Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you, Mr. Xin. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify your news outlets before raising questions.

China News Service:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, what measures has the MIIT taken to bolster the manufacturing industry? What is the progress like so far? What are the plans next? Thank you.

Xu Xiaolan:

Thank you for your questions. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's economy has shifted from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Transforming the growth model, optimizing the economic structure, and shifting to new growth drivers have become urgent and pivotal. Given the manufacturing industry's foundational role in the real economy, the MIIT has been implementing the new development philosophy in a complete, accurate and comprehensive manner and further prioritizing the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry. Focusing on the supply-side structural reform, the MIIT has coordinated efforts to strengthen the economic foundation, promote industrial upgrades, develop new growth drivers and improve growth quality to enhance the overall capacity of China's manufacturing sector.

First, the industrial foundation has seen steady improvement. Projects designed to strengthen and reengineer industrial foundations have been carried out. Infrastructure products and materials, such as urban rail transit and electrical equipment, have met domestic needs. We have established 22 national manufacturing innovation centers focusing on power batteries, additive manufacturing, and other fields. We also built two manufacturing innovation centers out of central-local collaboration, more than 200 provincial manufacturing innovation centers, 125 public service platforms for industrial foundations, and 29 key platforms for new materials. 

Second, traditional industries have been transformed and upgraded. We have been proactively and steadily addressing overcapacity and strictly implementing the equivalent or reduced replacement of production capacity. We have cleaned up 140 million metric tons of substandard steel products and cut almost all backward production capacity in industries such as electrolytic aluminum and cement manufacturing. Projects on technology transformation and upgrading have been carried out to support enterprises to transform toward a high-end, intelligent, and green development model. Since 2012, investment in technology transformation has remained stable by consistently accounting for over 40% of the total industrial investment, becoming a crucial force boosting the latter.

Third, emerging industries have been given more support. We formulated a development plan for emerging industries and ramped up support in the fields of technologies, industrial standards, and policies. High-tech and equipment manufacturing has played a bigger part in supporting the manufacturing sector. Key industries, such as new energy vehicles (NEV), smartphones, and consumer drones, have ranked high globally. Service robots have been rolled out in the household services and the medical rehabilitation industry. Orthopedic surgical robots have successfully carried out some 20,000 surgeries.

Fourth, the quality of industrial products has been improved. A special campaign has been launched to increase product variety, improve quality and build brands, and the supply of middle- and high-end products have been remarkably increased. In terms of increasing product variety, products such as functionalized and bio-based fibers are accessible to thousands of households. Smart devices and home appliances not only meet the diversified needs domestically but also gain popularity in overseas markets. In terms of improving product quality, more than 95% of the industrial standards of domestic home appliance and shoe-making sectors meet the international standard. In terms of brand-building, a total of 24 domestic brands in the industry and information technology sector made to the list of the World's 500 Most Influential Brands in 2021, 14 more than in 2012.

Looking forward, the MIIT will ground our efforts in the new development stage, apply the new development philosophy, and work to create a new development pattern. The MIIT will double the efforts to consolidate China's long-established supply chains, complete the industrial system, and stabilize the manufacturing industry's contribution to the economy. The MIIT will coordinate efforts to shore up weak links and give full play to industrial strength, upgrade the industrial base, modernize industrial chains, and steer the manufacturing industry toward the high-end, intelligent upgrade and green transformation.

Thank you.