Latest news with #ChinaEconomicRoundtable
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
Fast track for China's innovation with policy push
A humanoid robot is displayed at Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in Beijing, capital of China. — Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 15, 2025): China's national economic development zones are set to play a bigger role in incubating industrial and technological innovation thanks to the unveiling of a set of policy measures designed to boost new quality productive forces in the zones. More than 40 years since their establishment, national economic development zones have made remarkable strides in advancing China's opening up and enhancing innovation, according to guest speakers at the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, the all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. National economic development zones feature clusters of strategic emerging industries, including next-generation information technology, new materials, high-end manufacturing, and marine economy and marine equipment, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official with the Ministry of Commerce. China established its first national-level economic development zone in the northeastern city of Dalian in 1984. By 2024, the number of such zones reached 232 across the country. Located in Suzhou Industrial Park, one national economic development zone in east China's Jiangsu Province, Suzhou HYC Technology Co Ltd has evolved from a repair business into a global leader in the flat panel display testing industry. 'When establishing our semiconductor division, we named the development team 'Team of Qomolangma,' symbolising our commitment to tackling challenges in semiconductor testing technology and striving to reach the 'peak of technology',' said Chen Wenyuan, the company's chairman, who attributed the company's success to continuous input in tech innovation over the years. Thanks to its increasing focus on R&D related to testing equipment for flat panel display, intelligent wearable, semiconductor and automotive electronics, Suzhou HYC Technology was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise and became the first company listed on China sci-tech innovation board. There are more than 85,000 national-level high-tech firms in China's national economic development zones, accounting for over 18 percent of the country's total high-tech enterprises. In 2024 alone, the national economic development zones accounted for nearly one-quarter of the country's utilized foreign investment and foreign trade volume. Collectively, they generated regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about US$2.36 trillion). China has made relentless efforts to optimize the business environment in the zones to tap into their role in boosting economic growth and tech innovation, Ji said. The Ministry of Commerce unveiled a work plan in late May to further boost innovation and high-quality development in the zones. The plan outlined policy support for the zones to foster national major industrial and technological innovation platforms, and to encourage leading enterprises in the zones to form innovation consortium with universities and research institutions. To consolidate the foundation of the manufacturing sector, the plan supports such zones to participate in national key projects such as technology transformation and upgrading in manufacturing, and encourages them to upgrade traditional industries through digital intelligence and green technologies, and to establish incubators and pilot zones for future industries. Building on the institutional advantages the national economic development zones have achieved, the document has pledged to further improve and innovate the management models of the zones, which is expected to inject new vitality into the development of companies in the zones, Ji said. She added that the national economic development zones will continue to develop strategic emerging industries such as bio-medicine, new energy, new materials and aerospace, and make forward-looking planning for future industries. The document also promised more efforts to cultivate new quality productive forces in the national economic development zones, which has further increased enterprises' confidence in expanding input on innovation. Focusing on the R&D on industrial intelligence and smart technologies, Nanjing Sciyon Wisdom Technology Group Co Ltd, a national high-tech enterprise in Jiangning economic development zone in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, has established a smart factory that meets Industry 4.0 standards and employs a range of advanced automation and intelligent technologies to provide clients with customized products and services. 'In the future, we will intensify the research and promotion of new products and technologies such as industrial AI, and assist more enterprises in their transition from digitization to intelligence and smart transformation,' said Zhong Congqing, brand manager of the company. — Xinhua
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
China's economic devt zones aim for greater role in reform
This photo shows the recording site of the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. — Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 15, 2025): During the initial years of China's historic journey of reform and opening up over four decades ago, the first 14 national-level economic and technological development zones were established in 12 coastal cities. Today, there is a vast network of 232 such zones right across the country, serving as vital engines of development. In the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, a commerce official, a zone administrator and an executive of a foreign-invested company convened to explore the evolving role of these zones in shaping China's next phase of high-standard opening up, in-depth reform and high-quality development. National economic development zones are not only economic powerhouses but also key windows for global engagement, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official in the Ministry of Commerce's foreign investment department. Notably, such zones are home to more than 60,000 foreign-invested enterprises and around 99,000 firms engaged in foreign trade. In 2024 alone, national economic development zones accounted for about one-quarter of China's utilized foreign investment and trade volume. Collectively, they generated a regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about US$2.36 trillion) and housed over 4.9 million market entities, including 73,000 major industrial enterprises and 85,000 high-tech firms. Looking forward, Ji said these zones need to further improve and innovate in areas ranging from development positioning to institutions in a bid to shoulder greater responsibilities