Quality growth tops agenda going forward

Workers conduct quality checks at the factory of an automobile manufacturer in Qingdao, Shandong province, in November. [PHOTO/XINHUA]

Authorities map blueprint to improve products, projects, services for decade

China has mapped out an outline for boosting its strength in product quality, with a view to fostering high-quality development and promoting the country's transformation from a major economy to a stronger one.

The document, which was jointly released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council — the nation's Cabinet — and was made public on Monday, maps out a blueprint for improving the quality of products, projects and services, and specified both short- and long-term strategy implementations over the next decade.

"As China is entering a new stage of high-quality development, carrying out the strategy will help meet people's growing need for better lives, move Chinese industries up to the medium-high end of the global value chain, speed up industrial transformation and upgrading, and promote high-quality development of the manufacturing sector," said Zhou Maohua, an analyst at China Everbright Bank.

Hong Yong, an associate research fellow at the e-commerce research institute of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said the new document marks the country's latest key move to foster high-quality economic development, as it aims to gain a key competitive edge in the global market, accelerate the pace of economic restructuring, improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector and increase consumer satisfaction.

Hong said the new document offers guidance and policy support for companies' future development, which will also help increase their profitability, boost high-quality development of industries, upgrade services and foster sustainable economic and social development going forward.

The nation's targets are that by 2025 the quality of products, projects and services should be significantly improved, and major achievements should be made in brand building in China, according to the document. By then, China's economic structure should be further optimized, the capability for pursuing innovation will be raised notably, major progress should be made in building a modern economic system and the competitiveness of industry quality should be continuously enhanced, it said.

By 2035, the foundation for building China's strength in product quality should become more solid, a culture that values high quality should be cultivated, and the comprehensive strength of China's product quality and brands will be further boosted, according to the document.

Hong highlighted key measures mapped out by the new document, such as guiding the well-regulated development of personalized mobility services, promoting the well-regulated and orderly development of new businesses like online shopping and encouraging integrated development in the retail sector, saying the country attaches great importance to upgrading services.

Yang Jinghao, chief economist at Concat Data Technology (Hangzhou) Co Ltd, said the new document aims to further reduce production costs on the supply side and tap growth potential on the demand side.

Yang said measures such as cultivating high-quality industrial clusters will improve overall quality on the supply side, and steps including upgrading services and improving the offering of consumer goods will help boost domestic demand.

According to the document, the country will make a big push to improve economic quality and efficiency, enhance the competitiveness of industrial quality as well as boost the quality of products and projects, including making breakthroughs in core technologies in low-carbon, zero-carbon and carbon-negative fields, improving product offerings, boosting new types of consumption and accelerating the technological upgrading and quality improvement of traditional manufacturing sectors.

Citing the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Lou Feipeng, senior economist at Postal Savings Bank of China, said improving product quality is in line with the country's larger drive to fully improve international competitiveness and foster high-quality development.

According to the report, China must focus on the real economy in pursuing economic growth, and the country will advance new industrialization and move faster to boost its strength in product quality.

Looking ahead, Lou said more efforts should be made to raise the capability for pursuing technological innovation and cultivate more high-quality talent.