Momentum built for future industries

China is set to intensify its push to cultivate new quality productive forces next year, creating abundant opportunities for foreign companies in sectors such as smart connected vehicles, biomanu-facturing and hydrogen energy, policymakers and experts said.

Their comments came ahead of this year's Central Economic Work Conference, which will be closely watched by markets for signals on the economic priorities of 2026, the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.

President Xi Jinping had said that efforts will be made to develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a symposium with non-CPC personages on Dec 3 in Beijing to solicit their opinions and suggestions on this year's economic situation and the economic work for 2026.

Li Lecheng, minister of industry and information technology, said in an exclusive signed article for China Daily that as part of China's broader push to foster new quality productive forces, "we will strategically plan and deploy future-oriented energy and manufacturing industries, including hydrogen energy, energy storage, biomanufacturing and carbon capture, utilization and storage".

The move is also designed to promote the green transition of the country's sprawling manufacturing sector, as the country has built the world's largest new energy industry chain, Li said.

Luo Zhongwei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Industrial Economics, said that "China's new energy industry has developed a competitive edge in the global arena, thanks to its long-term accumulation of core technologies and strong manufacturing capabilities".

"Nothing demonstrates this better than the substantial share held by China's new energy products in the global market. It is technological progress that makes such products so competitive in both performance and price," Luo said.

China meets more than 80 percent and 70 percent of the global demand for photovoltaic modules and wind power equipment, respectively. Meanwhile, over half of the world's electric vehicles run on Chinese roads, according to the ministry.

"On the basis of such a strong foundation, China's drive to develop new quality productive forces such as hydrogen energy and smart-connected vehicles will offer tremendous opportunities to foreign companies," Luo said.

Andreas Urschitz, a member of the management board of Infineon Technologies AG, said the German chipmaker sees golden opportunities in China's drive to nurture new quality productive forces and green transition, which fuels demand for semiconductors in smart vehicles, wind and solar power equipment.

"China's dual carbon goals create a lot of growth potential that can be leveraged for many companies," Urschitz said.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said in an earlier interview with China Daily that China's sharpened focus on cultivating new quality productive forces "is essential", adding that "it is the future".

According to the company, today, more than 90 percent of Apple's manu-facturing in China is powered by renewable energy, and Apple is also deepening cooperation with Chinese suppliers on smart manufacturing.

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University in the United States, said: "China's strength right now is that it is on the cutting edge of many of the most important technology innovations for the future, including low-carbon energy solutions, electric vehicles and many other sectors. All of this will be very good for China's growth in the future."

Broader blueprint

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's plan echoes China's broader blueprint for the next five years. The country plans to nurture industries of the future such as quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion power, brain-computer interfaces, embodied artificial intelligence, and 6G mobile communications, according to the recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan adopted by the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in October.

Zhang Linshan, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said, "As typical representatives of new quality productive forces, these technologies are all at a critical stage of transitioning from the laboratory to industrialization, which holds strategic significance for China to seize the opportunities of the new technological revolution and build long-term competitive advantages."

Pu Songtao, head of future industry research at the China Center for Information Industry Development, said: "It is the first time that key areas of future industry have been proposed as new economic growth points, which represents a significant shift. The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period focused more on the planning level, while this time, it is about strategic implementation."

Progress is already apparent. For instance, the market size of China's biomanufacturing industry is nearing 1 trillion yuan ($141.5 billion), with the manufacturing capacity for fermentation-derived products accounting for over 70 percent of the world's total, data from the ministry showed.

Wu Fuqing, secretary-general of Tsinghua University's Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, said: "Biomanufacturing could reshape traditional manufacturing and revolutionize agricultural farming and cultivation practices. China's development will create numerous opportunities for foreign enterprises."

Contact the writers at masi@chinadaily.com.cn