Nigeria Times

By Yang Junfeng

China will strive to modernize the industrial system and develop new quality productive forces at a faster pace, according to a Government Work Report submitted on March 5 to the national legislature for deliberation.

The country will consolidate and enhance its leading position in industries such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, step up development of hydrogen power, new materials, innovative drugs, and other cutting-edge sectors, according to the report.

Recently, local governments across China have been outlining their “roadmaps” to foster the development of new quality productive forces at local “two sessions” meetings, the annual meetings of provincial-level lawmakers and political advisors.

Beijing is actively building an international science and technology innovation center. Anhui province is accelerating the development of three major science and technology innovation hubs in quantum information, fusion energy, and deep space exploration.

Moreover, Heilongjiang province is implementing digital transformation in manufacturing, empowering small and medium-sized enterprises with digital capabilities, and promoting pilot demonstration projects in intelligent manufacturing.

What do “new quality productive forces” mean?

The term refers to contemporary advanced productive forces that are generated by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and in-depth transformation and upgrading of industries. It takes the qualitative change of laborers, labor materials, labor objects and their optimal combination as the basic connotation, and the improvement of total factor productivity as the core indicator.

Technological innovation can give rise to new industries, new models, and new driving forces, which are the core elements for developing new quality productive forces.

In 2023, generative artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a shining star in the tech world. By the end of 2023, China had released over 200 large AI models, with more than 20 of them approved to provide services to the public.

Most of the large models available to the public are general-purpose foundational models. Their greater competence is to empower intelligent industrial production and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces.

Liu Qingfeng, chairman of China’s leading AI and speech technology company iFLYTEK, noted that generative AI is one of the most significant technological innovations in recent decades. It has the potential to change the ways of content production, human-computer interaction, traditional business models, and the structure and competition pattern of industries.

A well-planned layout of industrial chains can effectively support the enhancement of new quality productive forces by optimizing resource allocation.

As a representative of new quality productive forces, the low-altitude economy has become an important direction for cultivating new momentum for development.

Today, China has developed a relatively complete industrial chain of the low-altitude economy, which has generated agglomeration effects.

Taking Shenzhen in Guangdong province as an example, by the end of 2023, it has gathered more than 1,700 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) companies with an annual output value of 96 billion yuan ($13.34 billion). Chinese civil UAV manufacturers, represented by DJI, are strongly competitive in the global market.

According to a DJI executive, DJI’s success benefited from the supporting and well-developed industrial chain in Shenzhen. With the continuous improvement of the entire Pearl River Delta’s electronic consumer goods industrial chain, DJI’s production capacity has been further strengthened.

To develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to promote the digital economy, facilitating the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy.

In recent years, new technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, and new energy have been widely applied in the transportation industry, expanding the scope of intelligent transportation applications.

Anhui Transport Consulting & Design Institute Co., Ltd. (ATCDI) developed a design system that automatically generates drawings for commonly used bridge structures. The system has been in operation for over a year and has generated more than 7,400 drawings, significantly reducing the workload of frontline designers.

“Fostering new quality productive forces in the field of engineering information technology, such as intelligent manufacturing, digital design, as well as 3D laser scanning and inspection, can enable us to build bridges and roads more efficiently, thus better benefiting the people,” said Nie Wenhua, deputy director of the ATCDI digital innovation center.

Currently, some regions in China are focusing on the building of industrial chains for new quality productive forces, so as to enhance the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains.

The municipal government of Beijing has proposed to promote the high-quality development of the new energy vehicle industry and actively establish industrial chains of key components, such as motors, batteries, electronic controls, and automotive-grade chips.

The government of Shandong province said that it would carry out actions to promote the high-quality development of iconic industrial chains. It would implement 100 major scientific and technological innovation projects in fields such as integrated circuits and industrial machinery.

Some regions are working to remove barriers and bottlenecks that hinder the development of new quality productive forces, and have made innovative allocation of production factors a key focus of their work this year.

The government work report of Liaoning province proposed to promote the integrated development of strategic emerging industries such as new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, robotics, biomedicine and medical equipment, new energy vehicles, and integrated circuit equipment.

