Second Round of "Ten Cities, Ten Thousand Lights" Pilot City Research Launched

Commissioned by the High-tech Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Semiconductor Lighting Engineering R&D and Industry Alliance officially launched on-site research on the second round of "Ten Cities, Ten Thousand Lights" pilot cities on November 22, 2011. The focus of this research mainly includes: the progress of pilot work in pilot cities and the promotion of industrialization, the implementation of relevant policies and measures; on-site installation of pilot demonstration products, types, quantities, promotion models, and energy-saving effect analysis; the construction of semiconductor lighting standards and product testing platforms in pilot cities, the next work plan; the situation of key enterprises in pilot cities; as well as the operation of industry organizations.

In 2009, in order to expand domestic demand and promote energy-saving and emission reduction, China launched the first batch of "Ten Cities, Ten Thousand Lights" pilot work, selecting 21 cities including Tianjin to implement the Semiconductor Lighting Application Project. The development of the pilot work promoted the application of LED in road lighting and accelerated the upgrading of the LED lighting industry. In May 2011, on the basis of the first batch of pilot work, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued a notice of the "Letter on Agreeing to Carry Out the Pilot Demonstration Work of the Second Batch of Ten Cities, Ten Thousand Lights Semiconductor Lighting Application Project", agreeing to carry out the pilot demonstration work of the second batch of the Semiconductor Lighting Application Project (hereinafter referred to as "Ten Cities, Ten Thousand Lights") in 16 cities (regions), including Beijing, Linfen City in Shanxi Province, Changzhou City in Jiangsu Province, Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province, Hefei City in Anhui Province, Wuhu City in Anhui Province, Zhangzhou City in Fujian Province, Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone in Fujian Province, Qingdao City in Shandong Province, Chenzhou City in Hunan Province, Xiangtan City in Hunan Province, Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province, Foshan City in Guangdong Province, Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province, Haikou City in Hainan Province, and Baoji City in Shaanxi Province.

Second Round Pilot City Research

　　The notice pointed out that, in order to break through the key technologies restricting industrial transformation and upgrading, promote energy conservation and emission reduction, effectively guide the healthy and rapid development of semiconductor lighting applications in China, expand the market scale of semiconductor lighting, stimulate consumer demand, and promote the improvement of core technology R&D and innovation capabilities of the industry, with applications promoting development, the Ministry of Science and Technology has decided after research, on the basis of the preliminary pilot demonstration work, to approve the continuation of the second batch of semiconductor lighting application engineering pilot demonstration work in 16 cities (regions) including Beijing.

　　In July 2010, the High-tech Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology commissioned the National Semiconductor Lighting Engineering R&D and Industry Alliance, together with relevant experts, to carry out the first large-scale investigation of the "Ten Cities Ten Thousand Lamps" pilot work. The investigation team spent two months conducting field research on the first batch of 21 pilot cities. According to the investigation statistics, more than 1.6 million LED lamps in the 21 cities have been applied in demonstrations, saving more than 164 million kWh of electricity. Among them, outdoor applications totaled about 220,000 units, including about 200,000 street lights and 16,000 tunnel lights; indoor applications totaled about 660,000 units. In addition, about 720,000 lamps were applied in landscape lighting. The 21 cities participating in the pilot work had more than 2,000 semiconductor lighting enterprises, with related output value of about 75.9 billion yuan, initially forming an industrial cluster.

　　The investigation found that, under the active guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the strong promotion by local governments, over more than a year, the "Ten Cities Ten Thousand Lamps" pilot work has not only achieved phased results and gained valuable experience, but also played a good role in promoting the rapid development of China's semiconductor lighting industry, accelerating the pace of technological innovation, and driving the development of related industries, achieving good social benefits. Most pilot city governments have been able to adapt measures to local conditions based on their own conditions and foundations, fully exert their autonomy, initiative, and innovation, adopt the method of close cooperation among the government, industry, academia and research institutes, and actively explore the implementation of demonstration projects. A number of distinctive application demonstration projects have emerged, achieving many valuable experiences and accomplishments in technological innovation application, scientific planning and implementation, public platform construction, business model exploration, supporting policies, process management methods, and industrial system cultivation.

　　Although the "Ten Cities Ten Thousand Lamps" semiconductor lighting application engineering pilot work has achieved valuable results and played a positive role in promoting technological innovation and industrial development, many problems have been exposed in the pilot process, such as the lack of national-level guidance documents and financial subsidies, the lack of scientific analysis of application products of different maturity, imperfect quality assurance systems and process management, and serious local protectionism, all of which are urgent issues that need to be resolved. The purpose of the second round of investigation is to understand the progress in pilot cities, especially the second batch of pilot cities, and to explore how to further deepen the "Ten Cities Ten Thousand Lamps" pilot work during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period. The investigation will adopt a combination of interviews, questionnaire surveys, and on-site visits to demonstration projects and key enterprises. The alliance will accurately understand the industry situation through the investigation and provide a basis for ministerial decision-making.