in fostering development and expanding opening up. To this end, the Ministry of Commerce recently unveiled a work plan with 16 targeted policy measures including developing new quality productive forces, elevating economic openness and deepening reforms of management systems. Innovation-driven development China's national economic development zones have started to speed up their innovation efforts, seeking to foster new growth drivers. Suzhou Industrial Park, founded in 1994 in east China's Jiangsu Province as the first inter-governmental cooperation project between China and Singapore, exemplifies this development trend. This industrial park leverages global partnerships and its free trade status in a quest to become a world-class high-tech park. Shen Lei, deputy director of the park's management committee, highlighted its focus on attracting global resources and integrating technological and industrial innovation. National economic development zones now account for 18.3 percent of China's high-tech enterprises and host more than 700 state-level incubators and innovation spaces. 'They boast high industrial concentration and solid manufacturing foundations, making them ideal for developing new quality productive forces tailored to local strengths,' Ji said. These zones have become powerhouses for strategic emerging industries. In southwest China's Sichuan Province, for example, the Yibin zone has built the world's largest single-site power battery production base featuring a 180 GWh capacity. Another zone in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, meanwhile, boasts complete industrial chains from aviation equipment to satellite applications. More efforts will be made to cultivate modern industrial systems in national economic development zones, centered around sectors such as biomedicine, new energy and materials, aerospace, high-end equipment manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI), Ji revealed. Pioneers of opening up Over the past decades, national economic development zones have been trailblazers in institutional innovation, foreign investment and economic growth, setting the pace for China's reform and opening-up endeavors. These zones have explored free trade pilot synergies to foster breakthroughs in areas including resource flows, rights protection and market regulation. Some have also proactively aligned with high-standard international trade rules to enhance their institutional openness, Ji said. 'The strategic location, industrial chains and policy support of these zones make them highly attractive for Panasonic to make investments in China,' said Zhao Bingdi, president of Panasonic China. A 47-year veteran of the Chinese market, Panasonic operates in national economic development zones of eight cities like Beijing, north China's Tianjin and Shanghai. Its 2024 fiscal year sales in China approached 100 billion yuan — nearly a quarter of Panasonic's global revenue. 'China is not just a manufacturing giant but a major consumer and innovation hub, offering vast opportunities for foreign firms,' said Zhao. He added that recent policies supporting technological platforms and the integration between the digital economy and the real economy will facilitate Panasonic's investments in areas ranging from AI to new energy. Experts noted that the latest reform measures concerning China's national economic development zones will provide foreign firms with a higher-level platform, thereby encouraging increased R&D investment and deeper collaboration with local enterprises. Thanks to improving industrial ecosystems, global companies will be able to seize greater opportunities in China's vibrant market. — Xinhua
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
China development zones foster coordinated regional development
An aerial drone photo taken on July 3, 2023 shows the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. – Xinhua photo BEIJING (July 15, 2025): China's national economic development zones serve as powerful engines for regional growth, driving industrial advancement across both prosperous and less-developed regions, according to a guest speaker on the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, the all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. The zones play a leading role in their respective provinces or regions. Specialising in core industries, the zones extend developed areas' economic influence and accelerate development in less-developed regions, said Ji Xiaofeng, an official from the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Foreign Investment Administration. Ji noted that the zones function not only as platforms for global openness but also as hubs for orderly cross-regional industrial transfers. While strengthening clustered development of competitive and leading industries, the ministry fully leverages the zones' radiating effects on their host regions, she added. For example, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has proactively expanded its production and supply chains to neighboring areas, enabling local businesses to benefit from its flagship enterprises and achieve mutual growth. The ministry also prioritizes deepening ties between regional industry leaders through the interaction between eastern and western development zones, Ji said. China established its first national-level economic development zone in the northeastern city of Dalian in 1984. By 2024, the number of such zones reached 232, generating a regional GDP of 16.9 trillion yuan (about US$2.36 trillion). — Xinhua
Borneo Post
06-06-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
China's policy synergy sustains growth, stabilizes employment
Guests attend the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) BEIJING (June 6): Amid mounting global uncertainties and a complex external environment, China is reinforcing its commitment to high-quality development to bolster economic stability and resilience. Following a recent meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, which set priorities for maintaining stable employment, businesses, markets and expectations, relevant government organs have accelerated the rollout of coordinated policies to shore up confidence and sustain momentum. In the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, officials from the country's top economic planner, labor authority, and central bank outlined how an expanding policy toolkit is enabling China to navigate headwinds and strengthen the foundations of long-term growth. MACRO POLICY SUPPORT The country's economy remained resilient in the first four months, with solid growth in industrial output, services, domestic demand and exports. Official data showed that retail sales of home appliances and communication equipment surged by more than 20 percent during the period, and investment in purchasing equipment rose by 18.2 percent. Innovation gathered pace, with high-tech manufacturing up 10 percent year on year in April, led by rapid advances in new energy vehicles, large-scale AI models, and humanoid robots. Ding Lin, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, said the upbeat economic data reflected the accelerated rollout of targeted measures and the combined effects of recent policy initiatives. A 0.5 percentage-point cut in the reserve requirement ratio for eligible financial institutions took effect in mid-May, injecting about 1 trillion yuan (139 billion U.S. dollars) in long-term liquidity. It followed a 0.1 percentage-point cut in the seven-day reverse repo rate, effective May 8. These moves, along with expanded re-lending tools and the issuance of sci-tech bonds, form part of a broader push by monetary and financial regulatory bodies to steady markets and support recovery amid external headwinds. 