China to accelerate advanced manufacturing development: official

China will speed up the development of advanced manufacturing and maintain a reasonable share of the manufacturing sector in its economy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), according to the country's Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xin Guobin on Wednesday.

It is part of China's broader efforts to advance high-quality industrial development, Xin said at a State Council Information Office press conference in Beijing.

China's manufacturing sector has scaled new heights in both scale and quality throughout the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

The value-added output of industrial enterprises above designated size registered an average annual growth rate of 5.9 percent, while total manufacturing value-added expanded from 26.5 trillion yuan (3.94 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2020 to 34.7 trillion yuan (5.16 U.S. dollars), accounting for around 25 percent of the country's GDP.

"We will vigorously develop advanced manufacturing and continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. We will deepen the special campaign of 'AI plus manufacturing', accelerate the all-round and whole-chain popularization and application of new-generation information technology, and promote the digital, intelligent, green and low-carbon transformation of the manufacturing sector," Xin said.

The industry regulator has laid out further priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan period to support sustained sector growth.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the ministry will push for the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, strengthen the development of public technology service platforms and pilot testing platforms, and help original technologies move faster toward pilot testing and large-scale application.

The ministry will also step up legislative research in emerging fields including the digital economy and artificial intelligence, improve the mandatory standards system for the industry and the information technology sector, and use higher standards to support high-quality development, according to Xin.

China to accelerate advanced manufacturing development: official

Chinese agricultural expertise and technology are helping Uzbekistan's cotton growers increase yields while using significantly less water, with cooperation extending from drip irrigation to agricultural machinery assembly.

In southern Uzbekistan, farmers have turned to Chinese drip-irrigation technology to make water use more efficient in the region where every drop matters for water-demanding cotton.

"We expect to yield up to nine tonnes of cotton per hectare. Our cotton is developing well. As you can see, around 50 percent of the cotton has already opened. I have been working with this drip irrigation system for two years. The water savings from using this system are very significant," said Shodiyor Minurkulov, a cotton farmer.

Water mixed with fertilizer is pumped through drip lines directly to the plants, reducing water losses and allowing farmers to control precisely how much water and nutrition their cotton receives.

Chinese technology extends beyond the fields. In Karshi, tractors, cotton planters and combine harvesters are lined up in a new assembly facility expected to begin production in two months.

"Our company has been deeply rooted in China for many years and is well received by a wide range of users. So we are bringing our most advanced technology to participate in Uzbekistan's agricultural modernization drive. We aim to support local agricultural development with our latest technology," said Wang Shijie, factory manager at agricultural machinery company FM World.

Chinese expertise, technology boost Uzbekistan's cotton industry