Shanxi urged to upgrade its industries

President Xi Jinping has called on North China's Shanxi province to further promote the transformation and development of the resource-based economy and strive to write its own chapter in advancing Chinese modernization.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during his inspection of the province on Monday and Tuesday.

The inspection tour took him to Yangquan, a city renowned for its coal mining heritage, and Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

Shanxi is one of the regions with the highest concentration of resource-based cities in China. For a long time, its economic development relied on coal mining. To implement the low-carbon development strategy, the province is striving to build itself into a national pilot zone for overall reform for the transformation of the resource-based economy.

While hearing the work report by the provincial authorities on Tuesday morning in Taiyuan, Xi urged Shanxi to steadily promote transformation and development of the traditional industry in an orderly manner, with a focus on energy transition, industrial upgrading and moderately diversified development of its economy.

He underlined the need for the province to upgrade the coal industry and transform coal from a primary fuel to a high-value product, while ensuring the country's coal supply.

Efforts should be made to build Shanxi into the nation's important energy and raw material base at a higher level, and shape a new type of energy system supporting the development of wind power, photovoltaic power and hydrogen energy, he said.

Xi highlighted the need to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and plan emerging and future industries based on local conditions to gradually form a modern industrial system reflecting Shanxi's characteristics and comparative advantages.

He also urged the province to make good use of conditions for diversified development, optimize its business environment, stimulate the vitality of market entities, and better transform the strength in resources into a development advantage.

Xi emphasized that efforts must be made to ensure security and stability during the process of promoting transformation and development, with an emphasis on ensuring the stability of employment, enterprises, markets and expectations.

In recent years, China has been working to transform and upgrade traditional industries to promote high-quality economic growth. During his inspection tours nationwide, Xi has urged various regions to develop new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions and make greater progress in industrial transformation.

Zhang Li, president of the China Center for Information Industry Development, said that accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is not only an important step to enhance the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, but also a necessary requirement for the country to promote the new type of industrialization and step up construction of a manufacturing powerhouse.

In the new circumstances, China must persist in promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, nurturing and expanding emerging industries, and simultaneously developing future industries, Zhang said in an article published in the latest issue of Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.

"Only by doing so can we consolidate and enhance the leading position of advantageous industries and the competitiveness of the whole industry, and keep a competitive edge globally," he said.

During his tour in Yangquan on Monday, Xi visited Yangquan Valve Co, where he inspected the company's production workshop and products display, and had a conversation with workers at the site.

He said that traditional manufacturing is an important part of the real economy, and it is essential to target market demand and strengthen technological innovation to revitalize the traditional industry.

Xi told the company's employees that China's industrial development used to rely on physical labor, but today it relies on advanced technology and equipment to improve productivity. He expressed the hope that they would continue to work hard and make greater contributions to building a strong manufacturing country.

Zhao Zihao, an information technology specialist at the company, said he was inspired by Xi's remarks on revitalizing traditional industry with intelligent technologies.

"President Xi encouraged us, particularly the younger generation of workers, to leverage our strength in expertise to drive industrial transformation," Zhao said.

"He placed trust and confidence upon us. I feel a strong sense of responsibility."