Qingdao is leveraging industrial design as a “second core technology” to accelerate the transformation of its manufacturing sector from traditional production toward high-value, user-driven innovation. Rather than treating design as a final aesthetic coat, local enterprises use it from the outset to address user pain points, define product functionality, and guide technological research and development.

This user-centric approach is yielding immediate market results. Home appliance giant Haier transformed a user query for dual-wash laundry into a “lazybones” product series that generated 88,000 reservations in seven days and sold over 450,000 units domestically before expanding to European markets. Similarly, specialized manufacturer Qingdao Hai Liya Group redesigned fire rescue fanny packs by consolidating descending, traversing, and lifting functions into a single unit—reducing volume by 17 percent and weight by 23 percent while speeding deployment time by up to 15 seconds.

Supported by 31 major manufacturing categories and signature 100-billion-yuan industry chains in smart appliances and rail transit, Qingdao’s leading industrial players are opening their design infrastructure to smaller manufacturers. Haier’s innovation center operates an SME platform where over 90 percent of design proposals reach mass production, while Doublestar Group created a design institute focused on green bio-based tires for regional partners. These platform-driven ecosystems helped Qingdao’s major industrial design firms achieve a 22.1 percent year-on-year revenue growth and a 102.2 percent surge in total profits in 2025.

Source: People’s Daily