SCIO briefing on promoting high-quality development during 15th Five-Year Plan period

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Building a modern industrial system is the top priority of the 15th Five-Year Plan and is crucial to overall economic and social development. What are the key considerations for advancing the construction of a modern industrial system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period? Thank you.

Wang Changlin:

Mr. Fu Jiuling will answer this question.

Fu Jiuling:

Thank you for your question. A modern industrial system is a vital material foundation and a reflection of a country's overall strength. By 2025, China's manufacturing sector had remained the world's largest for 16 consecutive years, grain production had achieved 22 consecutive years of bumper harvests, service sector value added had exceeded 80 trillion yuan, the comprehensive transport network had surpassed 6 million kilometers, and total electricity consumption had for the first time exceeded 10 trillion kilowatt-hours. These are remarkable achievements.

The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial stage for consolidating these foundations and stepping up efforts. As you noted, building a modern industrial system bears on the country's overall economic and social development and has been placed at the top of the priority list. The priority now is turning plans into action. Going forward, we will focus on the following areas.

First, we will take a holistic approach. The main components of a modern industrial system include modern industry, agriculture, services and infrastructure. These can be seen as the core pillars of a modern industrial system, forming an integrated whole. Of these, modern industry is the most critical foundation and core, and the overall modernization of the industrial system depends largely on the modernization of its industrial sector.

Second, we will strengthen coordination. A modern industrial system is not a simple patchwork of industries but a complete system with internal organic connections and complementary functions. It requires properly managing relationships between industries, regions, enterprises of all sizes, and upstream and downstream sectors, while applying coordinated efforts across supply and demand, entity development and factor support to achieve a high level of alignment and balance. A crucial point is deepening the integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services. Without specialized, high-end producer services, manufacturing cannot advance to the next level. Much attention is paid to shifts in the size of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, but quality improvement matters just as much.

Third, we will accelerate the development of advanced manufacturing. Building a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone is a top priority. The next step will focus on promoting high-end, intelligent and green development in manufacturing. On high-end development, China is the world's largest manufacturing nation but still faces structural challenges, including insufficient brand influence and low total factor productivity. In terms of intelligent development, we must seize the opportunities presented by AI to drive industrial advancement. At the same time, the goal of intelligent development is to improve efficiency, not simply to replace workers. The right policy balance must be struck. In terms of green development, reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality are solemn commitments of the Chinese government and represent a proactive choice for industrial upgrading. Of course, achieving these goals will require considerable effort.

Fourth, we will work to expand capacity and improve quality in the service sector. In early April, at a critical moment in the early stages of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the CPC Central Committee convened the national conference on the service sector, where General Secretary Xi Jinping issued important instructions outlining the great significance, guiding principles and key tasks of developing the service sector. We must fully grasp the intentions of the CPC Central Committee, view the service sector from a strategic and big-picture perspective, maintain a problem-oriented approach and drive capacity expansion and quality improvement across the service sector in a tiered and categorized manner. Going forward, the NDRC will work with relevant parties to study, publicize and implement the general secretary's important instructions and the spirit of the national conference on the service sector through a series of measures. Thank you.