'These policies help expand funding available to the real economy, lower financing costs for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and ensure more stable business operations,' said Ding Zhijie, head of the Research Institute at the People's Bank of China, the central bank. Official data showed ample market liquidity and substantial credit support for SMEs. By the end of April, the outstanding balance of inclusive loans to micro and small enterprises had reached 34.3 trillion yuan, an 11.9 percent year-on-year increase, outpacing the growth of all other loan categories during the same period. Loans to 'little giant' firms, which refer to novel elites among China's SMEs that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in a niche market, and boast cutting-edge technologies, stood at 6.3 trillion yuan by the end of the first quarter, marking a 15.1 percent increase. Ding Zhijie, head of the Research Institute at the People's Bank of China, the central bank, speaks at the recording site of the latest episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) RISING DOMESTIC DEMAND To strengthen domestic demand as a key driver of growth, China has introduced a series of targeted measures across multiple sectors. These include expanding services consumption, strengthening care for elderly people with disabilities, promoting automobile sales, improving consumption-related infrastructure, encouraging private investment, and launching new policy-based financial instruments. The central bank has introduced a package of structural monetary policies to boost domestic demand, including expanding the re-lending facility for sci-tech innovation and technological upgrading from 500 billion to 800 billion yuan, launching a new 500-billion yuan re-lending program to support elderly care and consumption in sectors such as catering and cultural tourism, and supporting financial institutions, tech firms, and equity investment institutions in issuing sci-tech innovation bonds. Ding Zhijie said that the central bank's recent policies focus on three key aspects: scaling up existing tools, reducing funding costs, and introducing innovative instruments to guide financing toward key areas of consumption and investment. The country announced a new round of the consumer goods trade-in program last year to boost consumer spending, subsidizing trade-ins of automobiles, home appliances, and home decorations — and expanded the scope of the program earlier this year. In the first five months this year, the country's consumer goods trade-in program generated 1.1 trillion yuan in sales, fueling a surge in transactions that included 4.12 million vehicles, 77.62 million units of household appliances and 56.63 million units of digital products such as mobile phones, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. Customers choose dishwashers in a shopping mall in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Zhang Ying/Xinhua) STABLE EMPLOYMENT As domestic demand picks up and macro policies take effect, employment has remained generally stable. From January to April, urban job creation increased at a steady pace and the average surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, according to Chen Yongjia, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Chen said the ministry has introduced a series of targeted measures to stabilize employment, which have delivered positive results. The country has increased the quota for loans aimed at stabilizing and expanding employment, expanded the coverage of subsidy policies that support job creation, and extended existing measures such as unemployment insurance refunds and skill training subsidies to fully unleash policy dividends. In the first quarter, 3.52 billion yuan in job stabilization funds were issued, along with 23.8 billion yuan in employment subsidies and 156.3 billion yuan in special-purpose loans for job retention and expansion. Starting this year, over 10 million people will benefit from subsidized vocational training programs each year for three consecutive years, alongside specialized courses in elderly care, domestic services, and long-term caregiving to improve workforce skills. The officials said greater efforts will be made to enhance the foresight, precision and effectiveness of macro regulation, ensuring that all policies work in the same direction and reinforce each other. Such coordinated efforts are expected to support the economy's upward momentum, reinforce market confidence, and improve resilience against rising global uncertainties, they said. – Xinhua
Borneo Post
06-06-2025
- Business
- Borneo Post
China's economy on steady upward trajectory amid external challenges: official
This photo taken on June 21, 2023 shows the Drum Tower as seen from the Jingshan Park in Beijing, capital of China. — Xinhua photo BEIJING (June 6): Building on a positive start in the first quarter of 2025, China's economy is continuing to make steady progress, said Ding Lin, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission. Speaking on the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, Ding noted that despite a complex external environment, China's economy has remained resilient. Notably, key indicators like industrial production, the service sector, domestic demand and exports have shown robust growth. Ding emphasized China's innovative dynamism, citing 10-percent growth in the high-tech manufacturing sector in April, nearly 4 percentage points higher than the country's overall industrial growth rate. Ding also highlighted the accelerated development of industries such as drones, new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence and humanoid robots. 'In general, as pro-growth measures are swiftly implemented, their effects will continue to emerge, further promoting the country's high-quality economic development,' Ding added. China's GDP grew by 5.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025. – Xinhua China Ding Lin World Economic Forum
