Science and technology are set to maintain their pivotal role in China's economic strategy for 2025, as outlined at the Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday.
The conference, which determines the nation's economic priorities, identified nine key tasks for the coming year, with sci-tech innovation remaining a top focus. The initiative aims to propel the development of “new quality productive forces,” a concept introduced in 2023 that encapsulates a high-tech, efficient, and high-quality development model.
While boosting consumption has taken precedence over sci-tech innovation in the 2025 agenda, the emphasis on technology remains strong. Notably, two new directives emerged: the “AI+” initiative and efforts to address the “rat race” competition.
Unleashing the Power of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) stands as the sole specific industry highlighted in this year’s tasks, a shift from the broader focus of previous years. China has rapidly ascended as a global AI powerhouse, boasting a comprehensive industrial ecosystem that spans chip design to advanced AI applications. The manufacturing sector, a significant contributor to global production, is poised to reap substantial benefits from AI-driven automation and optimization.
“China’s manufacturing sector accounts for 30.3 percent of global manufacturing. Our goal is to transform manufacturing into a high-tech industry,” said Zhu Min, a member of the Senior Expert Advisory Committee of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. “In the first 20 years of reform and opening up, we made China’s manufacturing the cheapest in the world. In the past 20 years, we have made it both cheap and good. In the next 20 years, we want to combine innovation with industry to make it cheap, good, and high-tech.”
The burgeoning generative AI market further underscores China’s commitment to AI development. By June 2024, the user base of generative AI products reached 230 million, with the core sector valued at nearly 600 billion yuan ($82.84 billion).
Chinese leaders have increasingly underscored the importance of AI in key meetings. At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2022, AI was designated as a key driver of development, alongside information technology, biotechnology, new energy, and other sectors. Moreover, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in July 2024 emphasized the need for both the advancement and regulation of AI.
Addressing the “Rat Race” Competition
The conference also highlighted the need to tackle the issue of “rat race” competition, or “neijuan,” a term referring to excessive working hours and cutthroat competition leading to diminishing returns and negative cycles.
“The decision-makers have recognized this problem and explicitly stated their intention to address it,” said Dong Yu from the Institute of China Development Planning at Tsinghua University. “This move is expected to improve the industrial ecosystem by fostering fairer distribution of profits and creating more growth opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Li Wei, an associate researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, emphasized the need for a tailored approach in developing new quality productive forces. “To escape the rat race, we must develop productivity in a targeted manner,” Li said. “Different regions and industries should adopt development paths based on their own characteristics and advantages, avoiding rush and the formation of bubbles.”
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Sci-tech to maintain its key role in China's economic work in 2025
cgtn.com
