China unveils steps to boost manufacturing

China on Tuesday announced key measures to promote the use of manufacturing services for the transformation and upgrade of the manufacturing sector and to foster high-quality development over the next five years.

By 2025, the country's manufacturing services sector will not only help boost the high-quality development of the manufacturing sector, but also improve innovation capabilities and resource allocation efficiency, said a document jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and 12 other central departments.

There will also be substantial improvement in the specialization, branding, digitalization and internationalization of the manufacturing services sector, along with the creation of a group of leading manufacturing services clusters and enterprises.

To further boost the high-quality development of manufacturing services, the country will make a concerted push to effectively use 5G, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other emerging information technologies to further develop smart manufacturing and cultivate shared manufacturing, design and data platforms.

More efforts will also be made to develop science and technology services such as technology transfer, entrepreneurial incubation and intellectual property rights, formulate a road map for digital transformation in key industries, promote the development of 5G and industrial internet, establish a global supply chain risk warning system for key sources and products, increase financing support for manufacturing service companies and encourage qualified enterprises to go public both at home and abroad.

Citing the new document, Wang Yong, a visiting professor at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, said the government's new measures will improve manufacturing productivity, by developing the modern logistics service system and promoting the sharing of information resources.

Wang said the modern logistics system is an important means to connect consumption and production, which is key to building a unified domestic market.

"Under the new 'dual-circulation' development pattern, we need to build a high-quality modern logistics system to boost innovation-driven development for industries and consumption," Wang said.

The country must strive to build an efficient system for technological innovation and transfer and spur the development of the digital economy, said Zhang Yuxian, director of the Department of Economic Forecasting at the State Information Center.

During the past five years, China has made huge strides in increasing the high-quality development of the manufacturing sector.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed that the average growth rate of added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry was 10.4 percent from 2016 to last year, which was 4.9 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of added value of industrial companies with an annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($3 million) each for the same period.

The country has pledged to further develop the real economy, strengthen industrial and supply chains, boost industrial upgrading and foster high-quality manufacturing, according to the outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.