Policies aim to nurture fresh growth engines

China is planning a fresh set of policies to propel growth in the equipment manufacturing sector, focusing on nurturing new growth engines such as new energy vehicles and low-altitude aircraft, amid the country's concerted efforts to promote industrial upgrading and enhance global supply chain resilience, said officials and experts.

The move mirrors the directive to nurture technological innovation to boost the development of new quality productive forces and the establishment of a modern industrial system, which was mapped out at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Monday.

The meeting, which was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, anchored China's key focal points for next year's economic development, as the nation is in a pivotal process of changing its development paradigm from quantity-driven to quality-driven.

The vision is backed by China's ever-stronger equipment manufacturing capability, as reflected in the fact that annual production of new energy vehicles passed the milestone of 10 million units on Nov 14, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, making China the only nation to realize such an achievement.

It took only six years for this figure to grow from 1 million to 10 million, showcasing the nation's unwavering commitment to innovation-driven development.

"Innovation stands as a pivotal force propelling the high-quality advancement of the manufacturing sector, and companies are increasingly assuming central roles in driving innovation," said Li Jinghong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University.

To date, China has built nearly 10,000 digital workshops and smart factories, of which over 400 have developed into national-level intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories. Artificial intelligence, digital twins and other cutting-edge technologies have been applied in more than 90 percent of these demonstration factories, according to a report released at the 2024 World Internet Conference.

In the first 10 months of this year, total output of high-tech manufacturing businesses grew 9.1 percent year-on-year, surpassing the average growth rate of businesses from all industries by 3.3 percentage points, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Businesses are also stepping up efforts to promote green transformation. NBS data showed that the proportion of nonfossil energy consumption increased 2.6 percentage points in the first three quarters, compared with the same period last year, while coal consumption decreased 1.9 percentage points and petroleum use fell 0.9 percentage point.

"Despite China's rapid advancement in the manufacturing sector, challenges persist, notably in balancing innovation investments with operational demands," said Li, the CAS academician. "The substantial investments required for technological innovation exert significant operational pressures on companies, posing dilemmas between long-term innovation and short-term financial sustainability."

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said at a recent conference that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's upcoming policies to further boost manufacturing are expected to strengthen the implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in programs for consumer goods to stimulate consumption of major commodities like automobiles.

Xin said that policies are also underway to proactively foster new growth drivers such as intelligent connected NEVs, low-altitude aircraft and service robots, as well as major technological projects such as machine tools and smart manufacturing systems.

"It is crucial to unlock the innovation capabilities of companies and make full use of the leading role of industry front-runners in research investment and the fostering of practical technologies. Further efforts are also expected to enhance the collaboration among businesses, academia and research institutes," Li said.

Shan Zenghai, chief engineer and vice-president of the listed arm of construction equipment maker Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, said that promoting the renewal of construction machinery equipment can foster new growth points for related businesses such as electronic components and software development, and further propel the high-quality development of the manufacturing sector.

It is expected that policy support for the renewal of construction machinery equipment will be accelerated, while the transformation from traditional fuel-powered construction machinery to equipment powered by new energy sources will be encouraged, the market environment will be continuously optimized, and the coordinated development of the industrial chain will be promoted, he said.

Zhang Xiaolun, chairman of China National Machinery Industry Corp, underscored the importance of machine tools as the foundation of the manufacturing sector. Despite China's dominance in global production and consumption of machine tools, a gap exists in high-end manufacturing in this specific sector, compared with international rivals. Efforts are required to foster a robust industrial ecosystem and propel technological progress, Zhang said.