On March 16, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened a cadre meeting to convey and study the spirit of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sessions, and to deploy implementation measures. The meeting emphasized the need to meticulously carry out key tasks for the year, aiming for a strong start to the "16th Five-Year Plan" period. Key initiatives include launching major engineering projects under the "16th Five-Year Plan," fostering emerging pillar industries such as integrated circuits, aerospace, and biomedicine, establishing mechanisms for increased investment and risk-sharing in future industries, and advancing the construction of new information infrastructure like 5G and intelligent computing with appropriate foresight. The plan also calls for cultivating a group of specialized intelligent agents.
The "16th Five-Year Plan" proposal prioritizes "building a modern industrial system and consolidating the foundation of the real economy" as its primary strategic task, advocating for "a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone." The meeting outlined efforts to fully consolidate the steady and improving trend of the industrial economy. This includes implementing a new round of work plans to stabilize growth in ten key industries and supporting major industrial provinces in playing a leading role. The launch of "16th Five-Year Plan" major engineering projects will be initiated. Policy tools such as ultra-long-term special government bonds and special relending for technological transformation will be utilized to encourage and guide the healthy development of private investment.
"Against the backdrop of accelerated reform measures, this year's industrial economy will continue its trajectory towards higher quality, innovation, and green development," stated Guan Bing, Director of the Industrial Economy Research Institute at the CCID Think Tank. Guan believes that with the initiation of "16th Five-Year Plan" major projects, ongoing optimization of the investment environment, and increased financial support, the growth rate of industrial investment is expected to stabilize gradually.
Focusing on optimizing and upgrading the industrial system, the meeting proposed implementing a renewal action for traditional industries, deploying major technological transformation and upgrade projects, conducting pilot programs for new-type technological transformation in cities, and strengthening the leading role of standards, quality improvement, and brand building. Efforts will be made to nurture and expand emerging and future industries, establish emerging pillars like integrated circuits, aerospace, and biomedicine, and promote mechanisms for increased investment and risk-sharing in future industries.
A relevant official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently stated in an interview that China has achieved new breakthroughs in key tracks of future industries in recent years. Superconducting quantum computers and photonic quantum computers have demonstrated quantum advantage, annual sales of key products like single-atom catalytic materials and atomic-level manufacturing equipment have exceeded 10 billion yuan, laser manufacturing technology has reached the top international tier, and biomanufacturing products are increasingly applied in sectors like pharmaceuticals, health, daily chemicals, cosmetics, and green energy. "These areas possess solid technological accumulation and broad market potential, and are expected to become new benchmarks showcasing the strength of China's manufacturing sector, contributing to the development of new quality productive forces," the official said.
The official noted that future industries are characterized by their forward-looking, strategic, and disruptive nature, requiring the removal of bottlenecks in science and technology, industry, finance, and talent. This involves establishing a regular foresight mechanism for future industry technologies, periodically publishing directories of cutting-edge technologies for攻关, and directing resources like capital and talent precisely to core攻关 areas. Strengthening financial support is crucial to address practical concerns about investment risk, with an emphasis on developing "patient capital." National and local governments could establish special funds for future industries, leveraging government guiding funds to attract more social capital and building a capital support system spanning angel investment, venture capital, to industrial investment.
This year's Government Work Report for the first time proposed "forging a new form of intelligent economy" and specified concrete paths such as "promoting the accelerated adoption of new-generation intelligent terminals and agents," "implementing new infrastructure projects like ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters and computing-power coordination," and "accelerating the development of satellite internet." Aligning with the spirit of the national sessions, the meeting proposed deepening the integration of informatization and industrialization, advancing the construction of new information infrastructure like 5G and intelligent computing with appropriate foresight, and creating an upgraded version of "5G + Industrial Internet." Actions will include a manufacturing digital transformation initiative, deepening the "AI + Manufacturing" action, and cultivating a batch of specialized intelligent agents. The development of satellite internet will be accelerated.
Currently, integrated applications of Industrial Internet in China cover all 41 major industrial categories, with positive progress in the gradient construction of smart factories. 504 exemplary-level smart factories and 1,260 high-level 5G factories have been cultivated. Gu Weixi, Director of the Intelligentization Research Institute at the China Academy of Industrial Internet, believes that nurturing and expanding the new form of intelligent economy must be guided by deepening and expanding "AI+." This involves not only strengthening攻关 in underlying AI technologies and exploring frontiers like embodied intelligence and general intelligence to solidify the technological foundation of the intelligent economy, but also deepening the integrated application of "AI+," particularly in manufacturing and other key sectors. This includes expanding large-scale application scenarios, building high-quality industrial datasets, developing industrial intelligent agents, and using scenario innovation to drive technological iteration, industrial upgrading, and business model innovation. Furthermore, it is essential to cultivate and expand the intelligent industry ecosystem, promote collaborative development between large, medium, and small enterprises, and continuously lower the threshold for intelligent transformation of SMEs.
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