Report on the implementation of the 2014 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2015 draft plan for national economic and social development (14)

5. Promoting transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure through innovation

We will rely on innovation, develop new products, models, forms of business, and industries, raise the core competitiveness of our industries, and advance the push toward mid- and high-end industries.

1) We will fully implement the strategy of innovation-driven development.

We project spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP will come to 2.2% in 2015. We will optimize and integrate science and technology programs (special projects and funds) financed by the central government. We will launch regional trial reforms to promote all-around innovation. We will improve policies on equity-based incentives for making innovation, and accelerate the reform for managing the use and commoditization of and the distribution of profit from scientific and technological advances of public institutions. We will establish more national innovation demonstration zones, and fully implement preferential policies such as extra deductions for R&D expenses. We will scale up state seed funds for encouraging the application of scientific and technological advances. We will move faster in carrying out key national scientific and technological programs and plan a number of major science and technology projects, major programs, and national innovation platforms.

2) We will boost the scale and strength of strategic emerging industries.

We will vigorously develop the information economy, and promote full integration of the information industry with traditional industries. We will formulate an “Internet Plus” action plan, support the integrated development of cloud computing with the Internet of Things and the mobile Internet, and foster the artificial intelligence industry. We will implement major innovation projects in biomedicines, civil space infrastructure, big data, high-end equipment, next-generation information networks, new energy, new materials, new-energy vehicles, aircraft engines, and gas turbines. We will advance the development of national defense-related science, technology, and industries by integrating the military and civilian sectors. We will set up state seed funds for investment in emerging industries.

3) We will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

We will implement the “Made in China 2025” strategy. We will introduce a three-year action plan for enhancing the core competitiveness of our manufacturing industries. We will focus on making breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas, such as industrial robots, rail transit equipment, high-end vessels and ocean engineering equipment, new-energy vehicles, modern agricultural machinery, and high-end medical appliances and medicines, and promote the industrial application of these technologies. We will coordinate the implementation of major projects on nuclear power, hydropower, and large coal and coal-power bases. We will accelerate the adjustment and optimization of industries with overcapacity, work harder to phase out outdated production capacity, and encourage enterprise mergers and reorganizations. We will encourage businesses to engage in technological upgrading. We will continue working to turn the coal industry around.

4) We will make the service sector better able to support economic growth.

We will fully implement pricing, fiscal, tax, and land policies to aid the development of the service sector, ensure that paid vacations are enforced, deepen the comprehensive trial reforms in this sector, introduce a statistical categorization of producer services, and formulate policies and guidelines for the development of consumer services. We will energetically develop producer services such as industrial design and finance lease, vigorously foster and develop high-tech services such as R&D, systems integration, intellectual property rights, and inspection and testing, and promote the integrated development of services with manufacturing industries. We will improve mobile payment infrastructure and trusted transaction services, and advance the development of e-commerce, logistics, and express delivery services. We will move faster in building a backbone network for the circulation of agricultural products nationwide. We will implement the mid-to-long-term plan and the three-year action plan for the development of the logistics industry, designate pilot cities for innovatively developing modern logistics, build national demonstration logistics parks, and support building a shared logistics information platform.

5) We will enhance the effective supply capacity of infrastructure and basic industries.

We will move faster to build railways, especially in the central and western regions, and promote the systematic development of intercity rail lines and urban rail transit. We will work to ensure that there are no national expressways left hanging unfinished, and rebuild bottlenecked sections of ordinary national and provincial trunk highways so that they are capable of accommodating more traffic. We will improve the development of high-grade inland waterways. We will advance the construction of civil aviation infrastructure such as the new airport in Beijing. We will accelerate the development of facilities for coal transportation and electricity transmission and pipelines for oil and gas transmission, actively develop hydropower, safely develop nuclear power, vigorously develop wind power, solar energy, and biomass energy, improve the development and utilization of natural gas, and increase the proportion of clean energy and renewable energy resources in total energy consumption.

6. Improving the pattern of economic development between different regions

We will give full play to the comparative strengths of different regions, foster and expand new growth poles and new economic support zones, and comprehensively promote coordinated and balanced development between different regions.

1) We will effectively carry out the three key strategies: the strategy of developing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the strategy of promoting coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the strategy to build an economic development belt along the Yangtze River.

We will ensure the completion of tasks and projects prioritized in 2015 in implementing the strategy of developing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. We will roll out guidelines for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and provide support for the region to make substantial breakthroughs first in integrated transportation, environmental protection, and industrial upgrading and relocating. In addition, we will intensify institutional reform, strengthen innovation-driven development, carry out trials and demonstrations in districts and fields meeting certain conditions, and relocate functions non-essential to Beijing’s role as the capital away from the city in a proactive yet prudent way. We will formulate the guidelines on building the economic development belt along the Yangtze River; accelerate the development of an integrated multidimensional transportation corridor and a green, ecological corridor all along the belt; start construction of major projects in an orderly fashion, including upgrading the major waterways and building docks and quays along the Yangtze River; establish demonstration zones for accepting relocated industries; and set up jointly-built industrial parks.

2) We will fully carry out the master strategy for regional development and the strategy for functional zoning.

We will refine and firm up the policies and measures concerning large-scale development of the western region which are appropriate under the new conditions, and further open up border areas and inland areas to the outside world. We will roll out the guidelines on all-around revitalization of northeast China and other old industrial bases, and fully implement major near-term policies and measures for revitalizing northeast China. We will formulate a new ten-year plan on boosting the rise of the central region, and build comprehensive transport networks and hubs in the region at a faster pace. We will support the eastern region in leading the way in institutional innovation aimed at economic transformation and upgrading. We will promote orderly development of new districts in urbanization. We will continue to carry out national trials and demonstrations for developing function zones, improve the policy framework for integrated, complete reforms, and establish sound mechanisms for monitoring and giving early warnings on the carrying capacity of resources and the environment. We will also energetically develop the marine economy.