China committed to fueling high-quality development with sci-tech innovations

Intelligent robots work at a plant factory of Sananbio in Anxi County of Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, May 8, 2024. [Xinhua/Wei Peiquan]

BEIJING -- The Chinese leadership has once again demonstrated its determination to develop economic driving forces via sci-tech innovations, according to a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.

The resolution, recently adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, states that high-quality development is the primary task in building China into a modern socialist country in all respects.

It calls for improving the institutions and mechanisms for fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions and pledges to improve policies and governance for strategic industries such as next-generation IT, AI, aviation and aerospace, new energy and new materials.

Some Western media questioned that the key policy session did not introduce strong economic stimulus measures or offer immediate solutions for the decelerating real estate sector, so it cannot bring much hope for an economic upswing.

But remaining committed to the pursuit of high-quality development driven by innovative emerging and future industries actually reflects a responsible, deliberate, and scientific vision for the country's modernization drive.

The high-quality development strategy has already achieved great results. From 2013 to 2023, the added value of the large-scale, high-tech manufacturing industry experienced a robust annual growth rate of 10.3 percent. There was an evident surge in the production of innovative products in 2023, with the output of service robots, solar cells and high-speed trains up 23.3 percent, 54 percent and 63.2 percent respectively compared to the previous year.

Those who doubt China's economic future should come and see what is happening here. Take a tour around, let's say, north China's Shanxi Province, for example, and you may understand why Chinese leaders have made such choices.

Once a typical example of extensive development, Shanxi, known for its rich energy and raw material resources, has long been plagued by resource wastage and environmental degradation. For years, its landscape was exploited and destroyed by coal mines, steel mills, and quarries, with the air quality so poor that coal dust and slag permeated its atmosphere.

In recent years, propelled by technological innovations, Shanxi has embraced the new path of high-quality development. The proportion of its smart coal mining capacity has soared to 54 percent, its installation of wind and solar energy facilities has multiplied, and its new energy vehicle and hydrogen energy industrial chains have improved. The low-carbon transformation has restored blue skies and clean waters and generated a wealth of new development opportunities.

"Stone Age," a local stone processing firm, once encountered a reduced demand for stone materials amid the slowdown in the real estate industry. In response, it chose to cooperate with scientific researchers and turned limestone into a new promising and lucrative nanomaterial that can be widely applied in industries like rubber production and paper-making.

Pulling through the early challenges of transformation under the support of local incentive policies, many traditional enterprises like "Stone Age" in China have successfully upgraded their technologies and products, gaining new competitive edges. Meanwhile, a wave of tech unicorns has emerged, leading the way in new industries and business models.

An aerial drone photo taken on May 30, 2024 shows the Datong Coal Mining Subsidence Area National Advanced Technology Photovoltaic Demonstration Base in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province. [Xinhua/Liu Tianyu]

High-quality development not only is key to China's modernization but also presents abundant opportunities for foreign businesses, fueling global economic recovery.

More foreign firms are setting up R&D and innovation centers in China, boosting foreign investment in high-tech manufacturing. Notable examples include Tesla's energy storage mega factory in Shanghai, Volkswagen's intelligent vehicle R&D center in Hefei, Anhui Province, and AstraZeneca's planned new small molecule factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. Experts believe it reflects their strategic shift from "Made in China" to "Created in China."

While China keeps its doors open for cooperation to create a win-win situation, the United States, however, persistently attempts to disrupt high-tech collaboration between China and the rest of the world, aiming to hinder China's progress and secure its dominance in science and technology.

This photo taken on Dec. 22, 2023 shows Megapack units at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory in east China's Shanghai. [Xinhua/Fang Zhe]

Faced with the tech blockade, China is determined to build self-reliant and risk-controllable industrial and supply chains. The newly-adopted resolution urged bolstering key industrial chains, including integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, medical equipment, basic software and industrial software, which cannot be achieved without sci-tech innovations.

In order to uphold a stable environment for sci-tech advancement, the resolution proposes a series of reform measures to support all-around innovation, such as improving the management of sci-tech plans and reinforcing the principal role of enterprises in innovation.

Some Western media distorted China's innovation policies, assuming they're driven by ideological directives rather than market signals, which is a total misconception.

China's decision makers never overlooked the market's importance. As highlighted in the resolution, they are committed to using the nation's enormous market to guide innovation, optimize resource coordination, and encourage the synergy between scientific and industrial advancements. Undoubtedly, market needs and industry growth are essential to the innovation agenda.

Enterprises have always been the backbone of China's tech innovation, propelling the evolution of new quality productive forces. The resolution advocates for nurturing leading tech firms and deepening industry-academia-research collaboration. It also empowers scientists with enhanced authority over deciding on technology roadmaps, spending funds and allocating resources. Thus, it may maximize the creativity of both businesses and individuals.

China's deepening tech reforms have kept channeling innovation resources and talents toward businesses and resulted in a steady rise in the number of tech firms. By 2023, corporate-invented patents accounted for over 70 percent of all valid domestic patents in China. Additionally, in the first half of this year, China took the lead globally by adding 32 new companies to the list of the world's top 500 unicorns.

The role of policies cannot be downplayed, either. Without policy backing, innovation's full potential wouldn't be unleashed, nor would its momentum be rapidly harnessed, both of which are crucial for China's high-quality development and modernization drive.  

The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.