Jiangsu province said in its government work report that it would focus on future industries and explore new sectors such as future networks, quantum technology, life science, hydrogen energy and new energy storage, as well as deep-sea, deep-earth, and aerospace exploration.

Accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces also relies on the development of human resources.

A program on cultivating high-skilled talents, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and six other departments, noted that China will cultivate leading talents in key industries such as advanced manufacturing and modern services, focusing on major strategies, major projects and key industrial needs of the country. China will strive to cultivate over 15,000 new leading talents and drive the addition of around 5 million high-skilled talents within approximately three years.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It is critical for achieving the goals set in the 14th Five-Year Plan. The “two sessions” this year, the annual meetings of China’s national legislature and top political advisory body, has received broad attention from the international community.

By observing the “two sessions,” the international community can deepen its understanding of China’s democracy, gain insight into the pulse of China’s high-quality economic development, and better grasp the opportunities of cooperation between China and other countries.

Observing the “two sessions” helps the international community understand China’s governance. The “two sessions” are a vivid practice of China’s whole-process people’s democracy, and offers an important window for the international community to understand China’s modernization of national governance.

Some foreign scholars believe that by understanding the “two sessions,” one can understand how Chinese democracy operates effectively. The deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) actively fulfill their duties and responsibilities, with the voices of the people coalescing into a consensus on national governance.

According to statistics recently released by the State Council Information Office, government departments under China’s State Council handled 7,955 suggestions submitted to the NPC and 4,525 proposals submitted to the CPPCC, accounting for 95.7 percent and 96.5 percent of all suggestions and proposals submitted. The departments rolled out over 2,000 policy measures based on some 4,700 suggestions and proposals last year.

China’s whole-process people’s democracy has not only a complete set of institutions and procedures, but also full of participation and practices. It has taken root in China as a political institution, a mechanism of governance and a lifestyle of the people.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the NPC and the 75th anniversary of the CPPCC. Through observing the “two sessions,” the international community will gain a profound understanding of the wisdom and strength of China’s governance.

Observing the “two sessions” helps the international community understand the quality of China’s economic development.

Achieving high-quality development is one of the essential requirements of Chinese modernization. Over the past year, China’s economy has recovered. With an economic growth of 5.2 percent, higher than the global projection of around 3 percent, China ranks among the top in major economies worldwide. It fully demonstrates the strong endogenous impetus, resilience, and potential of the country’s economic development.

China is vigorously implementing its innovation-driven development strategy and promoting the accelerated development of new quality productive forces, which will continuously inject new impetus into high-quality development.

Against the backdrop of a sluggish global economic recovery, the international community looks forward to China’s “two sessions” further releasing positive signals of an economic rebound and improvement.

Foreign media believe that China’s current goal is to improve people’s living standards through high-quality development and the country is driving the transformation of its economic development towards an innovation-driven model, and accelerating coordinated digital and green transitions, which will set an example for the sustainable development of the global economy.

Observing the “two sessions” helps the international community understand the will of China to cooperate with other countries.

China has implemented five measures to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into China, lifted all entry restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, accelerated the implementation of 24 policy measures to stabilize foreign investment, signed free trade agreements and investment protection agreements with more countries, and steadily promoted high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with relevant parties.

These measures have sent a clear signal of China’s unwavering commitment to further opening up at a higher level, demonstrating China’s determination and confidence in providing new opportunities for the world through its own new development.

How China will promote higher-level opening up and enhance its ability to participate in the international circulation has become one of the hot topics drawing attention from the international community at this year’s “two sessions.”

The international community is particularly interested in China’s development direction set by the “two sessions” and expects China to continue contributing to promoting peace and prosperity. International observers said that they look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of China’s plans and actions in addressing global challenges through the “two sessions,” and they expect China to provide more stability and certainty to the world.

China’s “two sessions” will allow the international community to see that the country firmly stays on the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics, and solidly advances whole-process people’s democracy. China is also resolutely pursuing high-quality development to achieve Chinese modernization and promoting high-level opening up to drive common development of the world. Through these efforts, China will make greater contributions to world peace, development, and human progress.

