A national-level “alliance” helps Shizuishan clinch the title of “World Cyanamide Capital.”

Economic Daily – China Economic Net, Beijing, November 16 (Reporter Xu Ling): In early winter, biting cold winds sweep across northern Ningxia; yet the multi-purpose hall of the Shizuishan Municipal Convention Center is packed with distinguished guests, its warmth as inviting as spring.

At 9:00 a.m. on November 15, the inaugural meeting of China’s first “China Cyanamide Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance” was officially opened. Academician Chen Fen’er of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice President Hua Wei of the China Chemical Society, and dozens of other experts and business leaders from across the country—specializing in cyanamide research and manufacturing—gathered in Shizuishan. The city accounts for roughly 70% of global and 90% of China’s cyanamide production. The establishment of the Cyanamide Alliance marks a new phase in Shizuishan’s cyanamide industry, as it moves toward collaborative partnerships among industry, academia, research institutions, and end-users, pooling resources to drive innovation and advance the sector toward the mid- to high‑end segments of the cyanamide value chain. As alliance members grow stronger and more competitive, “the World Capital of Cyanamide” will become Shizuishan’s most prominent and eye-catching hallmark.

Shizuishan City is located in the northern part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, covering a total area of 5,310 square kilometers and home to a population of 795,000. It is an industrial city that emerged in the People’s Republic of China thanks to its abundant resources, one of the ten major coal‑mining bases established during the First Five-Year Plan, and the cradle of Ningxia’s industrial development. The region produced Ningxia’s first ton of coal, its first ton of steel, and its first kilowatt-hour of electricity. Over the past six decades, builders from across the country have converged here, working together to develop and pioneer, fostering a spirit of “unity from all corners of the nation and relentless self‑improvement,” which has shaped Shizuishan’s distinctive cultural identity and urban character—open, inclusive, and receptive to diverse influences. Today, Shizuishan has evolved into an industrial hub characterized by four major industrial clusters—new materials, equipment manufacturing, specialty metallurgy, and calcium carbide‑based chemical industries—and four thriving specialized sectors—new energy, biopharmaceuticals, advanced coal‑chemical processing, and modern textiles. The city stands as a globally significant base for the production and R&D of tantalum, niobium, beryllium, and carbon‑based materials, as well as a leading producer of cyanamide, and a key domestic center for the deep processing of magnesium and silicon products.

Although Shizuishan City holds a dominant global position in cyanamide production, and after more than two decades of development, the cyanamide industry has become one of the city’s most distinctive, competitive, and promising sectors, it remains regrettable that, due to insufficient innovation, the local industry is still largely confined to the low‑end of the value chain, serving primarily as a raw‑material supplier. Product diversity is limited, the industrial chain remains short, and few local enterprises produce high‑value downstream cyanamide products, with relatively small-scale operations. In response, Shizuishan City, together with the China Chemical Society, has initiated and established the China Cyanamide Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance. The alliance’s primary objective is to leverage the region’s geographical advantages and the technological expertise of research institutes to create a platform that bridges the cyanamide industry with cutting-edge technologies. By integrating industry, academia, research, and application, the initiative aims to drive innovation and upgrading across the cyanamide sector—both in Shizuishan and nationwide.

Li Yuhua, Mayor of Shizuishan City, stated that Shizuishan is a traditional industrial city currently at a critical juncture—transitioning from resource‑dependent development to an innovation‑driven model. He emphasized that only by embracing transformation and upgrading through innovation can the city find a way forward; there is no turning back, only a path ahead. The China Cyanamide Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance has been established in Shizuishan, creating a platform for scientific and technological innovation of the highest caliber and bringing together the nation’s leading experts. We will cherish this opportunity and ensure the success of this major initiative driven by innovation.

First, we must take the lead in industry–university–research–application collaboration and set an exemplary standard. Market competition is, at its core, a contest of technological prowess and human capital. The Cyanamide Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance possesses robust R&D capabilities; it should be rooted in Shizuishan while reaching out nationwide, building three key bridges. First, it will forge a bridge for the commercialization of research outcomes through innovation and R&D; second, it will construct a bridge for high‑quality development of the cyanamide industry by fostering industrial investment and project implementation; and third, it will establish a bridge of friendship in technology exchange and talent cultivation, nurturing a cohort of cutting‑edge R&D teams.

Second, we must take the lead in advancing industrial transformation and upgrading, setting an exemplary standard. The cyanamide industry is both a traditional and an emerging sector; it should target the international market, fully leverage regional resource advantages, and undertake joint research to address common technological bottlenecks, thereby driving major technological breakthroughs, extending the industrial chain, enhancing product value-added, and establishing a closed-loop operation across the entire cyanamide value chain, thus strengthening the industry’s core competitiveness.

Third, we must take the lead in innovation-driven development and set an example. The purpose of establishing the Strategic Alliance for Technological Innovation in the Calcium Cyanamide Industry is to achieve “three transformations”: turning the resource chain into an industrial chain, converting research outcomes into tangible results, and transforming patents into marketable products.

Fourth, we must take the lead in supporting enterprise development and set an example. We will accelerate the establishment of a technology‑innovation system that places enterprises at its core, is market‑oriented, and integrates industry, academia, and research. We will guide innovation resources to converge on enterprises, leverage the alliance’s “agglomeration” and “radiation” effects on talent, and help a cohort of enterprises embark on the path of scientific and technological innovation.

Source: China Economic Net