21st Century Business Herald:

Not long ago, Beijing hosted a robot marathon, while Hangzhou held a robot boxing match, demonstrating a strong futuristic atmosphere on site and leaving us excited about the future. What other achievements has China made in sci-tech innovation development in recent years? Thank you.

Zheng Shanjie:

Mr. Yuan will answer your question.

Yuan Da:

Thank you for your question. I share the same feeling as everyone else. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's sci-tech and industrial innovation achievements have flourished. Innovation has become the main driving force for promoting high-quality development, and new quality productive forces are comprehensively changing how we work and live. What stands out most to me are five areas that are experiencing rapid acceleration.

First, the growth of R&D investment is rapidly accelerating. Overall, in 2024, R&D spending accounted for 2.68% of the country's GDP, reaching 3.6 trillion yuan, ranking second globally. Looking at the key players, enterprises are the main drivers of R&D investment growth, with corporate R&D spending accounting for over 77% of the total. In terms of benchmarks, Shenzhen, as a leading innovation city, has raised its R&D investment level to 6.46% of its GDP. All of this demonstrates that China is taking major strides from being a global manufacturing hub toward becoming a global innovation center.

Second, breakthroughs in key core technologies are rapidly accelerating. For example, the annual output of integrated circuits in 2024 grew 72.6% compared with the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, an increase of about 190 billion pieces. More and more products are now equipped with Chinese chips. In addition, China has made new breakthroughs in nuclear power, high-speed rail, shipbuilding and marine engineering, and set multiple global records in AI, quantum technology, manned spaceflight, deep space exploration and other fields. Chinese innovation continues to deliver increasingly impressive breakthroughs.

Third, the growth of emerging industries is rapidly accelerating. For example, in 2024, the value added of China's high-tech manufacturing industry surged 42% compared with the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The value added of core industries related to the digital economy increased 73.8%, accounting for 10.4% of GDP, an increase of 2.6 percentage points. Moreover, by 2024, China had over 4,000 innovative drugs under development, accounting for about 30% of the world's total.

Fourth, talent-driven innovation is rapidly accelerating. China ranks first globally in terms of total human resources, sci-tech personnel and R&D staff. Each year, more than 5 million graduates earn degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This talent pool provides a solid foundation for technological breakthroughs and is the primary source of innovation momentum.

Fifth, the formation of a distinctly Chinese innovation ecosystem is rapidly accelerating. Chinese companies are actively building and deeply integrating into the open-source ecosystem with unprecedented enthusiasm. This approach creates a "dual empowerment" between technological innovation and application development, establishing a globally unique pathway for technological advancement and innovation ecosystem. For example, we have thoroughly implemented the "AI Plus" initiative, introducing AI to thousands of industries and households. Industry-specific deep vertical applications have emerged as a hallmark of the Chinese approach.

Moving forward, we will thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, remain committed to the innovation-driven development strategy, and promote integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation. We will coordinate the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, vigorously foster a sound ecosystem conducive to comprehensive innovation, and expedite efforts to achieve high-level sci-tech self-reliance, enabling sci-tech innovation to shape the future and benefit the world. Thank you.

Zheng Shanjie:

I'd like to add a few more words. The past five years have not been easy. Today's time limit of just over an hour makes it difficult to present the complete situation. Afterward, we will provide you with extensive data, case studies and other materials on the development process over the past five years. We appreciate your support.

Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you, Mr. Zheng. Thank you to all the speakers and participating journalists. Today's briefing is hereby concluded. Goodbye.

Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Wang Xingguang, Lin Liyao, Xu Kailin, Liu Jianing, Liao Jiaxin, Mi Xingang, Liu Sitong, Liu Caiyi, Zhang Tingting, Wang Qian, Zhang Rui, Zhang Junmian, Wang Yanfang, Li Huiru, Li Xiao, Ma Yujia, Fan Junmei, David Ball, and Jay Birbeck. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.