Digital News

　　Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s annual added value of manufacturing has exceeded 30 trillion yuan, maintaining its position as the world’s largest manufacturing power for 15 consecutive years. China leads the world in the output of over 200 major industrial products. It also boasts the largest R&D workforce globally, with 26 of the world’s top 100 science and technology innovation clusters, accounting for the highest proportion in the world, and over 460,000 high-tech enterprises. China is home to the world’s most extensive networks of expressways, high-speed railways, ports, urban rail transit, power transmission and distribution, broadband, and has built the largest number of 5G base stations worldwide. At the State Council Information Office’s press conference themed “Successfully Implementing the 14th Five-Year Plan with High Quality “ on July 9, Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), stated: “China’s real economy has become increasingly robust. We are producing fewer things we can’t make, and making better things we can. China has become the most stable, reliable, and proactive force in global development”.

　　Zheng Shanjie noted that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s economic strength has grown markedly. The GDP has successively surpassed 110, 120, and 130 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach around 140 trillion yuan this year, representing a cumulative increase of over 35 trillion yuan. China’s contribution to global economic growth has remained at around 30%.

　　“We are developing new quality productive forces based on local conditions, promoting deep integration of scientific and industrial innovation. Innovation is accelerating from point breakthroughs to systematic integration, with a steady stream of ‘hardcore’ products”, Zheng Shanjie said. “In recent years, we’ve developed high-performance chips and operating systems independently, launched foundational AI models empowering thousands of industries, and created robots that significantly enhance production efficiency. Innovation momentum is steadily transforming into economic vitality. New industries, new business formats, and new business models represented by ‘AI+’ are rapidly taking root and materializing”. According to the introduction, in 2024, the value added from China’s “three new” economy (new industries, new business formats, and new business models) exceeded 24 trillion yuan, equivalent to the combined GDP of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong.

　　At the press conference, Yuan Da, Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission, used “five accelerations” to describe the strong momentum of technological innovation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. First, R&D investment is being accelerated. In 2024, China’s R&D expenditure accounted for 2.68% of GDP, reaching 3.6 trillion yuan, maintaining its position as the world’s second-largest. Second, breakthroughs in key and core technologies are being accelerated. In 2024, China’s annual integrated circuit output increased by 72.6% compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, adding approximately 190 billion units, with more products equipped with “Chinese chips”. Breakthroughs were achieved in nuclear power, high-speed rail, shipbuilding, and marine engineering equipment, while fields like artificial intelligence, quantum technology, manned spaceflight, and deep-space exploration achieved multiple global “firsts”. Third, the growth of emerging industries is being accelerated. In 2024, the added value of China’s high-tech manufacturing increased by 42% compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, while the core industries of the digital economy grew by 73.8%, accounting for 10.4% of GDP, an increase of 2.6 percentage points. Fourth, the unleashing of talent, innovation vitality is being accelerated. China leads the world in total human resources, sci-tech human resources, and R&D personnel, with over 5 million graduates annually in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Fifth, the formation of a Chinese-style innovation ecosystem is being accelerated. Chinese companies are enthusiastically building and deeply integrating into open-source ecosystems like never before, fostering “two-way empowerment” between technological innovation and application development, creating a globally unique path for technological advancement and an innovation ecosystem. China is intensifying its “AI +” initiative to bring artificial intelligence into all industries and households, with deep vertical applications becoming a distinctive feature of Chinese innovation.

　　Over the past four years, despite facing multiple challenges such as dramatic shifts in the international environment, China’s national economy has maintained an average annual growth rate of 5.5%, with domestic demand contributing an average of 86.4% to this growth. “Without a strong domestic market, there can be no stable and improving Chinese economy”, said Yuan Da, Secretary-General of the NDRC.

　　According to the introduction, one key feature of domestic demand has been its tilt toward newness-driven consumption. Final consumption contributed an average of 56.2% to China’s economic growth over the past four years, an increase of 8.6 percentage points compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period. A steady stream of new products, new business models, and new formats has emerged across the consumption landscape. In terms of goods consumption, artificial intelligence has increasingly integrated into everyday life and production, with smartphones, smart homes, and smart vehicles widely favored by consumers. New products such as 360-degree panoramic sports cameras and AI-powered smart glasses have gone viral online. Traditional Chinese-style and national trendy products have performed remarkably well, with sales of Hanfu and cultural creative products multiplying.

　　Another feature of domestic demand is the mutual reinforcement between consumption and investment. On one hand, expanding market consumption drives investment through product manufacturing and supporting infrastructure. For example, sustained demand for 5G and smartphones has fueled strong investment: over the past four years, investment in internet and related services grew at an average annual rate of 21.9%, while investment in telecommunications equipment manufacturing grew by 11.2%. On the other hand, increased effective investment has boosted employment and income, thereby enhancing consumers’ purchasing power. It has also improved consumption conditions by upgrading infrastructure and optimizing the consumption environment. For instance, by the end of 2024, China had installed a total of 12.818 million charging facilities nationwide, effectively providing support for the widespread adoption of new energy vehicles.

　　Moreover, in response to a reporter’s question regarding foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Zhou Haibing, Vice Chairman of NDRC, noted that from 2021 to May 2025, foreign enterprises have invested a cumulative total of 4.7 trillion yuan in China, exceeding the total amount during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Since last year, China has launched pilot programs to further open up sectors such as healthcare and value-added telecommunications, attracting a number of foreign-invested enterprises to begin operations in these fields. In the future, China’s policy orientation toward attracting and utilizing foreign investment will remain consistent. “We will further ease market access and promote the orderly expansion of opening-up in relevant sectors”, Zhou Haibing said.