Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for faster technological breakthroughs during a tour of the Eastern province of Zhejiang, one of the country’s main economic powerhouses, where he called for the faster application of research, intelligent green development in manufacturing and for establishing internationally competitive clusters of emerging digital businesses. He told local officials: “We should give more prominence to the enhancement of scientific and technological innovation, integrate scientific and technological innovation and advantageous resources, and accelerate breakthroughs in the frontier fields of science and technology. The development of the industrial supply chain must be planned with a global perspective in mind, and the resilience and security of the industrial supply chain must be continuously improved. We must strengthen the main roles of enterprises in technological innovation, push ahead and deepen the integration of the different chains of innovation, industry, capital and human resources, so that the fruits of our research and development can be realized.”
Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, is currently hosting the Asian Games, and Xi presided over the opening ceremony accompanied by several foreign leaders including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Outside the Games, Xi toured several locations in the province, where he served as Governor and Party Secretary between 2002 and 2007, and addressed some urgent issues the country is facing, such as the intensifying tech-war with the West. President Xi also visited Yiwu, a trading hub for small business that is often seen as a barometer for Chinese exports. He encouraged traders to make greater contributions to “the expansion of domestic and international markets and smoothing trade circulation both domestically and internationally”.
The country’s exports are one of its key economic drivers, but have been hit by slackening international demand and tensions between China and the West. Xi also used the visit to Zhejiang to urge local officials to offer greater support to the private sector – a major element in Beijing’s efforts to revive the sluggish economy – and to visit Lizu, a village promoted as a showcase for efforts to revitalize rural areas. He said revitalizing villages could offer young people “a place to show their talents” and expressed the hope that more young people would play an active role in developing the countryside.
China’s youth unemployment reached new highs before the authorities stopped releasing data last month. According to the latest available figures, more than one in every five people aged 16 to 24 in China was jobless in April. Xi stressed the necessity of prioritizing employment, saying “the employment problems of key groups must be solved”. He also stressed the need for a “close and clean” new relationship between business and government, after the former Communist Party Secretary of Hangzhou was given a death sentence, suspended for two years, for corruption in July, the South China Morning Post reports.
Separately, President Xi Jinping also reiterated China’s willingness to promote cooperation in global transportation in a congratulatory letter sent to the Global Sustainable Transport Forum in Beijing. On the theme of “Sustainable Transport: Working Together to Promote Global Development”, the two-day event is being hosted by the Ministry of Transport, and was organized by the Ministry’s Global Sustainable Transport Innovation and Knowledge Center. Xi said that building a safe, convenient, efficient, green, economical, inclusive and resilient sustainable transportation system is an important step in supporting the high-quality development of the economy and society.
