Economic Daily:

China has been the world's largest manufacturing country for many years. How do the results of this census reflect the development of China's industrial economy over the five years? What are the new features in terms of transformation and upgrading? Thank you.

Kang Yi:

Your questions are concerning industrial issues. Industry is an important mainstay of the real economy and the core driving force in accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces. Over the five years, China has taken solid steps toward the key task of new industrialization. We have integrated the construction of China's strength in manufacturing with the development of the digital economy, industrial informatization and other aspects, improving the modernization level of the industrial system, and achieving increases in the quantity and quality of the industrial economy. The trend toward high-end, intelligent and green development is quite clear. To sum up, there are several characteristics:

First, our industrial strength has developed and grown. In the five years, the advantages of our complete industrial system and strong supporting capabilities have continued to emerge. Many industrial enterprises have broken new ground and grown, more new forces have continued to join, and the number of industrial enterprises and their efficiency have steadily increased. At the end of 2023, there were a total of 4.236 million industrial corporate legal entities nationwide, an increase of 22.7% over the end of 2018. The assets of these industrial corporate legal entities totaled 201 trillion yuan, an increase of 44.3%. The operating income of industrial enterprises reached 152.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.6% over 2018. As the main body of the industrial economy, China's manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years, accounting for approximately 30% of the global share.

Second, the manufacturing sector is moving toward high-end development. In the five years, high-end industries represented by equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing have accelerated their development, driving continuous optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure. By the end of 2023, there were 192,000 and 53,000 legal entities engaged in China's equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing above designated size, respectively. These figures represent growth of 44.5% and 57.4%, respectively, compared to the end of 2018, with their share of total industrial enterprises above the designated size increasing by 3.5 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points, respectively. The operating income of corporate units in the equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 36.8% and 43.1% over 2018, significantly higher than the average level of all industrial enterprises above designated size. At the same time, prospective plans are being accelerated in terms of planning and implementation, promoting rapid growth of strategic emerging industries. At the end of 2023, the number of industrial enterprises with legal person status engaged in the production of strategic emerging industries nationwide reached 96,000, an increase of 45% compared to the end of 2018. The proportion of these industrial enterprises with legal person status accounted for 19.5% of all industrial enterprises with legal person status, an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to the end of 2018.

Third, steps to promote intelligent development were accelerated. In the five years, we have actively integrated digital technology into the real economy, vigorously developed the digital industry, transforming traditional industries with digital technologies. Technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and the industrial internet have been rapidly advancing, continuously empowering the development of the industrial economy. By 2023, more than half of China's industrial enterprises above designated size had applied digital technology in all aspects of production and operation. The digital product manufacturing industry has shown strong vitality. By the end of 2023, there were 262,000 corporate units and 13.372 million employees in China's digital product manufacturing sector. The operating income reached 20.5 trillion yuan, accounting for 42.3% of the corporate units in the core industries of the digital economy.

Fourth, sustained efforts were made in green transformation. China has continuously promoted the green and low-carbon transformation of the manufacturing sector, increasing the clean and low-carbon transformation, vigorously developing green productive forces, and bringing more green technologies and products to the market. It is gradually forming competitive industries, which not only help achieve the "dual carbon" goals, but also inject new momentum into high-quality economic development. In 2023, the production of new energy products such as solar panels and wind turbines increased by 4.9 times and 7.4 times, respectively, compared to 2018, and the production of NEVs also saw a significant surge.

Over the five years, China's industrial economy has forged ahead, demonstrating both quantitative growth and qualitative improvements. The advantages of a comprehensive industrial system have become increasingly prominent, and the international competitiveness of "Made in China" has steadily been strengthened. However, on the whole, China's industrial development remains at a critical juncture of transitioning from a large industrial base to a strong industrial powerhouse, with significant hurdles to overcome. Shortcomings still exist, particularly in key and core technologies, while production and operational difficulties persist for industrial enterprises, especially micro and small enterprises. To address these challenges, we must continue advancing new industrialization, deeply integrate sci-tech innovation with industrial innovation, accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, and consistently promote the high-quality development of the industrial economy. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

Last question, please.