By He Yin, People’s Daily
According to statistics recently released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the value-added output of the country’s “three new” economy, referring to new industries, new business formats and new business models, reached 25.79 trillion yuan ($3.82 trillion), up 6.2 percent year on year.
The growth rate exceeded the current-price GDP growth rate by 2.2 percentage points, and the sector’s share of China’s total GDP rose to 18.39 percent.
The steady expansion of the “three new” economy reflects China’s ongoing transition toward high-quality development. It also provides a source of certainty and momentum for the global economic recovery, which remains fragile and challenged by weakening traditional growth drivers.
In this context, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have identified technological innovation, digital transformation, and green development as critical engines for future global growth.
Historically, assessments of China’s economy focused largely on its speed and scale. Today, however, discussion increasingly centers on innovation capacity, industrial sophistication, and sustainability.
The Global Innovation Index 2025 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization showed that China has entered the top 10 in global innovation rankings, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster has risen to first place worldwide.
The steady growth of the “three new” economy demonstrates that China is making solid progress in shifting from factor-driven growth to innovation-driven development.
In the new energy sector, for example, China’s photovoltaic modules, power batteries, and new energy vehicles benefit from coordinated development across the entire industrial chain.
This integration has produced mature, reliable solutions for countries pursuing energy transitions. Meanwhile, the deep integration of digital technologies with the real economy — ranging from industrial internet applications in manufacturing to flexible customization in production and sales — has opened viable pathways for improving the quality and efficiency of traditional industries.
International observers have taken note. The Wall Street Journal has observed that China’s strengths in the new energy and digital economy sectors, built on coordinated development across the entire industrial chain, are reshaping global supply patterns in related industries.
The Financial Times noted that China’s innovation is not a collection of isolated technological breakthroughs, but a systemic capability built on a complete industrial ecosystem and a vast domestic market, offering reference for emerging economies seeking transformation and upgrading.
With its large market, comprehensive industrial support system, and efficient capacity for application and iteration, China is increasingly becoming an important hub for global innovation resources.
Breakthroughs in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and green energy rely on cross-border exchanges and cooperation. In contrast to certain countries that have erected technological barriers, pursued “decoupling and severing of supply chains,” or built “small yards, high fences,” and fragmented the global innovation network, China has emphasized openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit. It continues to create broad platforms for the global flow of innovation resources.
Examples of this trend include British drugmaker AstraZeneca, which has established a global strategic R&D center in Beijing, making China a key part of its global new drug development network.
Roche Diagnostics, a multinational pharmaceutical firm, has expanded its production and R&D base in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, deepening its integration of advanced manufacturing and innovation.
Cosmetics giant L’Oreal has upgraded its China R&D center into a global R&D center, leveraging insights from the Chinese market to drive product innovation worldwide.
An increasing number of multinational companies are incorporating China more deeply into their global innovation networks, using the Chinese market to test new technologies, incubate new business models, and accelerate the global application of innovative achievements.
For many developing countries, China’s experience in developing the “three new” economy offers practical relevance. Its mature practices in areas such as inclusive digital development and green transformation provide valuable reference for countries searching for development paths suited to their own conditions.
Under the framework of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, the Redstone concentrated solar thermal power project in South Africa has filled a gap in advanced solar thermal technology in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Bukhara wind power project in Uzbekistan is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.6 million tons annually, supporting the country’s green and low-carbon transition.
China’s digital mobility technologies have been introduced in Sao Paulo, Brazil, helping optimize urban transportation management and improve public services.
These cooperation projects have transformed China’s strengths in new economic development into tangible outcomes for sustainable development in countries around the world, demonstrating the essence of openness, connectivity, and mutual benefit.
Moving toward new frontiers through greater openness and integration, China will continue to pursue an innovation-driven development strategy and remain firmly committed to expanding high-standard opening up.
Together with countries around the world, China will foster new growth drivers through innovation cooperation, create new development space through openness and connectivity, and jointly write a new chapter of global development and prosperity.