(Yicai) March 20 -- China’s priority over the next five years, a critical period for the country’s modernization process, is to build a modern industrial system, according to the distinguished Chinese economist Gan Chunhui.

The outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan approved earlier this month provides a clear roadmap on how to construct a modern industrial system, Gan, a professor of economics and executive vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said at a press briefing yesterday.

The plan, which will run through 2030, emphasizes technological breakthroughs in key areas such as integrated circuits, machine tools, and biomedicine, while strengthening the resilience and self-sufficiency of industrial and supply chains, Gan said. It also calls for early positioning in frontier fields including quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces, and biomanufacturing, he said.

In parallel, China will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, push forward green and low-carbon development, and expand the deployment of artificial intelligence across sectors, Gan added.

As scientific and technological innovation are identified as the core engine of industrial upgrading, China needs more investment in basic research and better ways of taking lab results into the factory, Gan pointed out. The plan says national spending on research and development should be more than 7 percent a year, reflecting the government's commitment to basic research, he said.

To aid the commercialization of research results, the plan proposes establishing a number of pilot zones for future industries. These zones will bring together all reaches of the industrial chain, build R&D networks and test bases, reduce corporate R&D costs, and improve coordination between industry, academia, and research institutions, Gan noted.

Shanghai’s Approach

Shanghai has brought out a roadmap for developing a modern industrial system in line with the national plan, Wang Jiaxi, an assistant researcher at the SASS’s Institute of Applied Economics, told the same news conference.

Shanghai’s government work report for this year proposes building a ‘2+3+6+6’ system, aiming to create world-class, high-end industrial clusters and promote the 'Shanghai Manufacturing' brand, Wang explained.

Under the ‘2+3+6+6' formula, ‘2’ refers to digitization and greening, ‘3’ to the city's leading industries (AI, biomedicine, and ICs), the first ‘6’ to the emerging pillar industry clusters (next-generation electronic information, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, high-end equipment, advanced materials, new energy and green low-carbon industries, and consumer fashion goods), and the last ‘6’ to the future industries in manufacturing, information, materials, energy, space, and health.

Shanghai's three leading industries saw their combined output value climb 9.6 percent to over CNY2 trillion (USD289.8 billion) last year, while that of its emerging pillar industry clusters rose 6.5 percent, accounting for 45 percent of the total output value of enterprises above a designated size, becoming the main engine of industrial growth, Wang noted.

To support the development of the future industries, Shanghai has set up special industry funds of about CNY15 billion (USD2.2 billion) to guide social capital toward the early and mid-stage development of hard technologies, he said.

The city authorities have also established industry incubators, such as the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, to help startups find upstream and downstream partners more easily, Wang noted.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione