TCL pushes tech innovation, industrial upgrade

TCL Technology Group Corp is ramping up efforts to bolster industrial upgrading and technological innovation, as part of a broader push to foster new productive forces and advance new industrialization, the top executive of the Chinese consumer electronics maker said.

The essence of nurturing new productive forces lies in promoting high-quality development, said TCL's founder and chairman Li Dongsheng.

Li, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, emphasized that boosting sci-tech innovation, research and development of fundamental technologies and materials, as well as the transformation and upgrade of industries are playing a vital role in the development of new productive forces.

In the past six years, the company has invested more than 60 billion yuan ($8.3 billion) in R&D, with the cumulative number of patents reaching 100,000, he added.

It mainly focuses on three core business segments covering intelligent terminals, semiconductor displays and new energy photovoltaics.

In his proposal to this year's legislative session, Li called for more efforts to further improve the financing environment for high-tech manufacturing enterprises, increase the proportion of direct financing, especially equity financing, and expand financing channels for enterprises.

The high-tech manufacturing sector has played a vital role in bolstering industrial upgrade and cultivating new growth drivers, Li said, adding he has great confidence in the Chinese economy and the country's manufacturing sector over the long run.

Li also suggested promoting the high-quality development of China's high-definition display industry, which is regarded as a strategic emerging industry, by optimizing the environment of the content creation industry and enriching the supply of premium content.

The Central Economic Work Conference held in December urged efforts to promote industrial innovation through sci-tech innovation and, in particular, develop new industries, models and impetus with innovative and cutting-edge technologies, in order to foster new productive forces.

"Being different from traditional productive forces that are mainly driven by labor, land and capital, new productive forces rely more on technological advancement, innovative allocation of production factors and industrial transformation and upgrade," said Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School.

Pan said cultivating new productive forces and accelerating the establishment of a modern industrial system are of great significance in moving the country's manufacturing sector up to the medium-high end of the global value chain and injecting strong impetus into China's high-quality economic development.

China's emphasis on the development of new productive forces is expected to propel the intelligent, green and high-end development of industries, improve the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, and consolidate the economic recovery momentum, Pan added.

"We will continue to make efforts in the fields of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, next-generation display technology and new energy photovoltaics," Li said.

Li further said Chinese enterprises should improve their presence in global industrial and supply chains, speed up localization efforts and strengthen competitiveness in high-end manufacturing globally.