By Liu Wenxin, People’s Daily

Government departments under China’s State Council handled 12,480 suggestions and proposals submitted by deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 2023, a spokesperson for the State Council Information Office said recently.

In particular, the departments handled 7,955 suggestions, accounting for 95.7 percent of all suggestions submitted, and 4,525 proposals, 96.5 percent of all proposals submitted, said the spokesperson Xing Huina.

Xing said that the departments rolled out over 2,000 policy measures based on some 4,700 suggestions and proposals last year. This has helped solve a series of problems concerning reform and development and pressing concerns of the people. Progress has been made in the promotion of high-quality economic development, and ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) received 1,888 suggestions and proposals in 2023, and took lead in handling 602 of them, said Xin Guobin, vice minister of the MIIT, adding that all of the suggestions and proposals had been handled as scheduled.

The ministry issued about 290 policies based on the suggestions and proposals, which promoted the development of major technologies and equipment, as well as the development of specialized and sophisticated small- and medium-sized enterprises that produce novel and unique products.

Paying high attention to green industrial development, NPC deputies and CPPCC members gave advice on optimizing industrial structure, promoting green development of industrial parks and improving energy efficiency in major industries, Xin added.

China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security handled 962 suggestions and proposals last year. The ministry has introduced more than 40 policies and measures, striving to transform the suggestions and proposals into a sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security for the people, said Li Zhong, vice minister of the ministry

According to him, the policies and measures to stabilize employment have been continuously optimized, and the nationwide pooling of basic pension funds for enterprise employees has been steadily promoted. A series of policies and measures to protect the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment have been introduced, Li added.

The social security card is a fundamental carrier of livelihood services across the country, Li noted, adding that NPC deputies and CPPCC members have shown great concern for the “one-card-for-all-services” of the social security card.

They have put forward excellent proposals and suggestions regarding enriching application scenarios and developing distinctive services, Li said.

As of the end of January this year, 1.38 billion Chinese, or 97.9 percent of the country’s population, had social security cards. Among them, 970 million had an electronic version of the card, which provided services to cardholders 15.1 billion times last year.

Vice Minister of Transport Wang Gang noted that the ministry handled 775 suggestions and proposals in 2023, covering various aspects such as comprehensive transportation network planning, transportation infrastructure construction, development of new transportation formats, and green development of rural roads and water transportation. All of these suggestions and proposals have been addressed and responded to ahead of schedule.

In recent years, the construction of supporting infrastructure for new energy vehicles has been a focus of NPC deputies and CPPCC members.

“We are accelerating the development of charging infrastructure along highways. By the end of last year, we had already built a total of 21,000 charging stations, and the network of charging infrastructure along expressways has been further improved,” said Wang.

He disclosed that this year, the ministry plans to add 3,000 charging stations and 5,000 parking spaces with charging poles at service areas of highways. The ministry encourages construction of ultra-fast charging and high-power charging facilities at service areas.

Additionally, based on the traffic characteristics during different holidays and in different regions, guidance will be provided to local authorities to offer targeted support measures, aiming to facilitate more convenient and efficient public transportation, Wang said.

“The National Health Commission handled a total of 1,470 proposals and suggestions in 2023, of which approximately 1/10 were related to primary-level healthcare. These proposals and suggestions mainly focused on strengthening investment and support for primary-level healthcare, the construction of county-level medical consortia, the development of primary-level healthcare workforce, and the enhancement of primary-level healthcare service capabilities,” said Li Bin, deputy head of the National Health Commission.

The National Health Commission has made significant progress in handling related matters by fully absorbing and adopting the suggestions and proposals.

For instance, it issued a guideline on comprehensively promoting the construction of county-level medical and health consortia, transitioning the construction of county-level medical and health consortia from a 4-year pilot phase to a comprehensive promotion stage. The commission has also established a task force for the construction of rural doctor teams, recruiting over 6,700 university graduates as rural doctors in 2023.

Starting from 2023, a three-year action plan has been implemented to promote the construction of a number of health centers, addressing deficiencies in medical emergency response, infectious disease control, and pediatrics, among others.