Making Solid Progress on the Key Tasks of New Industrialization

Industrialization is a fundamental prerequisite and foundation of modernization. It is a path all countries and nations must travel to achieve prosperity and strength. At the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2023, it was stressed that we must steer the development of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation and mount a major push to advance new industrialization.

At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is in full swing. Competition is intensifying among major countries, a backlash against globalization is rising, and significant shifts are occurring in global industrial and supply chains. Despite its large scale, Chinese industry is not yet strong enough, and though it possesses a complete range of capabilities, it still falls short of excellence. Imbalances and inadequacies in development remain a prominent issue. China is still reliant on others for some core technologies in key fields, which poses greater risks to its industrial and supply chains. Despite this, however, it is important to acknowledge China’s robust material and technological foundation, vast market, rich pool of human resources, dynamic entrepreneurship and innovation, economic resilience, and enormous potential. All these factors have laid a solid foundation and guarantee for advancing new industrialization.

In pursuing new industrialization, it is essential to adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy, balance high-quality development with a high level of security, and grasp the underlying laws of new industrialization on the new journey in the new era. We must proactively adapt to and steer the latest round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. We need to integrate the requirement for high-quality development into the entire process of new industrialization, align the push to build China’s manufacturing strength with the development of the digital economy and IT application in industry, and drive substantive qualitative improvements and reasonable quantitative growth in the industrial sector. This will ensure a robust material and technological foundation for Chinese modernization.

Workers on an assembly line at an automobile company in the Intelligent Connected and Electric Vehicle Industrial Park of the Economic and Technological Development Zone, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, January 11, 2023. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER XIAO YIJIU

First, we will make every effort to facilitate stable growth in the industrial sector

Stable growth is a crucial foundation for advancing new industrialization. We will implement a series of policies and measures aimed at stable growth, so as to keep the share of manufacturing in the economy largely stable and leverage industry’s role as a ballast for macroeconomic stability. Harnessing the driving role of key industries and regions, we will implement work plans for stable growth across ten major sectors, including steel, petrochemicals, and automobiles, and support major industrial provinces in shouldering greater responsibility. We will support different localities in leveraging their respective advantages to meet growth targets and encourage regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to accelerate their development and foster additional industrial growth poles.

A multi-pronged approach will be adopted to expand demand. We will accelerate implementation of major projects under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for the manufacturing sector and support further equipment upgrades and technological transformation in enterprises. We will deepen cooperation between the industrial and financial sectors and continue initiatives to boost quality, diversify products, and build brands. We will increase penetration amongst rural households for high-quality products like alternative energy vehicles, green building materials, and smart household appliances, with a focus on keeping spending on major consumer goods stable and cultivating new forms of consumer spending.

Workers calibrate intelligent robots at a company, Xingtai City, Hebei Province, April 6, 2023. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER LUO XUEFENG

In addition, we will strengthen monitoring, forecasting, and early warning for industrial activity in order to identify nascent issues and concerning trends and carry out preparatory research, make predictions, and build up the reserve of policies at our disposal.

Second, we will work to enhance the resilience and security of China’s industrial and supply chains

A self-supporting, controllable, secure, and reliable industrial system is both a prerequisite and a strategic pillar for new industrialization. Making coordinated moves to shore up weaknesses, consolidate strengths, and reinforce foundations, we will carry out initiatives that promote high-quality development within key manufacturing chains. We will keep working to enhance the resilience and competitiveness of our industrial chains to ensure we keep a firm grasp on the initiative in our development.

To shore up weaknesses, we will implement tailored policies in sectors that are critical for secure development and bolster R&D cooperation along entire industrial chains. This will ensure that industrial and supply chains remain stable and unimpeded. In terms of consolidating strengths, we will concentrate on industries where China holds an advantage, such as rare earths, photovoltaic energy, alternative energy vehicles, and 5G, forging a number of “trump card” technologies that will boost industrial quality. To reinforce foundations, we will push ahead with reengineering projects and research projects on major technologies and equipment to rapidly bolster basic industrial capacity and achieve breakthroughs in equipment with important strategic and symbolic significance. We will make full use of preferential policies for newly developed products and accelerate the promotion, application, and iterative upgrading of innovative products.

