"China's promotion of new industrialization and acceleration of the construction of a modern industrial system will unleash tremendous development momentum, provide broad space for deepening international cooperation in the industrial chain and supply chain, and also provide important opportunities for enterprises from all countries to innovate and start businesses in China." Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong stated at the 2024 annual meeting of the China Development Forum on the 25th that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will continue to expand high-level opening up, implement measures to completely lift foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing industry, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with enterprises from around the world, and jointly promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial chain and supply chain.
Against the backdrop of profound changes in the international environment and many severe challenges faced by the world economy, industrial and supply chains have become a hot topic of concern for guests at this conference.
Jin Zhuanglong stated that China's industrial and supply chains are constantly formed and developed through deep participation in global industrial division of labor. He introduced that foreign-invested enterprises are an important component of China's industrial and supply chains. Their operating income and profits in China have accounted for 20.4% and 23.4% of China's industrial scale and above, respectively, and their imports and exports account for 30.2% of China's total imports and exports. They play an important role in stabilizing China's industrial growth and promoting high-quality development.
Looking ahead to the future, how can we promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial and supply chains in international cooperation? Jin Zhuanglong believes that Chinese and foreign enterprises can deepen cooperation in four aspects.
Technological innovation is the fundamental driving force behind the optimization and upgrading of industrial and supply chains. In recent years, China's industrial technological innovation capability has significantly enhanced. At the same time, China's huge market demand, rich application scenarios, and complete industrial supporting system also provide favorable conditions for the innovative development of multinational corporations.
It is reported that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will vigorously promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, implement high-quality development actions for key manufacturing industry chains, strengthen the position of enterprises as the main body of scientific and technological innovation, continuously optimize the innovation platform network, promote the improvement of quality and efficiency in national high-tech zones, and accelerate the enhancement of industrial scientific and technological innovation capabilities; Actively support foreign-funded enterprises to establish research and development centers in China, collaborate with domestic enterprises to carry out technology research and industrialization applications, encourage foreign-invested enterprises and their established research and development centers to undertake major research and development projects, and provide higher quality services and guarantees for scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors from various countries to innovate and start businesses in China.
Digitalization and intelligence are important directions for optimizing and upgrading industrial and supply chains, containing huge and effective investment demands. In recent years, the Chinese government has actively promoted the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the digital level of enterprises has significantly improved.
"Compared with the international advanced level, we still have a considerable gap." Jin Zhuanglong said that foreign-funded enterprises have long-term practice and rich experience in digital transformation. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology supports Chinese and foreign enterprises to strengthen cooperation, welcomes enterprises from all countries to actively participate in the digital transformation process of China's manufacturing industry, and accelerates the transformation and implementation of advanced and applicable digital technologies, products, and solutions in China.
At present, China has cultivated a total of 5095 green factories, 371 green industrial parks, 605 green supply chain management enterprises, and nearly 35000 green products at the national level.
"We actively promote the participation of foreign-funded enterprises in China's green manufacturing." Jin Zhuanglong stated that in the next step, we will continue to promote the establishment of an international partnership for green manufacturing, continuously deepen exchanges and cooperation with countries in green technology, products, equipment, services, and product carbon footprint management, build a number of Sino foreign cooperative green industrial parks, and expand the growth points of green trade.
Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in promoting innovation, employment, improving people's livelihoods, and strengthening and stabilizing the supply chain. Jin Zhuanglong stated that the next step will be to adhere to the equal emphasis on service and management, and to promote the specialized, refined, and innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises. We will make good use of the APEC mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises, and organize activities such as the APEC International Cooperation Forum on Specialized, Refined, and Innovative Small and Medium sized Enterprises. We will continuously gather consensus on the specialized, refined, and innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises, optimize the development environment, promote high-level open cooperation among small and medium-sized enterprises, and help them make good use of both international and domestic markets and resources, integrate into the global industrial and supply chains.
