Circular economy, also known as material circulation and flow economy, refers to the transformation of the traditional linear growth economy that relies on resource consumption into an economy that relies on ecological resource circulation for development in the entire process of resource input, enterprise production, product consumption, and waste within the large system of human, natural resources, and science and technology. This theory was introduced to China in the mid-1990s, and the academic community has made various definitions of it from different perspectives, such as the comprehensive utilization of resources, environmental protection, technological paradigms, economic forms and growth patterns, and broad and narrow perspectives.

Currently, the definition of circular economy by the National Development and Reform Commission is widely promoted in society: "Circular economy is an economic growth model that focuses on the efficient utilization and recycling of resources, follows the principles of 'reduction, reuse, and resource utilization', and has the basic characteristics of low consumption, low emissions, and high efficiency. It conforms to the concept of sustainable development and is a fundamental change to the traditional growth model of 'mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste'."

Circular Economy in China

As early as 2004, scholars pointed out that the main method for developing a circular economy that is in line with China's national conditions is material flow management, which is consistent with Germany's new environmental policy concept after 2004. The main practical forms of circular economy are carried out at three levels: enterprises, industrial parks, and society. The clean production method at the enterprise level can achieve the recycling of raw materials and the hierarchical utilization of energy within the enterprise. The construction of ecological industrial parks includes the construction of ecological industrial chains between enterprises and the construction of efficient and shared public resources such as energy and water infrastructure in the park. On a social level, China is learning from Japan's "venous industry" and actively establishing industries for recycling, reusing, and resource utilization of various types of waste. In the consumption field, China actively advocates resource and energy conservation, rational consumption, and green consumption.

The construction of ecological civilization is an inevitable choice for human civilization to transform and upgrade from industrial civilization; Establishing a sound economic system for green, low-carbon, and circular development is the only way to implement the ecological civilization strategy; Vigorously developing circular economy is the cornerstone of a green, low-carbon, and circular development economic system. In the past five years, due to significant changes in the market environment, the development of circular economy has encountered certain difficulties.

  According to public data, in 2016, the output value of China's resource recycling industry reached 2.3 trillion yuan, solving approximately 30 million jobs and recycling 260 million tons of various waste resources. Compared with the use of primary resources, it saved nearly 210 million tons of standard coal, reduced wastewater emissions by over 9 billion tons, and reduced solid waste emissions by 1.2 billion tons.

Gu Xiulian, Vice Chairman of the 10th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, stated at the current Circular Economy Exhibition that in the new era, green, circular, and low-carbon development is timely.

  The problem of resources and environment ultimately boils down to the development mode, economic structure, and consumption mode. The solution to these problems lies in adhering to the path of green, circular, and low-carbon development, vigorously developing the circular economy, accelerating the formation of a spatial pattern, industrial structure, production methods, and lifestyle for resource conservation and environmental protection, and achieving coordinated development and protection. Only in this way can nature be restored with tranquility, harmony, and beauty, providing more high-quality ecological products to meet the growing needs of the people for a beautiful ecological environment.

Circular Economy in Manufacturing Industry

As an equipment manufacturing industry, the most direct manifestation of its circular economy is remanufacturing. The process of remanufacturing involves repairing and transforming waste products through technological means to rejuvenate their vitality. Compared with manufacturing new products, remanufacturing production can save 60% of energy, 70% of materials, and 50% of costs. It produces almost no solid waste, reduces air pollution emissions by more than 70%, and achieves the same level of performance and quality as the original new products.

The remanufacturing industry has been developing in China for many years, with many mature technologies and many related incentive policies. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on the "Action Plan for High end Intelligent Remanufacturing (2018-2020)". This notice clearly states that in order to implement the "Made in China 2025", "Industrial Green Development Plan (2016-2020)" and "Implementation Guidelines for Green Manufacturing Engineering (2016-2020)", accelerate the development of high-end remanufacturing and intelligent remanufacturing (hereinafter referred to as high-end intelligent remanufacturing), further improve the management level and industrial development quality of electromechanical product remanufacturing technology, promote the formation of green development modes, and achieve green growth.

As a major manufacturing country, China has a huge inventory of mechanical and electrical products, and remanufacturing is one of the best ways for the resource utilization and recycling of mechanical and electrical products. China's remanufacturing industry has begun to take shape and has initially formed a development model with Chinese characteristics, mainly characterized by size recovery and performance improvement. In the development process of the remanufacturing industry, high-end and intelligent production practices continue to emerge. Additive technologies such as laser cladding and 3D printing are widely used in the remanufacturing field. For example, in the field of aviation engines, large-scale remanufacturing of blades has been achieved, and positive progress has been made in the remanufacturing technology of key components of medical imaging equipment. The first remanufacturing shield tunneling machine has successfully completed the first excavation task and exited the tunnel.

Currently, China's economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. Based on the pilot demonstration, product certification, technology promotion, and standard construction of electromechanical product remanufacturing in the past decade, it is urgent to further focus on key equipment with important strategic roles and huge economic driving potential, carry out high-end intelligent remanufacturing with high technological content, high reliability requirements, and high added value as the core characteristics, and promote the research, application, and industrialization of high-end intelligent remanufacturing common technologies and specialized equipment such as deep automation non-destructive disassembly, flexible intelligent forming processing, and intelligent non-destructive testing and evaluation. Promoting high-end intelligent remanufacturing is conducive to driving continuous breakthroughs in green manufacturing technology, enhancing the operational support capacity of major equipment, and promoting green growth.

  Strengthen the development of standards and the construction of evaluation mechanisms, explore new models for the development of high-end intelligent remanufacturing industry, and promote the continuous development and growth of the remanufacturing industry.

By 2020, we will break through a number of key common technologies that restrict the development of high-end intelligent remanufacturing in China, such as dismantling, testing, and forming processing. The intelligent testing and forming processing technology will reach the international advanced level; Release 50 standards for high-end intelligent remanufacturing management, technology, equipment, and evaluation; Preliminary establishment of a replicable and promotable market-oriented mechanism for the application of remanufactured products; Promote the establishment of 100 high-end intelligent remanufacturing demonstration enterprises, technology research and development centers, service enterprises, information service platforms, industrial clusters, etc., driving the scale of China's remanufacturing industry to reach 200 billion yuan.

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