Industrial robots are operating on an intelligent production line in a smart manufacturing enterprise in Yangzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province. Photo: VCG
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), China’s new industrialization withstood external pressure and challenges and achieved new historic accomplishments, with the country maintaining its position as the world’s largest manufacturer for 15 years straight and a batch of innovations being made in sectors including aviation, biotech and artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Tuesday.
Given China’s standing as a core node in global manufacturing and supply chains, China’s sound development of new industrialization during the 14th Five-Year Plan period also injects valuable confidence and impetus to global economic recovery, Chinese analysts said, stressing China will continue to be a locomotive and major engine for global economic growth.
New historic accomplishments
China’s manufacturing value-added output is expected to have increased by more than 8 trillion yuan ($1.13 trillion) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, contributing over 30 percent of globally growth, Li Lecheng, minister of the MIIT, said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on achievements in new industrialization over the period.
Among the world’s 504 major industrial products, China ranks first in terms of output for most kinds of products, Li said.
China’s industrial and technological innovation has entered a new phase characterized by accelerated “catch-up,” increased “parallel development,” and emerging “leadership” in key fields during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Li said, highlighting major achievements including Chang’e landing on the moon, commercialization of domestically developed large aircraft C919, China’s first domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, entering operation, CR450 bullet train rolling off production line, as well as batch of globally well-known innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum communications.
In 2024, China’s production of new energy vehicles (NEVs) exceeded 13 million, topping the world for 10 consecutive years, while the country’s shipping industry also leads the world in terms of international market. Meanwhile, over the past five years, China has built the world’s largest and most extensive network infrastructure, with over 4.59 million 5G base stations, MIIT data showed.
The policy support, and complete industrial system and globally leading industrial support capability, strong R&D capability and tech innovation system as well as rich human resources and high-level educational resources mainly contributed to the remarkable achievements in China’s new industrialization development, Yu Miaojie, president of Liaoning University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has previously stressed that realizing new industrialization is a key task in China’s pursuit of Chinese modernization to build a stronger country and advance national rejuvenation in the new era.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction on pushing forward new industrialization in 2023.
“New industrialization serves as a ballast stone for the real economy. The accelerated development of new industrialization over the 14th Five-Year Plan period not only creates more jobs and contributes to economic growth, but also boosts China’s value chain and moves upward and maintains the country’s global competitive advantages,” Wan Zhe, an economist and professor at the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.Â
‘Locomotive’ of world growth
China is the world’s second-largest economy, and the accelerated development of its new industrialization not only relates to its own high-quality development but also injects valuable confidence and vitality to a complex and volatile world, Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
“China reported GDP growth rate of 5.3 percent during the first half of the year, with its average contribution rate to global economic growth remaining around 30 percent for years. Given China’s standing of a core node in global manufacturing and supply chains, China will continue to be a locomotive and major engine for global economic growth,” Cao said.
Yu highlighted China’s contribution to global green transition, supply of more affordable high-quality products and the industrial transformation for many other countries, especially countries and regions joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China has established high-quality BRI partnerships with over 150 countries, and backed more than 1,100 projects with about $20 billion in development funding, according to a Xinhua report in January.
“During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), we will continue to coordinate making breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields and rebuilding industrial foundations,” Xin Guobin, vice minister of the MIIT, said at the same conference on Tuesday.
Xin said the ministry will sustainably and systematically arrange technological breakthrough tasks, accelerate the building of a high-quality and efficient major technological equipment system that aligns with market demand, and drive high-end, intelligent, green, and international development of major technological equipment, striving to achieve more outstanding accomplishments.
Looking ahead, the rapid evolution of the international landscape during the 15th Five-Year Plan period creates both challenges and opportunities for China’s manufacturing sector, Wan said. Wan pointed out a series of key tasks, including accelerating the building of modern industrial system, strengthening innovation-driven capabilities, cultivating new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, and strengthening industrial and supply chain systems.
The vast domestic market and the international market facilitated by economic globalization provide broad growth potential for the development of China’s new industrialization, while the continuously improving infrastructure, deepening green and low-carbon development, and tech innovations also create favorable conditions for advancing new industrialization during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Yu said.