BEIJING — China’s ongoing efforts to foster new quality productive forces will inject fresh vigor into global development, according to financial experts and relevant officials.
During the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk platform hosted by Xinhua News Agency, guest speakers concurred that this development strategy will not only generate vast opportunities for global investors seeking innovation-driven growth, but also create a more prosperous and sustainable future for the world.
First introduced in 2023, new quality productive forces refer to advanced productivity freed from the traditional economic growth mode and productivity development paths. It features high-tech, high efficiency and high quality.
Creating new opportunities
“Alongside Chinese companies, global investors are seizing a new round of opportunities arising from the development of new quality productive forces,” said Wang Jinxia, deputy director of the Qianhai Authority. Qianhai is a modern service industry demonstration zone in the southern economic powerhouse Shenzhen.
Wang noted that as China remains the world’s largest market, the development of new quality productive forces will continue to generate market demand, attracting a growing number of global investors.
Eyeing new business opportunities, foreign companies have invested over $40 billion in Qianhai, official data shows.
“Additionally, the development of new quality productive forces is offering global investors opportunities to play a greater role in the latest round of technological revolution as well as globalization,” Wang said.
French multinational Schneider Electric established several research and development centers across China in 2023 on digital power, automation and artificial intelligence.
“The importance of the Chinese market, from my point of view, has not changed,” said Barbara Frei, the executive vice-president of Schneider Electric, in a recent interview with Xinhua. She voiced confidence in China’s position as a more mature economy and the biggest market in industrial automation, and highlighted the country’s role as an “innovation driver.”
Amid China’s latest efforts to foster new quality productive forces, Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing recently emphasized the need to integrate sci-tech innovation with industrial innovation, calling for efforts to promote large-scale equipment and technological upgrades in China’s manufacturing industry.
The country has also pledged to continue shortening its negative list for foreign investors, scrapping all restrictions for those entering the country’s manufacturing industry.
Driven by the country’s unwavering focus on innovation, foreign direct investment in China’s hi-tech manufacturing sectors reached 37.76 billion yuan ($5.32 billion) during the first quarter of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Fueling global green shift
As China continues to cultivate new quality productive forces through sci-tech innovation, the country is also sharing its intelligent, eco-friendly and inclusive technologies with other countries, said Liu Dongmei, secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, during the China Economic Roundtable.
The world is faced with challenges including food security, natural disasters and climate change, Liu noted, adding that with its rich experience, China has much to offer in addressing these issues.
“The country is developing new quality productive forces in an open and inclusive manner, which means that it is willing to share its knowledge and innovation outcomes with the rest of the world,” Liu said. “I believe that developing new quality productive forces is essential for not only driving global economic growth but also for forging a better future for humanity as a whole.”
Frei said that China boasts global leadership in supplying components for renewable markets, including wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. “In today’s energy landscape, China leads the way.”
A report titled “Renewables 2023” by the International Energy Agency (IEA) has described China as the “world’s renewables powerhouse,” citing the economic attractiveness of renewable energy technologies as well as a supportive policy environment. “China’s role is critical in reaching the global goal of tripling renewables because the country is expected to install more than half of the new capacity required globally by 2030,” the report stated.
According to Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, China is a “champion of the world in clean energy” due to its excellent progress in solar and wind power, electric vehicles and power batteries, which helps lower the prices of clean energy equipment for other countries.