Impressive Results Achieved in the Development of China’s Basic Industries and Infrastructure

China has achieved impressive results in the development of basic industries and infrastructure, continuously strengthening its capacity for industrial and agricultural production and energy supply. The unprecedented scale and speed at which it has invested in infrastructure has helped ensure a solid material and technological underpinning for economic and social development. 

Industrial and agricultural production capacity has increased dramatically, turning China into the world’s largest producer of major products

When the PRC was first founded, our industries were relatively limited in scope, and major industrial and agricultural products were in short supply. Driven by rapid industrial and agricultural development, grain production capacity has risen steadily. Total grain output increased from 113.2 million metric tons in 1949 to 695.4 million metric tons in 2023. China now leads the world in the output of grain, meat, fruits, and other agricultural products. 

Moreover, our country has built an independent and comprehensive modern industrial system equipped with a full range of industries. The added value of our manufacturing has ranked first globally for 14 consecutive years, and we lead the world in the production of over 40% of the world’s 500 major industrial products.

We have continued to improve the national comprehensive and multidimensional transportation network and have moved into the lead in the construction of modern infrastructure 

China was hindered by its antiquated and inadequate transportation infrastructure when the PRC was founded in 1949. Tireless efforts since then have seen it building the world’s largest high-speed railway network, expressway network, and world-class ports. China leads the world in passenger and freight transport volume and port cargo throughput. 

At the end of 2023, the length of operating railways reached 159,000 kilometers, a six-fold increase on 1949; the length of highways reached 5.44 million kilometers, representing a 66-fold increase for the same period. China's international logistics channels have expanded constantly, with the number of China Railway Express (CR Express) trips between Chinese and European destinations in 2023 rising nearly 10-fold compared to 2016.

Remarkable results have been registered in postal and telecommunications development, and China has become a leader in information and communications networks

In the early years of the PRC, China’s postal and telecommunications networks were limited in scale and inefficient. In the 75 years since then, we have put in place the world’s largest postal express delivery network and fiber-optic and mobile broadband network. By the end of 2023, there were 468,000 postal service branches nationwide, the total length of fiber-optic cable lines had reached 64.32 million kilometers, and the number of internet access ports had risen to 1.14 billion.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, speed and efficiency have improved throughout the postal and telecommunications sector. From 2013 to 2023, revenue in the postal sector grew at an annual average rate of 20.4%. China has become a global leader in the construction of 5G networks, accounting for 60% of all base stations worldwide by the end of 2023.

The quality and quantity of energy supply have been increased, and our capacity to ensure energy security has been markedly enhanced

Over the course of 75 years, China has gradually formed a diversified supply system driven by coal, oil, gas, nuclear, new energy sources, and renewable energy. Primary energy production increased from 20 million tons of standard coal in 1949 to 4.83 billion tons in 2023. During this time, raw coal output also rose from 30 million tons to 4.71 billion tons, crude oil production from 120,000 tons to 210 million tons, natural gas output from 10 million cubic meters to 232.4 billion cubic meters, and electricity output from 4.3 billion kilowatt-hours to 9.5 trillion kilowatt-hours. All of these improvements have helped turn China into the world’s largest energy producer. 

The transformation of energy technologies has been steadily advanced, with rapid development of clean energy. China has built the world’s largest clean energy production and supply system, and its installed renewable energy capacity accounts for nearly 40% of the global total. Clean energy consumption from sources such as natural gas and primary electricity increased from 3.1% of all energy consumption in 1957 to 26.4% in 2023.

Editor: Yi Xiaowei

Excerpts from “Opening a New Chapter After 75 Years of Development” by the CPC Leadership Group of the National Bureau of Statistics, Qiushi Journal, English edition, No. 6, 2024