As the first half of 2025 concludes, marking the initial phase of the 15th Five-Year Plan, new development opportunities and emerging growth drivers are solidifying China's economic foundation. Starting August 3rd, the program "Focus Interview" launched a series titled "The Power of a New Beginning," exploring these changes from the frontlines of industry.
This year, China's manufacturing exports feature an increasing number of new categories. In previous years, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells were hailed as the "new three" export pillars. Now, in the first half of 2025, robotics, artificial intelligence, and innovative drugs—representing future industries—are rising as the "new-new three" and becoming a fresh symbol of China's foreign trade. The question arises: how do these "new-new three" differ from the "old three" (garments, furniture, appliances) and the "new three"?
In the first half of 2025, amid a complex global environment, China's foreign trade surpassed expectations, with total import and export volume exceeding 25 trillion yuan for the first time in a historical period, solidifying its position as the world's top trading nation. The "new-new three"—robotics, AI, and innovative drugs—are emerging as a new trademark for Chinese trade. The evolution from the "old three" to the "new three" and now to the "new-new three" reflects not just a change in product categories but a systemic leap in independent innovation capabilities.
Chen Yutao, Deputy Director of the Standards Committee of the China Enterprise Confederation, noted, "The shift from the 'old three' to the 'new three' demonstrates our move from cost advantages to advanced manufacturing capabilities. The transition to the 'new-new three' is a concentrated expression of moving from advanced manufacturing to a holistic innovation ecosystem."
This year, the AI industry has accelerated, with China exporting algorithms, computing power, and digital solutions globally, while AI hardware exports grow rapidly. Under the global AI wave, massive data streams run between data centers day and night. The transmission relies on optical communication networks composed of core components like optical fibers, modules, and components. In a fiber optics company in Wuhan's Optics Valley, production lines are running at full capacity.
Wen Xiaojiang, General Manager of YOFC's International Company, stated, "Specialty optical fibers for AI computing centers are in high demand due to the data center explosion, causing supply to fall short of demand."
Facing a surge in global computing power demand, the company's ability to handle orders stems from years of technological preparation. China's first practical optical fiber was born in Wuhan in the 1970s. Over half a century, Wuhan Optics Valley has built an industrial cluster covering materials, components, and equipment. Now, over 800 AI companies are based here, with the optoelectronic information industry's annual output value exceeding 660 billion yuan. The tiny components require extremely high precision, often controlled within microns, demanding long-term process experience and sustained R&D investment.
For AI computing scenarios, YOFC has developed a series of "AI computing fiber" products. These breakthroughs have placed China at the forefront of next-generation optical fiber technology and offered new technical options for global computing infrastructure.
Zheng Xin, Vice President of Yangtze Optical Fibre And Cable Joint Stock Limited Company, said, "When developing this fiber, we didn't necessarily think it would be used for AI a decade later. We researched it because we found the concept advanced and needed to reserve this technology, perhaps for widespread use in some future scenario. Sure enough, when the AI wave arrived, this fiber was ready for those who were prepared."
Chen Yutao added, "Over the years, through national science and technology major projects and industrial development plans, we have laid a solid foundation. When the AI explosion came, this foundation brought opportunities for a new round of industrial growth and development of new productive forces."
The rise of the "new-new three" relies heavily on China's strong high-end manufacturing and industrial clusters. Chinese robotics, with its complete industrial ecosystem and scenario deployment capabilities, is becoming a global leader in the intelligence wave. At a robotics company in Beijing's Zhongguancun, the overseas business manager is video-calling with a Thai agent, adjusting technical solutions to meet various scenario needs and customize the most suitable products for the local market.
Founded in 2014, this robotics company, backed by years of technical reserves and service capabilities, now covers over 40,000 hotels globally, more than 200 medical institutions, and numerous factories, buildings, and retail outlets, exporting to over 20 countries and regions. Using a split architecture, it flexibly combines universal robot chassis with various functional components. Users can issue voice or text commands via an AI agent on their phones to dispatch robots for multiple service tasks. In this company, robots are not just developed products but daily life companions for employees.
In the first half of 2025, China exported a total of 12.947 million units of various robots, valued at 24.85 billion yuan, reaching over 160 countries and regions. Leveraging the world's richest application scenarios and complete industry chain advantages, more Chinese companies are providing smarter, more cost-effective robots to global customers.
While AI and robotics exports deliver products and systemic services, the innovative drugs among the "new-new three" focus more on exporting patents and basic R&D capabilities. In the first half of 2025, 31 domestically developed innovative drugs were approved for market in China, with two originating from the Pharmaceutical Port in Hangzhou's Qiantang New Area. Over the past decade, this area, covering only about 6 square kilometers, has gathered over 300 innovative drug companies. Besides approved drugs, many are in clinical trials, and some companies have already gained overseas revenue through drug patent licensing before sales.
Qian Lili, Chairman of TJ Biologics, said, "Ten years ago, these products had to be launched overseas first, then imported to China for redevelopment and domestic approval. Now, we develop our own products and license their rights to overseas companies. One of our R&D products is a CD38 monoclonal antibody. It has completed Phase III trials in China. This year, we completed a BD transaction with Biogen in the US, worth $850 million, with a $100 million upfront payment."
BD refers to business development in the innovative drug field. Chinese local pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs and cooperate with global partners through out-licensing, joint development, and other methods to jointly advance new drug R&D, launch, and sales, bringing innovations to broader international markets. This is a key way for Chinese innovative drugs to go global. In the first half of 2025, the total value of Chinese innovative drug out-licensing transactions exceeded $100 billion, a new record high, covering 10 treatment areas including oncology, metabolism, immunology, and neurology, making China's industry scale second globally.
In fermenters, cells grow, divide, and multiply in culture media, secreting antibodies needed for drug production. The cell culture medium, containing dozens of substances, is a core raw material for biopharmaceuticals. Previously, this cost alone reached tens of millions of dollars annually, but now, domestically developed culture media cost only a quarter of the former price. These positive changes—continuous cost reduction, process optimization, and sustained basic research and talent development—are accelerators for the successful development and global expansion of innovative drugs.
Accelerated R&D and faster review and approval processes allow domestic innovative drugs to reach the market quickly, benefiting patients earlier and enriching the "weapons arsenal" for doctors. Shen Lin, Director of the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Peking University Cancer Hospital, said, "We now have more confidence. The pace of new drug development has significantly increased. Companies are paying more attention to the needs of the Chinese population. We first meet domestic demands, then go global. With products, clinical needs, and national policy support, multiple forces together are driving progress in the innovative drug field."
Liu Guoen, Dean of Peking University's Global Health and Development Institute, added, "The explosive growth of Chinese innovative drugs is an inevitable result of long-term accumulation over decades. The overseas market is a necessary path for innovative enterprises. I expect that for a considerable period to come, going global and internationalization will be the biggest highlight of our innovation journey."
During research, many shared their "unexpected" experiences: The long-established optical fiber company never anticipated the demand surge from the AI explosion; the robotics company didn't foresee so many customized requests from global clients; and professionals in innovative drugs never imagined that established overseas pharmaceutical companies would, within a decade, make a 180-degree shift to actively seek R&D cooperation. A key takeaway is that the "new-new three" represent not just a few new export products, but a new systemic capability cultivated through decades of exploration in Chinese manufacturing. This change is not a minor adjustment to the export list, but a qualitative upgrade in China's industrial logic heading into the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
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