procure state-of-the-art training equipment, thereby establishing a specialized bearing training base. Drawing on the training expertise and employment standards of collaborating regions, the county designed a curriculum that covers eight trades—electrical work, welding, bearing turning, bearing grinding, bearing milling, and others—to enhance the technical skills of bearing industry workers, strengthen their employability and job security, and promote stable employment and increased incomes.

With robust talent support, the bearing industry in Dushan County has seen continuous improvements in technological level and product quality, while the core competitiveness of the industrial cluster has steadily strengthened. Since 2025, the training base has successfully conducted 16 training sessions, benefiting a total of 569 trainees; it is estimated that these programs will increase each participant’s average monthly income by more than RMB 500.

“While ensuring that our county’s bearing industry has the talent it needs, we are fully leveraging the industrial strengths of the eastern region and integrating them with our county’s abundant labor resources. Through in-depth cooperation with numerous enterprises in Guangdong, we have established an integrated “training–placement–employment” pathway,” said Wang Ye, Director of the Dushan County Employment Bureau. “By providing targeted training based on the staffing needs of eastern-region companies, we enable our residents to go out with marketable skills, thereby achieving high-quality, full employment.”

From equipment upgrades to technological support, and from talent development to supply-chain optimization, the collaboration between Huangpu District and Dushan County has consistently deepened. Today, Dushan’s bearing industry has made a transformative leap from isolated, individual operations to clustered, coordinated development. Looking ahead, the two regions will continue to deepen their cooperation, using the bearing industry as a central pillar to further strengthen, extend, and complete the industrial chain, thereby advancing rural revitalization to greater depth and higher quality and ensuring that industrial development and improvements in people’s livelihoods move in tandem.