Industrial robots at an intelligent manufacturing enterprise in Yangzhou, China's east Jiangsu province. (PHOTO: VCG)

By GONG Qian

According to the 2024 Government Work Report, China will modernize its industrial system and develop new quality productive forces at a faster pace. It will give full rein to the leading role of innovation and spur industrial innovation with progress in science and technology.

But how can innovation play a leading role in developing new quality productive forces? At a recent symposium, experts discussed how it could be done.

Sci-tech innovation and institutional reform

To develop new quality productive forces, innovation in both science and technology and institutional mechanisms is important, said Chen Zhi, a research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTD).

Innovation means a revolutionary breakthrough in science and technology. Its challenge lies in facilitating a deep transformation and upgrade of industries, which will then be reflected in the construction of a modern industrial system.

Science and technology system supports the modern industrial system in two ways: First, by making the latter advanced and complete. A key mission is to strengthen the technological foundation in China's competitive industries, such as new energy vehicles and high-speed rails. Second, it safeguards the security of the modern industrial system. Giving full play to the new system of pooling national resources and strengths to consolidate R&D of key core technologies is a way to make China's key industrial chains more resilient and stable.

At the same time, it is also necessary to accelerate establishing scientific research organization models and management methods that adapt to the development of new quality productive forces. Optimizing the allocation of talent, capital, technology and other resources will improve the efficiency of sci-tech investment and output.

Transforming scientific achievements

Only by transforming scientific achievements into actual productive forces, especially new quality productive forces, can original driving force of innovation-driven development be fully released. In this way, science and technology can be the primary productive force, said Ding Minglei, another research fellow from the CASTD.

How to transform scientific achievements into new quality productive forces? Ding said it involves at least three aspects.

First and foremost, by increasing the supply and transformation of high-quality scientific achievements. So strong support is needed for the creation of high-quality intellectual property rights. Industries and social capital should be encouraged to invest in cutting-edge technologies and future technologies with strategic significance.

Second, by nurturing future enterprises and industries to concentrate on disruptive technologies. A new mechanism should be constructed for the development of new quality productive forces where enterprises play the principal role in sci-tech innovation.

Thirdly, by building new infrastructure based on the new sci-tech revolution and people's wellbeing. The construction of digital infrastructure integrating new technologies such as 5G, AI, the Internet of Things, big data and cloud computing should be accelerated, thus advancing the construction of green and smart cities.

Role of platform enterprises

With data elements playing an increasingly prominent role in building a digital China, they should be better utilized in the process to develop new quality productive forces.

Platform enterprises, such as tech giants Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu, which are owners and operators of data elements as well as hubs for data circulation and transactions, have accumulated a large amount of data at both the industrial and user ends. This gives them remarkable advantages in data integration.

Yin Ximing, an associate researcher in the School of Management, Beijing Institute of Technology, and also the Tsinghua University Research Center for Technological Innovation, emphasized the crucial role of platform enterprises in accelerating the transformation of data elements into new quality productive forces.

Yin said it is vital to open and cultivate more application contexts of data elements, promoting deep integration of the digital and real economies. Second, more public policies are needed to encourage platform enterprises to cooperate with data exchanges and trading centers, promoting the trading and interactions of data elements within and outside the market. Finally, platform enterprises should proactively carry out international exchanges and cooperation to tap the value of data elements for a global digital-driven inclusive development.