China Business News:

How do you evaluate the growth rate of manufacturing investment in the first two months of this year? What has been the effect of the large-scale equipment renewal policy? And how do you see the trend in the growth rate of  the manufacturing investment in the next stage? Thank you.

Fu Linghui:

Thank you for your questions. The development of the manufacturing sector is of great interest to everyone. Since the beginning of this year, with the continuous promotion of the high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing industry, the effect of large-scale equipment renewal policy has emerged, while manufacturing investment has maintained rapid growth, notably driving for the growth of total investment. In the first two months, investment in the manufacturing industry increased by 9% year on year, maintaining relatively fast growth. The main features are as follows:

First, the composition of investment continued to be optimized, and investment in equipment manufacturing grew rapidly. As the manufacturing industry improves and develops, the demand for equipment products expands, driving the growth of industry investment. In the first two months, investment in equipment manufacturing increased by 8.9% year on year. Among this, investment in railway, ship, aerospace and other transportation equipment manufacturing, and investment in general equipment manufacturing increased by 37.3% and 21.6%, respectively, both significantly faster than the growth rate of investment in the entire manufacturing industry.

Second, solid progress was made in transformation and upgrading, and investment in technological transformation of the manufacturing industry grew rapidly. Efforts to transform and upgrade traditional industries have been intensified, and investment in technological transformation in the manufacturing industry has shown good growth momentum. In the first two months, investment in technological transformation of manufacturing industry increased by 10% year on year, and the growth rate was 2 percentage points faster than that of the whole of last year.

Third, the manufacturing sector developed in a high-end manner, and investment in the high-tech manufacturing industry increased. All sectors have fostered and strengthened new quality productive forces, increased investment in scientific and technological innovation, and investment in high-tech manufacturing grew rapidly. In the first two months, investment in aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing increased by 27.1% year on year, and investment in computer and office equipment manufacturing increased by 31.6%.

It is also worth noting that since the beginning of this year, the large-scale equipment renewal policy has been vigorously promoted, which has not only promoted manufacturing production, but also strongly supported investment growth. In the first two months, investment in the purchasing of equipment, tools and implements increased by 18% year on year, 2.3 percentage points faster than that of the previous year, and its contribution to total investment growth reached 62.3%.

In the next stage, China's manufacturing industry has more potential for further development, and there are many favorable factors for the sustained growth of manufacturing investment. First, the industrial upgrading is accelerating. The country is accelerating its progress toward becoming a manufacturing powerhouse, and the manufacturing industry is developing in a high-end, intelligent and green direction with strong momentum. We need to further increase investment to accelerate the cultivation of new quality productive forces, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, vigorously develop emerging industries and plan for industries of the future. Second, breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovation are leading development. In recent years, China has made breakthroughs in such fields as large-scale AI models, humanoid robots, quantum communications and semiconductors. Innovative products and applications such as AI Plus have been accelerated, driving a surge in demand for related products and effectively boosting investment growth in related industries. Third, policy support is playing an obvious role. The Central Economic Work Conference and the national "two sessions" made comprehensive deployments regarding the expansion of effective investment, and all localities have made efforts to implement major national projects and programs, including those aligned with major national strategies, building up security capacity in key areas, as well as the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, and have strengthened the guarantee of projects, funds and other elements, which will strongly support the growth of manufacturing investment.

In the next stage, we must fully implement the guiding principles of the Central Economic Work Conference and the national "two sessions," actively expand effective investment, focus on improving investment efficiency, take well-targeted steps, give full play to the role of various government investment tools, better mobilize social investment, promote stable investment growth, and give full play to the role of investment in expanding demand and improving supply. Thank you.