By XU Shiqi

The hit TV drama “The Knockout” has turned Jiangmen, a small city in Guangdong, into a tourist attraction. Before the TV series, Jiangmen was just another century-old industrial city, and like many others, faces the challenge of transforming traditional industries, papermaking in Jiangmen’s case.

Today, the city aims to become a hundred-billion-dollar papermaking metropolis through Jiangmen Xinhui Yinzhouhu Paper Base Investment Group. 

The industry in Jiangmen made 37.7 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) in 2022.

Paper faces challenges from environmental policies and rising costs. To address these, the local government has partnered with Huawei to set up an innovation center to support digital transformation.

Big players like Sunward and Vinda already use Huawei Cloud and AI models for production, scheduling, energy monitoring and quality control. But Jiangmen is actively assisting SMEs to adopt digital technologies. 

Jiangmen exemplifies the challenges and opportunities faced by traditional industries. With financial support, training programs, and digital solutions, the city is revitalizing itself for a sustainable and competitive future.