In fostering the development of new quality productive forces, President Xi Jinping emphasizes a balanced approach that prioritizes high-quality development while maintaining a strategic focus on innovation and emerging industries.
In the global economic landscape, China emerges as a powerhouse of innovation and progress, driven by the concept of new quality productive forces. Under the visionary leadership of President Xi Jinping, this notion was first proposed by Xi in 2023 at an inspection in China’s northeast Heilongjiang province, and it was underlined at a crucial conference on economic work last December before becoming the focus of a study session of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) leadership this year.
This concept dominated policy deliberations in many areas at this year’s top parliamentary conference, and it was named the government’s top priority for 2024 in the government work report. It represents a dramatic journey towards unprecedented economic growth, fueled by innovation, technology, and strategic reforms.
Below are the key elements of the concept, and how China intends to execute them as the country seeks high-quality development.
Innovation at the Frontline:
At the heart of new quality productive forces lies innovation as a catalyst for economic rejuvenation. China recognizes innovation as the cornerstone of sustained growth and competitiveness. This represents a leap in productivity, breaking away from traditional economic growth models. They are marked by high-tech solutions, exceptional efficiency, and unwavering quality standards.
Drivers of new quality productive forces:
This encompasses revolutionary technological advancements, innovative resource allocation, and profound industrial transformation. The fundamental essence lies in enhancing the work of laborers and labor means. Moreover, new quality productive forces are characterized by a significant boost in total factor productivity, underpinned by innovation and a focus on high quality.
Significance:
The significance of promoting high-quality development is widely acknowledged and actively pursued by both the Party and society in the new era. However, numerous factors continue to impede this progress, underscoring the necessity for a new productivity theory to guide efforts toward overcoming these obstacles.
To accelerate the development of new quality productive forces:
- Utilize innovation effectively to drive progress.
- Science and technology innovation can spawn new industries, models, and growth drivers, essential for advancing new quality productive forces.
- Strengthen sci-tech innovation
- Apply science and technology innovations promptly to relevant industries and supply chains.
- Facilitate the green transition of growth models, aiding in achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality
To advance the development of new quality productive forces:
- Deepen comprehensive reforms and establish a new type of production relations model tailored to its progress.
- Enhance economic and science and technology management system reforms to remove obstacles hindering new quality productive force development.
- Implement comprehensive reforms conducive to fostering a new production relations model suitable for advancing new quality productive forces
The Path Forward
In fostering the development of new quality productive forces, President Xi Jinping emphasizes a balanced approach that prioritizes high-quality development while maintaining a strategic focus on innovation and emerging industries.
He cautions against overlooking traditional sectors and urges against hasty decision-making that may lead to industry bubbles or overreliance on a singular development model. Instead, he advocates for a nuanced strategy, tailored to each locality’s own resource endowment, industrial foundation and scientific research capabilities. This approach involves judiciously promoting the growth of new industries and models while simultaneously leveraging new technologies to elevate and modernize traditional sectors, fostering high-end, intelligent, and sustainable growth.
