New quality productive forces sought

China's emphasis on developing new quality productive forces based on local conditions and accelerating the establishment of a modern industrial system will provide strong momentum for long-term economic growth while enhancing the resilience and competitiveness of its industrial and supply chains, national legislators, political advisers and experts said.

They called for efforts to boost enterprises' independent innovation capabilities, achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields and drive industrial upgrades by integrating cutting-edge digital technologies with the real economy.

Their comments followed the release of this year's Government Work Report, which states that China will pursue integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation, push forward new industrialization, and expand and strengthen advanced manufacturing to foster new growth drivers and upgrade traditional ones.

"The cultivation of new quality productive forces is a key focus in promoting high-quality economic growth and a strategic choice in the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation," said Zhou Yunjie, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and chairman and CEO of Chinese home appliance manufacturer Haier Group.

Zhou said the industrial internet, as a new type of infrastructure, has played a pivotal role in driving the development of new quality productive forces, advancing new industrialization and accelerating the digital transformation and upgrading of enterprises.

As China strives to become a manufacturing powerhouse, more efforts are needed to promote the innovative application of the industrial internet and fully unlock the value of massive data resources, Zhou said.

He added that Haier will continue to pursue technological innovation and integrate artificial intelligence technology with the manufacturing sector.

Cao Peng, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of e-commerce giant JD's technology committee, said, "Scientific and technological innovation is the core element for nurturing new quality productive forces, while digital technologies represented by AI have become an important engine driving their development."

Cao called for accelerating the construction of computing power infrastructure to expand the application of large language models across more fields and lower computing costs for enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized ones.

Luo Zhongwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Industrial Economics, said, "Fostering new growth drivers and upgrading traditional industries by leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies such as AI, 5G and big data have been high on China's development agenda."

Luo said China has sent a clear signal that it will further implement an innovation-driven development strategy to shift from old growth drivers to new ones. He emphasized the importance of developing new quality productive forces based on local conditions and avoiding blind investments in specific fields.

China's move to accelerate the building of a modern industrial system will support the intelligent, high-end and green transformation of traditional industries, consolidate economic recovery and bolster the country's ability to navigate external challenges and uncertainties, Luo said.

The Government Work Report also said China will promote the integrated and clustered development of strategic emerging industries, establish a mechanism to increase funding for industries of the future and foster sectors such as biomanufacturing, quantum technology, embodied AI and 6G technology.

Dong Mingzhu, a deputy to the 14th NPC and chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances, said manufacturing enterprises must strengthen their independent innovation capacities in cutting-edge technologies and continuously improve the quality of products and services to foster new quality productive forces.

Li Dongsheng, a deputy to the 14th NPC and founder and chairman of consumer electronics company TCL Technology Group, said, "Chinese enterprises should play a bigger role in boosting technological innovation."

He said TCL will strengthen its innovative capabilities in original technologies and increase investment in AI, augmented reality, virtual reality and next-generation display technologies.

Advancing new quality productive forces requires further stimulating technological innovation, continuously investing in scientific research and talent development and supporting the intelligent transformation of industries, Li said.