China’s sharpened focus on pursuing integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation showcases its determination to translate scientific breakthroughs into real-world applications, and such a strategy will help it transform into a global innovation powerhouse and maintain its edge amid competition and uncertainties, experts and company executives said.
Highlighting that bridging the gap between laboratories and production lines is a key pillar of China’s push for new quality productive forces, they said this emphasizes not only breakthroughs in frontier technologies, but also scientific achievements that fuel economic vitality. As 2025 marks the last year of China’s 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25), the nation’s emphasis on nurturing sectors such as 6G, quantum computing, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will also help it establish a beachhead in these future industries for the 15th Five Year Plan (2026-30) period, they added.
President Xi Jinping underlined the need for Jiangsu province, one of China’s economic powerhouses, to lead the integration of sci-tech and industrial innovation when he took part in a deliberation with his fellow lawmakers during the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) earlier this month. Pan Jiaofeng, Deputy to the 14th NPC and President of the Institutes of Science and Development under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said economically developed provinces such as Jiangsu should seize the opportunity from a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. To integrate technological and industrial innovation, Pan said it is necessary to build platforms, improve institutional mechanisms, strengthen the position of enterprises as the main innovators, and seamlessly connect the innovation and the industrial chains.
Lei Jun, Deputy to the 14th NPC and Chairman of Xiaomi Corp, said he was “moved by the nation’s resolve to enhance the overall efficiency of its innovation system. One line from the report particularly resonates with me – promoting the spirit of scientists and fostering an innovation environment that encourages exploration and tolerates failure. This is the greatest encouragement for scientific research and entrepreneurial innovation.” He added: “Additionally, the report also emphasizes the need to leverage the leading role of sci-tech enterprises to advance high-level self-reliance and self-improvement in technology, which reminds me of the immense responsibility we shoulder.” Lei Jun said Xiaomi, which has invested CNY105 billion in research and development (R&D) over the past five years, will continue to pursue breakthroughs in more crucial technologies and apply them into products.
In 2024, China’s total R&D expenditure reached CNY3.6 trillion, an 8% increase from the previous year. The proportion of basic research funding within the total R&D budget hit 6.91%, and there were 14 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people. These figures reflect China’s commitment to increasing its R&D intensity, which stood at 2.68% in 2024, surpassing the average level of European Union countries, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Meanwhile, China possesses the most complete and largest industrial system globally, ranking first in the production of over 220 industrial products and it is the only country in the world with all industrial categories in the United Nations’ classification, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Zhang Li, Deputy to the 14th NPC and President of the China Center for Information Industry Development, said that by combining new ideas and technologies with China’s robust manufacturing capabilities and vast market potential, the nation can better harness its strengths. Industrial innovation must remain rooted in the real economy, emphasizing both the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and the development of strategic emerging industries and future sectors, Zhang said. “China’s economy has historically relied on the real economy, and it is through this foundation that it will continue to progress,” he added. According to the Government Work Report, China “will establish a mechanism to increase funding for industries of the future such as bio-manufacturing, quantum technology, embodied AI and 6G technology”.
Guo Guoping, Deputy to the 14th NPC and Deputy Director of the Key Lab of Quantum Information at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said he was deeply impressed by China’s emphasis on nurturing strategic future technologies such as quantum computing. “China has become the third country in the world capable of delivering complete quantum computers, positioning itself in the global first tier of quantum computing research. But challenges remain in some areas,” he said. Guo also stressed the need for increased investment in basic research, which he describes as the foundation of high-level scientific and technological independence. He advocated for leveraging China’s unique advantages in mobilizing resources to tackle key core technologies and advance frontier and disruptive technologies, the China Daily reports.
