Box 7: Innovation-Driven Development

2) The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries were accelerated. The Made in China 2025 strategy and the three-year action plan for enhancing the core competitiveness of our manufacturing industries were launched. We advanced major projects in the manufacturing sector aimed at strengthening core competitiveness, promoting industrial rejuvenation, and encouraging technology upgrading. The Chinese-standard EMU trains for which we hold the intellectual property rights rolled off the production line, breakthroughs in the development of a number of sophisticated modern agricultural machines were made, the National Robot Test and Evaluation Center was established, and smooth progress was made in the demonstration and application of Chinese-brand industrial robots. We set up an investment fund for advanced manufacturing, raising 20 billion yuan in the first round of funding, a portion of which came from private investors.

3) Unremitting efforts were made to address the serious problem of overcapacity. In order to curb the expansion of production capacity, we reviewed and reorganized projects that were in violation of relevant regulations, and strictly forbade the registration and construction of new projects in industries that were already burdened with severe overcapacity. Last year we reduced excess production capacity by 13 million metric tons of iron, 17 million metric tons of steel, 38 million metric tons of cement, 300,000 metric tons of electrolytic aluminum, and 11 million weight cases of plate glass. Efforts were stepped up to help turn the coal industry around.

4) New progress was made in the development of strategic emerging industries. The national program for civil space infrastructure was fully implemented; China' s homegrown large passenger aircraft, the C919, rolled off the production line; and the new regional airliner, the ARJ21, was put into service. The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System was widely used, and sectors such as cloud computing, genetic testing, new-energy vehicles, robotics, and mobile Internet experienced rapid development. A number of industries including integrated circuits, marine engineering equipment, and medical equipment started moving toward the high end.

5) Innovation in and development of the modern service industry were accelerated. We issued guidelines on accelerating the development of consumer services and promoting the upgrading of the consumption structure, further lifted restrictions on market access in the service sector, made solid progress in comprehensive pilot reforms in this area, and advanced smoothly the development of integrated experimental zones for cross-border E-commerce. The value-added of the tertiary industry increased by 8.3% over the previous year.

6) Infrastructure networks were further improved. We pressed ahead with the development of comprehensive transportation systems, with the length of transportation lines open to traffic reaching 4.94 million kilometers. China's energy supply capacity was enhanced and its energy consumption structure was improved, with the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption increasing to 12% of total energy consumption, while coal consumption decreased to account for 64% of total energy consumption. The National Broadband Internet Agenda was further implemented and next-generation information infrastructure continued to improve.

Box 8: Major Infrastructure Construction

4. We promoted coordinated development between urban and rural areas and between regions and sped up the formation of new areas of growth, growth poles, and growth belts. Positive headway was made in the implementation of the Three Initiatives (the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative; the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt), the development of the four regions (the western, northeastern, central, and eastern regions), and the promotion of the New Urbanization, all of which have made a contribution toward creating new space for development.

1) The blueprint for the Three Initiatives produced tangible results. The Belt and Road Initiative got off to a good start. Steady progress was made in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with functions non-essential to Beijing's role as the capital being relocated away from the city in an orderly manner and initial breakthroughs being made in the three key areas of transportation, ecological conservation, and industry. Efforts to develop the Yangtze River Economic Belt were stepped up, with the development of the green, ecological corridor beginning to pick up speed and the comprehensive transportation system being gradually improved.

Box 9: Implementation of the Three Initiatives

2) The development of the four regions became more coordinated. Efforts were increased to accelerate large-scale development in the western region, while effective measures were adopted to respond to the downward pressure on economic development in the northeast. The development of integrated transportation hubs and eco-economic zones in the central region was accelerated. And the eastern region continued to play an exemplary role in carrying out reform and innovation, transforming and upgrading industries, and improving the quality and performance of the economy. In addition, state-level new areas enjoyed sound development.

Box 10: Development of the Four Regions

Box 11: Development of Major Function Platforms

3) The New Urbanization was advanced in an active yet prudent way. Projects to help rural migrant workers become permanent urban residents, to cultivate emerging small and medium-sized cities, and to promote new models of urban development all made smooth progress. Twenty-seven provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps published their guidelines for carrying out reform of the household registration system, and provisional regulations concerning the residence certificate were published and implemented. Steady progress was made in advancing new models of urban development and in the cultivation of emerging small and medium-sized cities. Plans for the development of city clusters were completed for the Yangtze River Delta, and for the Chengdu-Chongqing and Harbin-Changchun regions. We further extended the state comprehensive pilot project for the New Urbanization to two provinces and 135 cities or towns. Positive results were achieved in implementing the reform to replace multiple plans for city (county) development with one master plan.

5. We accelerated the transformation of the agricultural growth model and made solid progress in agricultural modernization. Agricultural and rural development remained steady, and grain output increased for the twelfth consecutive year.

1) Support policies for agriculture were innovated and improved. Investment in agriculture, rural areas, and farmers continued to grow, and for the fifth consecutive year the proportion of funds appropriated for investment in these three areas from the central government budget exceeded 50% of total funds. The program for the review of state funds for agricultural development was successfully completed, and the trials of integrating and optimizing the use of provincial funds for agricultural development were launched. We worked steadily to improve the policy for setting minimum state grain purchase prices and the policy for the temporary state purchase and storage of grain, and solid progress was made in implementing pilot reforms for guaranteeing base prices for cotton in Xinjiang, and for soybean in the northeast and Inner Mongolia. We strengthened regulation over the market for major commodities such as grain, cotton, edible oil, sugar, and chemical fertilizers.