China confident of achieving further recovery in industrial sector: minister

BEIJING - China is confident of sustaining a recovery in the industrial economy in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year, which is expected to help foster an overall economic upturn, according to a Chinese official.

"China's industrial system boasts extensive scale and comprehensive categories, with strong resilience and potential," said Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong in an interview with Xinhua, adding that with the measures to stabilize the economy taking effect, the upward trend is expected to be further consolidated in Q4.

Defying the complex and challenging external situation, China's industrial sector has been recovering steadily this year, with improved production, optimized structure and strengthened confidence, according to the official.

Profits of major industrial firms surged 11.9 percent year-on-year in September, logging double-digit growth for two consecutive months. In the first nine months, the value-added industrial output registered a 4 percent year-on-year growth, with that of the manufacturing sector climbing 4.4 percent from a year earlier.

From January to September, 178 national high-tech industrial development zones across the nation achieved a total industrial output value of 23.5 trillion yuan ($3.22 trillion).

To stabilize the growth of the industrial sector, Jin said the Chinese government has focused on stimulating both the supply and demand sides, releasing concrete plans to support the steel, electrical equipment, electronic information manufacturing, and other key industries in shoring up the industrial economy.

In the first eight months of the year, over 1.15 trillion yuan of tax and fee payments were rebated, deducted, or deferred, with the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefitting the most from tax relief, Jin said.

Partially driven by the policy package, positive signs have also emerged in the operational situation of SMEs, he added. In September, power consumption by small and micro firms grew 9.4 percent year-on-year, while the sub-index of purchasing managers' index for the SMEs came in at 50.6, rising for two months in a row.

Jin said in the next step, the ministry will move to ensure the pro-growth measures are implemented on the ground, call on major industrial provinces to play a leading role and leverage their strengths to meet the objectives set for growth, and better expand demand.

Prioritizing fostering new edges, the ministry will draw up action plans for key industries and areas to promote their digitalization and advance the building of new information infrastructure such as 5G and gigabit optical networks, the official said.

Efforts should also go into nurturing the emerging industries including advanced computing and intelligent networked vehicles and taking forward-looking steps to map up future industries such as 6G, humanoid robots and the metaverse, the official added.

In regard to invigorating the traditional manufacturing industries, the ministry will take steps to get rid of outdated capacities and scale down overcapacities, and promote the green development of the manufacturing industry, Jin said.