In the past, the label most closely associated with Guangdong's economy was the "world's factory." When orders arrived, molds could be made; when parts were ready, assembly could begin. With its extensive industrial chains and rapid response, "Made in Guangdong" became the hard currency of more than four decades of reform and opening-up. But as the transition from old to new growth drivers enters a deep-water zone, what truly determines a region's competitiveness is "whether it can turn principles developed in laboratories into new products on production lines, and transform models in academic papers into orders in the marketplace."

In recent years, Guangdong has, in fact, been making a fundamental shift: from a "major manufacturing province" to an "industrial science and technology innovation center", and from "contract manufacturing" to "innovation origination and commercialization."

At Baiyun Lake Digital Technology City in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, a full-chain service system for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements is enabling new quality productive forces to gain traction within the industrial communities. In Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai, a two-year institutional innovation has provided an answer: experts and professors are being brought onto factory floors to serve as "science and technology vice presidents," while key enterprise personnel are "taking to the podium" as "industry professors." The "two skins" problem—the disconnect between industry, academia and research—is being gradually resolved. In Dongguan Songshan Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone, source innovation is being plugged into the capillaries of manufacturing... These three snapshots reflect the deep reshaping under way in Guangdong's economic ecosystem. From a "major manufacturing province" to an "innovation source," this leap is unfolding at an accelerated pace across Guangdong. The stories of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Zhuhai are the most vivid footnotes to this transformation.

解码广东经济生态：“世界工厂”撞开“实验室”大门

过去，广东经济最被人熟知的标签是“世界工厂”：订单来了就能开模，零件齐了就能组装，产业链之长、反应之快，让“广东制造”成为改革开放四十多年的硬通货。但进入新旧动能转换深水区，真正决定区域竞争力的，是“能不能把实验室里的原理变成生产线上的新品，把论文里的模型变成市场里的订单”。

这几年，广东恰恰在完成这样一次底层切换：从“制造大省”转向“产业科技创新中心”，从“接单生产”走向“策源转化”。

在广州市白云区的白云湖数字科技城，科创成果转化全链条服务体系让新质生产力在产业社区里“跑起来”；在珠海香洲区，一场持续两年的制度创新给出了答案：让专家教授“下车间”当“科技副总”，让企业骨干“上讲台”任“产业教授”，产学研“两张皮”难题正在被逐步破解；在东莞松山湖高新区，源头创新正在被接进制造业的毛细血管中去……三个截面，折射出广东经济生态正在发生的深层重塑。从“制造大省”到“创新策源地”，这场跨越正在南粤大地上加速上演。而广州、东莞、珠海的故事，正是这场转型最生动的注脚。

统稿｜许悦
文、图｜记者 徐炜伦 郑达 余晓玲 实习生 江雷
译｜魏薇
英文审校｜盛嘉