Third, we will improve the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of all industries

Innovation is the fundamental force behind new industrialization. We will place innovation at the core of industrial development, fully implementing the innovation-driven development strategy. By using scientific and technological breakthroughs to drive industrial innovation, we will foster new industries, models of business, and growth drivers and propel the development of qualitatively new productive forces. We will work systematically to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, accelerating the implementation of major projects and leveraging the advantages of the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide. We will take integrated steps to advance technological research, iterative applications, and the cultivation of the innovation ecosystem, pushing forward breakthroughs in major strategic technologies and products.

To reinforce the principal role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, we will implement preferential tax policies such as the additional tax deductions for enterprise R&D expenses and encourage enterprises to increase their investment in innovation. We will make plans for establishing more national-level innovation platforms within enterprises, in an effort to create an enterprise-led innovation system that features close and highly effective collaboration between industries, universities, and research institutes. We will establish a system of high-level platforms for innovation in industrial science and technology, refine the development and layout of manufacturing innovation centers, establish several platforms for the verification and piloting of innovation outcomes, and expedite the development of world-leading science and technology parks and bases for industrial science and technology innovation.

We will strengthen support services for innovations in industrial science and technology and carry out pioneering projects to establish standards in new industries. We will deepen international exchanges and cooperation on standardization, refine the arrangements for and application of patents in key industries, and accelerate the high-quality development of the scientific and technological services sector.

Fourth, we will continue to upgrade the industrial structure

Such upgrading is an essential requirement of new industrialization. Adhering to the principle of advancing both new and traditional industries, we will accelerate the shift of manufacturing toward the medium-high end of the value chain. We will transform and upgrade traditional industries, refining relevant policies and measures for traditional manufacturing and extensively applying smart and environmentally friendly technologies to accelerate transformation and upgrading. Efforts will be made to foster high-quality brands and see traditional industries sprouting new shoots. 

We will consolidate and enhance industries where China holds an advantage, promoting further innovation and updates for new technologies and products. To improve the industrial ecosystem, we will consolidate the advantages of entire industrial chains in sectors like high-speed rail, electric power equipment, and communications equipment, and create more competitive advantages for Chinese manufacturing.

To nurture and expand emerging industries, we will leverage the large domestic market and abundant application scenarios to systematically promote technological innovations, scale development, and build up industrial ecosystems. This will promote the sound and orderly growth of emerging industries like next-generation IT, intelligent connected vehicles, aviation and aerospace, biomanufacturing, and emergency and safety equipment. Faster strides will be made in developing industrial applications for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

We will proactively plan for the industries of the future, providing stronger policy guidance for opening up new arenas like artificial intelligence (AI), humanoid robotics, and quantum technology, so as to build new competitive strengths for future development. We will promote the full integration of advanced manufacturing with modern services, accelerate the growth of producer services such as industrial design, and nurture new forms and models of business, including service-oriented manufacturing. We will give play to the role of new- and high-tech development zones and other industrial parks in carrying out dedicated initiatives for fostering advanced manufacturing clusters and promote the orderly relocation of manufacturing within China. This will help foster an economic layout that enables regions to complement each other’s strengths and pursue high-quality development.

Fifth, we will vigorously promote the full integration of digital technology with the real economy

This form of integration is a distinctive feature of new industrialization. Grasping the trend of digitalized, network-based, and smart technology development, we will make full use of next-generation IT to effect an all-encompassing transformation of entire traditional industry chains. This will help boost total factor productivity and maximize the amplifying, compounding, and multiplier effects of digital technology in industrial development. To accelerate the digitalization of manufacturing, we will work out and implement targeted action plans, explore pathways on a category-by-category basis, and enhance the guiding role of models for promoting full integration of next-generation IT with manufacturing. We will initiate dedicated activities to empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through digitalization and establish pilot cities for the digitalization of SMEs.

