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E-mail China.org.cn, February 25, 2025
Dazhong Daily:
Over the past year, the central government placed great emphasis on cultivating new quality productive forces. As regions and departments have implemented various measures, what tangible results do the data show in terms of new quality productive forces driving high-quality economic development? Thank you.
Kang Yi:
Thank you for your question. Developing new quality productive forces is both an essential requirement and a key focus for promoting high-quality development. In 2024, various parties actively promoted the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation. The effort advanced industries' high-end, intelligent and green development while facilitating the transformation of technological creativity into social productivity. China's new quality productive forces have been developing steadily, injecting continuous momentum into high-quality development. Specifically, this was evident in several areas:
First, innovation capacity was further strengthened. We rapidly improved the fundamental systems and institutions supporting comprehensive innovation. We also continuously advanced the construction of major science and technology infrastructure. New progress was achieved in integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, quantum communications, aerospace and other fields. The Chang'e 6 probe achieved a historic first by collecting samples from the far side of the moon. The Meng Xiang, China's first domestically designed and built deep-ocean drilling vessel, explored the deep ocean. These achievements represent China's latest technological milestones. China's Global Innovation Index ranking for 2024 rose to 11th place, making it one of the fastest-improving economies in innovation over the past decade. Research and development investment continued to climb, with R&D intensity reaching 2.68% in 2024, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous year. Basic research funding grew even faster, rising 10.5% and accounting for 6.91% of total R&D spending.
Second, emerging industries saw further expansion. Emerging industries, such as high-end equipment and AI, showed positive development trends, and new pillars of the industrial system gradually took shape. In 2024, the value added of high-tech manufacturing above designated size grew by 8.9% compared to the previous year. Notably, both aerospace equipment manufacturing and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing saw double-digit growth in value added. The continuous emergence of new market demand spurred the production of more high-quality goods. In 2024, high-end manufacturing industries saw significant growth, with the value added by smart consumer device production increasing by 10.9% year on year. Notably, the value added of smart vehicle equipment manufacturing and smart unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing industries increased by 25.1% and 53.5%, respectively.
Third, traditional industries were further upgraded. China has been accelerating the advancement of technological transformation and equipment renewal in the industrial sector, continuously promoting the revitalization of traditional industries. In 2024, investment in technological upgrades in the manufacturing sector increased by 8% year on year, significantly faster than the growth rate of overall investment. As key areas for the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries, the raw materials industry and the level of process technology and equipment steadily improved, and the green digital transformation accelerated. In 2024, the energy consumption per unit of value added decreased year on year in major energy-consuming industries above designated size. These industries included chemicals, building materials, steel and non-ferrous metals. By the end of 2024, the numerical control rate of key processes in these raw material industries exceeded 75%, achieving the target set by the 14th Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule.
Fourth, the digital economy experienced further growth. The continuous development of digital technology, infrastructure, and resources, coupled with the digital economy's empowerment of various industries, has become a key driver and support for developing new quality productive forces. In 2024, the value added of digital product manufacturing above designated size grew significantly faster than that of industrial enterprises above designated size. The value added of the information transmission, software and information technology services industries increased by 10.9% compared to the previous year. New digital consumption models and scenarios continued to expand, driving a 6.5% increase in online retail sales of physical goods. The construction of network infrastructure, such as 5G and gigabit optical networks, steadily advanced. By the end of November 2024, China had 4.19 million 5G base stations. The first "Eastern Data and Western Computing" 400G all-optical interprovincial backbone network officially began commercial operation, creating a high-speed computing power channel.
Fifth, green development made further achievements. China continued to advance its transition to a green, low-carbon economy, achieving significant progress in new energy development. The country has established a complete, internationally competitive new energy industrial chain. The energy sector is rapidly transitioning to green energy, with clean energy sources accounting for an increasing share of power generation. In 2024, hydropower, nuclear, wind, and solar power generation in China's industrial enterprises above designated size reached 32.6% – nearly a third of the total.
In addition, China continued actively investing in future industries in 2024, with quantum technology and the low-altitude economy rapidly moving towards realization. Origin Wukong, China's independently developed third-generation superconducting quantum computer, was put into operation. The market size for humanoid robots also continued to expand, with various sectors accelerating their efforts to seize new economic development opportunities. New quality productive forces are continuously empowering high-quality development.
Thank you.
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