Interview: China to accelerate promotion of new industrialization, says minister

BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- China is mulling efforts to promote new industrialization at a faster pace to provide solid support for the advancement of Chinese modernization, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong has said.

The country will accelerate the development of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone, promote deeper integration of the real economy and the digital economy, improve the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, and promote the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Jin said in an interview with Xinhua.

Jin said the country will carry out major technological upgrading and large-scale equipment upgrading projects in the manufacturing sector and enhance the competitiveness of the whole industrial chain in areas such as intelligent connected new-energy vehicles and lithium batteries.

New growth engines such as bio-manufacturing, commercial aerospace and the low-altitude economy, and new fields including humanoid robots, 6G and atomic-level manufacturing, will be developed, said Jin.

Noting that China's digital industry reported a total revenue of 32.5 trillion yuan (about 4.57 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023, Jin said the country will accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, promote the new industrialization enabled by artificial intelligence, and develop a new generation of information technology industries in fields such as integrated circuits, industrial software and satellite internet.

He added that the country will promote high-quality development of the information and communications industry, promoting the application of 5G, gigabit optical networks and mobile Internet of Things, among others.

Jin pointed out that although China has built a large-scale, comprehensive and competitive industrial system, the adverse impact of changes in the external environment is increasing, and the problems such as key and core technologies being controlled by others and a weak industrial foundation have not yet been fundamentally solved.

He noted the urgency of improving the resilience and safety of industrial and supply chains.

China will accelerate efforts to build independent and controllable industrial and supply chains in key areas such as integrated circuits and medical equipment, said Jin.

China has so far cultivated 12,000 "little giant" firms, which refers to the novel elites of SMEs that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market and boast cutting-edge technologies, Jin said, adding that the ministry will support the digital transformation and healthy growth of these firms.