To promote the innovative application of AI, we will formulate policies to empower new industrialization with artificial general intelligence (AGI), implement AI innovation projects, and move faster to deploy large AGI models in the industrial sector. We will intensify the implementation of smart manufacturing projects, promoting the full integration of smart technology in all aspects of manufacturing, including R&D, design, production, pilot testing, marketing services, and operations management, with a major push to develop smart products, equipment, factories, and supply chains. We will vigorously promote the industrialization of digital technology, boost the development of integrated circuits and key software, and accelerate integrated innovation in areas such as cloud computing, big data, and virtual reality. We will strengthen the development of 5G, data-center, and computing infrastructure, accelerate the largescale application of the Industrial Internet, and advance industrial data applications. In doing so, we will tap the potential of data as a factor of production and provide data-driven momentum for digitalization.

A batch of wind turbine blades waits to be shipped at the Sheyang Port Area in the Port of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, September 8, 2023. In recent years, China has steadily shifted toward green and low-carbon industrial development and actively fostered green industrial clusters, with the aim of making green the defining feature of its high-quality development. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER LI BO

Sixth, we will fully advance the green and low-carbon development of industry

Green is the defining feature of new industrialization. Acting on the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, we will accelerate the green transformation of the industrial development model. We will carry out initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in the industrial sector, promote the green transformation of key industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, and chemicals, improve the management system for energy conservation in industry, and accelerate the R&D and application of energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies and products. We will strictly implement the production capacity replacement policy and resolutely curb the blind development of energy-intensive projects with high emissions.

We will heighten the implementation of green manufacturing projects, boosting the supply of green products and building a number of green factories, industrial parks, and supply chains, while also improving green manufacturing standards and service systems. To accelerate the development of green and low-carbon industries, we will strengthen the development of energy electronics and green energy equipment and promote the electrification of vessels operating on inland and offshore waters. Consumption of alternative energy vehicles, green household appliances, and energy-efficient and environmental protection equipment will be expanded. We will increase the efficient and comprehensive use of industrial resources and clean production, implement circular methods of production across the board, move faster in developing the waste recycling system, and promote the well-regulated development of industries for comprehensively utilizing renewable resources.

Seventh, we will accelerate efforts to develop world-class enterprises

Enterprises are the primary drivers of new industrialization. Industrial development fundamentally depends on enterprises; when enterprises are strong, our industry will be strong too. We will steadfastly consolidate and develop the public sector while firmly encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public sector. In doing so, we will foster a larger contingent of world-class enterprises that can compete on the international stage and develop clusters of enterprises that use special and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products. We will see that enterprises of all forms can give full play to their innovative and entrepreneurial vitality in the process of new industrialization. 

We will work to see state-owned enterprises (SOEs) get stronger, do better, and grow bigger through further reform, reinforcing SOE’s core functions, and bolstering their core competitiveness. We will focus on cultivating a number of manufacturing frontrunners, supporting strategic cooperation and collaboration between major enterprises, and supporting leading enterprises in driving the improvement and integration of industrial chains, innovation chains, and value chains. With this, we will foster a group of first-rate enterprises with the capacity to steer industrial ecosystems and chains.

In promoting the development of SMEs that use special and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products, we will follow the principle of paying equal attention to management and services and to promoting development and providing assistance. We will refine the working, policy and regulation, service, and operations monitoring systems for SMEs. We will strive to foster even more SMEs using special and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products, as well as “little giant” enterprises and single-product champion enterprises in manufacturing. We will also enhance the long-term mechanisms for preventing and resolving overdue payments to SMEs. To promote close collaboration between enterprises of all sizes, we will carry out the “Acting in Concert” initiative to spur collaborative innovation. We will guide large enterprises in providing SMEs with settings and factors for pursuing innovation, thereby promoting in-depth collaboration and comprehensive cooperation between enterprises of all sizes.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 1, 2024)