High-quality development has been laid out as a top priority in Xi Jinping’s report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and self-reliance and strength in science and technology is crucial to that, according to the report.

The report has made it clear that, to build a modern socialist country in all respects, China must, first and foremost, pursue high-quality development.

“There are many bottlenecks hindering high-quality development, and China’s capacity for scientific and technological innovation is not yet strong enough,” the report said.

A key aspect of high-quality development is to make its industrial and supply chains more resilient and secure, according to the report. China’s industrial and supply chains have faced some challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions in the past few years.

“We must work faster to transform the growth model, make economic growth more innovation-driven, and work hard for better quality, higher efficiency and more robust growth drivers through reform, so as to raise the quality and level of development,” Mu Hong, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, said at a press conference interpreting the report in Beijing on October 24.

Historic progress in past decade

Over the past decade, China’s economic and technological strength has increased significantly, with its position as the world’s second largest economy consolidated, Mu said.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew from 54 trillion yuan in 2012 to 114 trillion yuan ($17.9 trillion) in 2021, up 7.2 percentage points and accounting for 18.5 percent of the world economy. Its GDP per capita rose from 39,800 yuan to 81,000 yuan.

The country has accelerated efforts to build its self-reliance and strength in science and technology, with nationwide R&D spending rising from 1 trillion yuan to 2.8 trillion yuan, the second highest in the world.

In 2021, the country’s R&D spending intensity, or the expenditure on R&D as a percentage of its GDP, rose to 2.44 percent. The rate, jumping from 1.91 percent in 2012, tops developing countries and is higher than the European Union’s average level.

China’s ranking on the Global Innovation Index rose from the 34th in 2012 to the 11th in 2022.

The country has also made breakthroughs in some core technologies in key fields, such as manned spaceflight, lunar and Martian exploration, deep sea and deep earth probes, supercomputers, satellite navigation, quantum information, nuclear power technology, new energy technology, airliner manufacturing and biomedicine.

For example, in 2021, the value of industries related to China’s homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) reached 469 billion yuan, and there have been more than 1 billion terminal devices with the BDS positioning service.

China’s first self-developed large passenger jetliner C919 was granted a certificate of airworthiness by the country’s aviation regulator in September, with the first plane to be delivered by the end of this year.

Goals in the future

Looking ahead, the CPC aims to significantly increase China’s economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities and composite national strength by 2035, according to the report.

By that time, China’s GDP per capita will be on a par with that of a mid-level developed country, and the country will join the ranks of the world’s most innovative countries, with great self-reliance and strength in science and technology, the report said.

In China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), a blueprint for its economic and social development, the country set the target to increase its annual R&D spending by more than 7 percent every year.

Meanwhile, China aims to increase the added value of strategic emerging industries to more than 17 percent of its GDP by 2025. In 2021, the share was 13.4 percent, according to data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

“The GDP growth should no longer be taken as the sole criterion for evaluating performance,” Mu noted.

Instead, China will strive for high-quality development, with innovation being the primary driving force, he said, adding that the country will improve the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide to make key technological breakthroughs and boost China’s strength in strategic science and technology.

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