Driving force and support for high-quality development

This year’s Government Work Report places promoting the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces at the top of the government’s top 10 annual tasks.

China can take advantage of its huge industrial system, advanced digital infrastructure system, and ultra-large-scale market digitization to promote the green economy, digitalization, and intelligence, and develop new quality productive forces. Developing new quality productive forces is to use technological innovation to promote industrial innovation, especially cuttingedge technologies to develop strategic emerging industries, cultivate future industries, and form new growth momentum.

Traditional industries and new quality productive forces are not antagonistic to each other, and new quality productive forces are not a cure-all. China should also pay attention to innovation in traditional industries and achieve coordinated development and mutual promotion of new quality productive forces and traditional productive forces.

The country can use new technologies to transform and upgrade traditional industries, promote high-end, intelligent, and green industries, and coordinate the upgrading of traditional industries, the growth of emerging industries, and the cultivation of future industries.

Yet the development of new quality productive forces must not be regarded as a “basket” in which everything can be put, and the policymakers must prevent them from being rushed into becoming bubbles. The development of new quality productive forces must be realistic, adapt to local conditions and closely combine local resource endowments, industrial foundations and scientific research conditions.

At present, some regions and enterprises in China actually lack the resources and foundation to develop new quality productive forces. Some regions that lack a basic foundation should not package traditional investment projects on the grounds of developing new quality productive forces. Instead, they should prioritize the use of existing digital technologies and encourage and promote innovation, production efficiency and good management. China’s brand transformation should be based on accelerating the increase of traditional productive forces rather than a blind pursuit of new conceptual ideas before they are correctly understood.

New quality productive force mainly comes from true originality and endogenous impetus. The key is whether the country can create the necessary institutional soil and policy environment suitable for the boom of new quality productive forces. Local governments should have a right understanding of the nature of the task, and refrain from turning the long-term efforts into a shortsighted campaign.

Only by actively developing new quality productive forces can we bring more development space and higher competitiveness to the future, and form a strong innovation support for traditional industries.