Nurturing new growth drivers seen as major economic development priority

As one of the major tasks outlined in this year's government work report, China will foster new growth drivers at a faster pace by intensified efforts to cultivate emerging and future industries, Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday in Beijing.

Delivering the report at the opening of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, Li said China has continued to pursue innovation-driven development over the past year, with the intensity of the country's research and development spending reaching 2.8 percent of GDP, and the added value of core industries in the digital economy rising to account for more than 10.5 percent of GDP.

"We should stay focused on the real economy, develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions and modernize the industrial system," the premier said.

As a key driver for fostering new growth momentum, China will continue to develop emerging industries such as integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine and the low-altitude economy, while also advancing future industries including green energy, quantum technology, embodied intelligence, brain-computer interfaces and 6G, Li said.

Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said this year's report explicitly lists five key directions for future industries, indicating that the country has completed its strategic prioritization of these sectors at the national level.

"This not only provides market players with a clear roadmap for investment, but also helps avoid fragmented resource allocation and redundant construction, ensuring that innovation resources are concentrated in areas of genuine strategic value," Zhu said.

To support these sectors, the country will implement industrial innovation initiatives and encourage central State-owned enterprises to take the lead in making application scenarios more accessible, and mechanisms are expected to be put in place to increase funding and share risks, the government work report showed.

"The report proposes to establish mechanisms to increase investment and share risks in future industries, which is a crucial institutional design that complements the targeted deployment of the listed sectors," Zhu said, adding that future industries are usually characterized by high investment, long development cycles and significant risks, making it difficult for market players alone to achieve rapid breakthroughs.

"By creating mechanisms for risk-sharing and benefit-sharing, it can effectively guide social capital to invest with greater confidence, willingness and long-term commitment, helping to ease funding bottlenecks in tackling key technologies."

According to the report, the country will also strengthen support for specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises and foster more unicorn companies, while developing venture capital and angel investment, with government-backed funds playing a leading role as patient capital to help startups grow into leading technology firms.

lijiaying@chinadaily.com.cn