The level of innovation in China's fine chemicals needs to be improved urgently

Fine chemical industry is one of the most dynamic fields of innovation in the chemical industry and represents the development level of a national chemical industry. In 2014, the output value of fine chemicals in China was about 3.5 trillion yuan, and the national chemical industry output value was about 8.8 trillion yuan at that time, and the refined rate was about 40%. The refined rate in the United States, the European Union, and Japan reached more than 70%. It can be seen that the development level of China's fine chemicals needs to be improved urgently and the space is huge.

During the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” period, the fine chemical industry should base itself on scientific and technological innovation, strengthen the R&D and industrialization and application demonstration of key common technologies, products and equipment, and make every effort to make good use of various financing platforms to improve product structure by adjusting and optimizing product structure. International Competitiveness.

First, optimize the joint development model of production, education and research, and establish a long-term mechanism for win-win cooperation. During the “11th Five-Year Plan” period, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other six ministries and commissions of the State Council actively promoted the establishment of a strategic alliance for industrial technology innovation, and organized several scientific and technological projects through a number of experimental alliances. Numerous strategic alliances have also been established throughout the country to integrate the various innovative elements of universities and research institutes with the strong demand for new technologies. This has increased the relevance of scientific and technological topics and accelerated the conversion of scientific and technological achievements into The process of realistic productivity has achieved certain results. During the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” period, it is necessary to further intensify the efforts to optimize the joint scientific and technological innovation model of production, education and research.

Second, strengthen top-level design and implement catalytic technology innovation projects. The core of fine chemicals is catalytic technology, and 60% of the fine chemical products produced in the world each year and 80% of all fine chemical processes are related to catalysis. At the same time, the catalyst itself is an important product of the fine chemical industry. In a sense, the world-renowned chemical companies mostly dominate the world's chemical industry's technological development level through monopoly catalysts, high-end equipment and other core technologies. At present, there are few research tasks involving fine chemical catalysts and application technologies in China, which are extremely incompatible with the flourishing fine chemical industry. Therefore, during the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” period, the industrial authorities should attach great importance to the innovation and development of catalytic technology, implement catalytic technology innovation projects, and support the optimization and upgrading of the fine chemical industry.

Oxidation, hydrogenation, esterification, alkylation and asymmetric synthesis are typical fine chemical reaction processes. When carrying out task design and content selection of catalytic technology innovation projects, we should aim at high efficiency and environmental protection, select typical reactions to carry out innovative development of catalytic technologies and demonstration of industrial applications, and effectively promote innovative results.

Third, "the extension of the extension," extending the industrial chain. "Upward extension" means expanding upstream to reduce costs and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. However, because fine chemicals are characterized by small batches, multiple varieties, high technology, and high added value, they do not have a considerable amount of product production capacity and marketing capabilities, and it is extremely difficult for general fine chemical companies to develop upstream. Relatively speaking, most of the fine chemical companies directly face the needs of end customers, and their development and extension to the downstream are possible options. The specific ideas and directions are as follows: to make products deeper and more elaborate, to increase the number of the same type of products after market segmentation to fully meet the needs of customers; to add other products with the same or similar functions, to enrich the product line; or The company was originally positioned as a raw material supplier and also "played the ball" to become a supplier of end products.

Fourth, strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and establish a sharing of results and benefit-sharing mechanism. The fine chemical industry is a technology-intensive industry, characterized by fast information updates, strong confidentiality, and strong patent monopoly. The development of original drug products such as medicines and pesticides takes a long time, costs are high, and the success rate is low. And industries such as paints and cosmetics, which are based on compounding technology, are often because the formula technology is “a layer of window paper” and companies are not willing to apply for patents. Even if it is a science and technology project supported by the state, companies rely on the breakthrough of the key technologies and technological achievements, and because companies are not willing to cultivate competitors, it is difficult to form a mechanism for sharing results. Therefore, the industry should concentrate its efforts on exploring a set of practical results sharing and benefit-sharing mechanisms.

Fifth, expand financing channels to help technological innovation and industrial upgrading. Most of the fine chemicals companies are small and medium-sized enterprises. Loans from banks are extremely difficult, and the road to financing listings is also very difficult. As a result, many companies have long relied on private lending to develop, with high financing costs, high financing risks, and poor access to funds. In recent years, with the further deepening of the state financial and financial system reform, various types of financing platforms have emerged one after another. Fine chemical companies should select suitable financing channels based on actual conditions. At the same time, the state should supervise the financial system to improve its financial support policies and operational mechanisms for small and medium-sized enterprises, actively promote the legalization and standardization of private financing, and build a fund platform that supports the development of SMEs in a variety of ways and in various ways.