High-tech industry is evolving into a major locomotive for China's economic growth with its share in the gross domestic product (GDP) expected to climb to 6 per cent in 2005 from 4 per cent last year, a senior State official said yesterday.
To give the booming business a larger role in the national economy, China is promoting a technological renovation drive in order to upgrade State-owned businesses.
Pressures are mounting on Chinese enterprises as the country's upcoming accession to the World Trade Organization, which will pit Chinese firms directly against foreign rivals, draws near.
Wang Chunzheng, vice-minister of the State Development Planning Commission, said yesterday that high-tech industry will be given a larger role in the national economy to build up China's economic strength in the world market.
Wang said technological renovations should be pushed to produce cutting-edge products with Chinese brand names, while a series of high-tech parks should be developed around the country to become the epicenter of high-tech growth.
The present high-tech sector has already become a major force over the last few years, seen most clearly in the State technological parks and the bulging foreign investment in micro-chips, software and the Internet.
The industry churned out products with a value of 1.91 trillion yuan (US$232 billion) in 2000, up from 1.31 trillion (US$159 billion) in 1999, representing an annual 20 per cent growth rate, statistics reported.
(China Daily 08/21/2001)
