Top executives and senior figures from some of China's leading tech and auto firms who are also deputies to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) have highlighted the importance of developing core technologies and promoting 'new quality productive forces' to advance high-quality development and enhance global competitiveness.
The NPC, China's top legislature, has concluded its annual session in Beijing on Thursday, bringing an end to this year's "two sessions" political meetings, after the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, ended its annual session on the previous day.
During the two sessions, different delegation groups of NPC deputies have been engaged in a series of meetings and discussions as they assess the progress made in technological innovation in recent years. They also explored ways to further advance high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), a key blueprint which will map out China's policy priorities until the end of the decade.
Lei Jun, founder of Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, a firm best known for its smartphones and electronic products which has also moved into the auto sector in recent years with the production of electric vehicles, highlighted the progress that has been made.
He also pointed to the importance of 'new quality productive forces', a new strategic approach which puts sci-tech innovation front and center and stresses advanced productivity freed from the traditional economic growth models.
"We have personally witnessed the continuous release of policy dividends for technological innovation over the past five years, the constant improvement in the synergistic efficiency of the industrial and supply chains, and the rapid growth of a large number of private enterprises on new tracks. We will firmly grasp the development opportunities of the 15th Five-Year Plan, further develop new productive forces, and unswervingly follow the path of high-quality development," said Lei, who is also a deputy to 14th NPC.
Meanwhile, another deputy Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of Gree Electric Appliances, a leading home appliances manufacturer headquartered in south China's Zhuhai, hopes that these development efforts can make Chinese firms even stronger on the world stage.
"In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, as a representative of the manufacturing industry, we must think more deeply about how to achieve genuine new quality productive forces, and how to strive for our ultimate goals within the context of high-quality development to win glory for China around the world with our products," said Dong.
As the latest in China's continuing cycle of five-year plans, the 15th Five-Year Plan serves as a guiding blueprint for the future, according to Liu Hui, a senior technician at Jiangling Motors, a Chinese auto firm based in the eastern Jiangxi Province.
Liu, who is also an NPC deputy, added that efforts should be made in integrating national tech strategies and fostering partnerships with universities and research institutes to master core new-energy vehicle technologies and secure development autonomy.
"The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan is a programmatic document based on the overall situation and aimed at charting the course for the future. We will actively integrate into the layout of the national strategic scientific and technological strength, build a closer cooperation ecosystem of industries, universities, and research in collaboration with leading academic and research institutes, and focus on tackling core technologies in new energy and intelligent connected vehicles in an effort to firmly grasp the initiative for development in our own hands," he said.
NPC deputies highlight advancing core technologies, new quality productive forces
