ABB banking on innovation momentum

How do you view China's role in the world today?

China's development is closely connected with that of all other countries. I am glad to see that it is becoming more and more actively involved in reforming and improving global governance, and striving to make the global economy more open.

In China, many disruptive technologies have emerged and thrived, such as 5G, ICT, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The country is also now the largest as well as the fastest-growing robotics market.

With the rapid development of innovative technologies in China and the huge amount of data originating from its large and broad economy, the country will play an increasingly important role in the world along with the progress of the fourth industrial revolution.

With China generating abundant opportunities for engineering procurement construction, President Xi Jinping has called for "a community of shared destiny". The Belt and Road Initiative conveys the idea of engaging with China on mutually beneficial terms.

Could China's experiences and practices be used to solve global problems?

China has led the world in many fields. Given its huge economic scale and strong impetus for reform and development, it has more and more solid experience and practices that can be shared with other countries.

For example, China's environmental practices are valuable and adaptable for global sustainable development. The country has the largest electric vehicle user base in the world and has become the fifth nation to announce the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel vehicles.

The government is heavily promoting the adoption of emission-free electric vehicles combined with renewable energy generation.

What measures are needed if China wants to deepen reforms?

In the past five years, China's reform drive has made many breakthroughs in key areas, thanks to the launch of more than 1,500 reform measures, including supply-side reform, State-owned enterprise reform, market access widening, government administration streamlining, and financial, fiscal and taxation reform, among many others.

We expect more reforms to help improve the business environment, which will unlock productivity and increase competitiveness－for example, developing government information system connectivity and connecting information islands.

To compete and succeed on a global scale, connectivity and the free flow of data will be critical. Intelligent communication processes and systems will further foster innovation, and enable organizations and enterprises to capitalize on global digitalization trends.

Apart from economic development, what progress in other fields have you witnessed in China in the past 40 years?

Apart from economic development, China has opened up for trade and foreign investment, liberalized prices, diversified ownership, strengthened property rights, kept inflation under control, and maintained high savings and investment.

China is making great efforts in pushing innovation forward. It is now turning from a follower into a leader in the global innovation arena. In the past five years, China's investment in research and development has grown at an average annual rate of 11 percent, ranking No 2 in the world in scale.

The contribution of technological advances to economic growth has risen from 52.2 percent to 57.5 percent.