Self-reliance in core technologies brooks no delays

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee has hit the nail on the head by stressing that the country has to strengthen its innovation in science and technology and the resilience of its industrial chains.

At its meeting in Beijing on Saturday, it proposed a special movement to supplement and fortify the industrial chains so as to solve the problems that threaten to seize the country by its throat.

This deployment shows that the decision-makers are clearheaded about the complexity of the external environment, and the still precarious foundation for the country's economic recovery, despite its robust growth momentum. The Chinese economy grew 12.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, and the two-year growth averaged 5.3 percent.

More measures will be carried out according to the instructions of the central authorities in the second half of this year to make the country more self-reliant in key technologies, and the industrial chains more resistible to foreign sanctions.

As a matter of fact, all major economies, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, are making similar efforts to strive for self-reliance in key technologies, and build strong industrial chains at home. Not only because of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the remorseless actions the US administration has been taking to backpedal economic globalization.

While continuously increasing its input in its competitive technologies and industries, China will concentrate more energy and resources in basic research, and try to make breakthroughs in some core technologies and fields where it has long relied on imported technologies and equipment, so as to try and seize the initiative firmly in its own hands at an early date.

This is not the first time the central authorities have addressed the challenge, but this time the Political Bureau has put forward specific requirements requiring greater support for basic research and the development of specialized small and medium-sized enterprises with the aim of forming a group of advantageous enterprises at important nodes of the industrial chain.

These moves will unleash new potential and continue to open up new prospects for development despite the headwinds.