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Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and an important focus of promoting high-quality development. Since the beginning of this year, all regions have been actively cultivating new quality productive forces. How has the development of new quality productive forces progressed? Thank you.

Sheng Laiyun:

Thank you for your question. Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and an important focus of promoting high-quality development. The central government attaches great importance to this and requires all regions to develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions. All regions are also promoting technological innovation, advancing the integration of industrial and technological innovation, and transforming and upgrading traditional industries. In the first half of the year, new quality productive forces continued to be cultivated and grew at an accelerated pace. Several aspects reflect the progress in developing new quality productive forces.

First, innovative achievements continued to emerge. All regions increased their investment in innovation. Currently, China's research and development expenditure accounts for nearly 2.7% of GDP, which has exceeded the EU average and is close to the average level of OECD countries. A number of innovative achievements emerged. According to statistics from relevant departments, in the first five months, the number of valid invention patent applications in China was close to 5 million, an increase of 12.8%, which represents relatively rapid growth. In addition, a number of innovative achievements have attracted widespread international attention. Since the beginning of this year, a series of scientific and technological innovation achievements have received extensive attention both domestically and internationally. These range from the DeepSeek large language model to the robot marathon, and from aerospace to autonomous driving.

Second, emerging industries continued to thrive. As I just reported, in the first half of the year, the value added of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size increased 9.5%. From January to May, the operating income of strategic emerging service industry enterprises above designated size grew nearly 10%. These achievements in innovation and industrial integration have driven the development of high-tech industries.

Third, the digital economy continued to develop rapidly. We have entered the digital era, where AI is advancing rapidly and data has become a key factor of production. Across the country, regions are actively driving forward both the digitalization of industries and the industrialization of the digital economy. The value added by the core industries of the digital economy accounts for about 10% of GDP, a relatively high share even compared with developed countries.

Fourth, green development continued to improve in both quality and efficiency. Regions across the country have been implementing the new development philosophy and accelerating the growth of green industries. The well-known "new trio" of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar energy — all green industries — have continued to maintain rapid growth. For example, in the first half of the year, the output of new energy vehicles increased more than 30%, while lithium batteries grew 53.3%. These new energy industries have continued to grow quickly, genuinely making us appreciate that lucid waters and lush mountains are indeed invaluable assets.

Fifth, the transformation and upgrading of industries continued to accelerate. Since the beginning of this year, various regions have continued to advance the renewal and transformation of traditional industries. The pace of transformation has accelerated, particularly as national policies have supported major projects, bolstered key areas, promoted large-scale equipment upgrades, and encouraged the replacement of old consumer goods. Industries are actively embracing Internet Plus, AI Plus and Digital Plus strategies to drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional sectors.

From these five aspects, we can see that the development of new quality productive forces accelerated in the first half of the year. Thank you.