China to continuously develop new growth drivers, advantages

By Zhong Yin, People’s Daily
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for focusing on high-quality development as the top priority and developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions during the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress, China’s national legislature.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when he participated in a deliberation with fellow lawmakers from east China’s Jiangsu province.
Focusing on the cause of the Party and the country, he expounded on major issues such as developing new quality productive forces. He called for planning major moves to further comprehensively deepen reform and continued efforts to consolidate and strengthen the momentum of economic recovery, which offered important guidance for steadily advancing Chinese modernization.
With innovation playing the leading role, new quality productive forces are advanced productivity in essence, which features high quality.
Over the past year, the Chinese economy has been on a generally sound track of rebound, with the country’s GDP surpassing 126 trillion yuan ($17.5 trillion). China’s modern industrial system has become more robust, witnessing the rapid rise of a number of high-end, intelligent, and environmentally friendly new pillar industries. Significant progress has been made in key and core technologies, with continuous emergence of innovative achievements in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
New quality productive forces have emerged in practice and exhibited their strong role in driving and supporting high-quality development. They will help realize development with a higher level of quality, efficiency, equity, sustainability and security.
Promoting high-quality development concerns the overall progress of China’s socialist modernization. Currently, there are still numerous factors that hinder high-quality development.
New quality productive forces represent the evolutionary direction of advanced productivity. They are shaped by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading, featuring high technology, high efficiency, and high quality.
Developing new quality productive forces is an endogenous requirement and a pivot of high-quality development, and an inevitable choice to promote the iteration and upgrading of productivity and realize modernization.
In the face of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, only by seizing opportunities, intensifying innovation efforts, nurturing and strengthening emerging industries, proactively planning and developing future industries, and improving the modern industrial system, can China accelerate the development of new quality productive forces and continuously shape new driving forces and advantages for development.
Developing new quality productive forces does not mean neglecting or abandoning traditional industries, Xi said. It is necessary to prevent a headlong rush into projects and the formation of industry bubbles, and avoid adopting just a single model of development, he noted.
He stressed developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions, charting the course and providing science-based methods for upgrading traditional industries and promoting high-end, intelligent and green development.
China has a vast territory with diverse regional conditions. When developing new quality productive forces, it is crucial to start from the actual situation. Localities should take into account their own resource endowment, industrial foundation and scientific research conditions in promoting the development of new industries, models and growth drivers in a selective manner.
Reform holds the answers to development issues. Developing new quality productive forces, it is necessary to further comprehensively deepen reform and establish compatible new productive relations.
Xi said it is necessary to build a high-standard socialist market economy system, to improve and implement institutional mechanisms to unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector and to encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector, and deepen reforms in sci-tech, education and talent management systems.
It is also important to foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, he said.
He clarified the strategic focuses and main directions for the major moves to further comprehensively deepen reform.
Looking ahead, China will focus on addressing institutional and systemic barriers that hinder the smooth progress of Chinese modernization, remove obstacles and bottlenecks that impede the development of new quality productive forces, and stimulate the vitality of labor, knowledge, technology, management, capital, and data, among other factors of production.
These efforts will undoubtedly inject strong momentum into promoting high-quality development and advancing Chinese modernization.