China's industrial production registered steady growth in the first three quarters of 2024, accompanied by a faster pace of intelligent and green transformation, said an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Wednesday.
At a press conference in Beijing, Zhao Zhiguo, spokesman and chief engineer at the MIIT, said that in the first three quarters, the industry and information economy operated smoothly, with industrial structure continuing to be optimized, the development of new quality productive forces accelerated, several new achievements made in key areas of innovation and high-quality development solidly promoted.
"From January to September, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.8 percent year on year, contributing nearly 40 percent to GDP. The value added in equipment manufacturing and high-tech sectors also increased, with the proportion of added value from these sectors in the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size rising compared to last year. Additionally, industrial investment had maintained double-digit growth for eight consecutive months," said Zhao.
"The pace of transformation and upgrading in the manufacturing industry had accelerated. A total of 421 national-level intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories had been cultivated, and more than 10,000 provincial-level intelligent factories had been established. China accounts for 42 percent of the Global Lighthouse Network, with the total number reaching 72," he said.
China had carried out industrial energy conservation and carbon reduction, vigorously developed clean and low-carbon hydrogen industry and environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry, and the energy consumption per unit of added value of industrial enterprises of the designated size had continued to decline, he said.
"Business entities had developed steadily. As of the end of August, the number of industrial enterprises above the designated size had reached 504,000, an increase of 4.4 percent compared with the end of 2023. A total of 1,557 manufacturing champions for a certain sector and over 140,000 SMEs that apply special, sophisticated techniques to produce unique and novel products had been cultivated," Zhao said.
"The enabling role of information and communication had continued to be highlighted. In the first three quarters, the total telecom business increased by 10.7 percent year on year. By the end of September, 4.089 million 5G base stations had been built and more than 15,000 '5G plus Industrial Internet' projects had been built," he said.
In the next step, Zhao said that the government will implement comprehensive technological transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, along with large-scale equipment renewal projects, while continuing to promote cost reductions for enterprises.
China's industrial production grows steadily in first three quarters: official
