**The Economic Work Conference made a comprehensive deployment for doing a good job in economic work in 2024, pointing out that it is necessary to adhere to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability with progress, establishing first and then breaking down, focusing on promoting high-quality development, highlighting the key points, grasping the key, and doing a solid job in economic work, and put forward nine key tasks, among which "leading the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation" is listed at the top of all work, which highlights its criticality and importance, and also provides action guidance for promoting high-quality development and firmly grasping the initiative of development. We must thoroughly implement the spirit of the first economic work conference, promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, accelerate the development of new quality productivity, and continue to promote the economy to achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth.
Strong support for progress, standing and stability.
Adhering to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability with progress, and establishing first and then breaking down" is an important principle for doing a good job in economic work in 2024. Scientific and technological innovation and industrial development are important areas for us to deeply understand and grasp the dialectic of "stability" and "progress". Without scientific and technological innovation, there will be no qualitative change in the industry, and no new qualitative productive forces will be formed. Leading the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation is a strong support for adhering to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability with progress, and establishing first and then breaking down.
Efforts to achieve major breakthroughs in science and technology and promote industrial innovation and upgrading are conducive to bursting out of the surging power of "progress". At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing in depth, digital technology, biotechnology, energy technology, green technology, deep space, deep sea and deep earth technology continue to emerge, major disruptive innovations in the field of artificial intelligence have emerged, cross-field scientific and technological cross-integration has been continuously promoted, scientific research paradigms and innovation methods have been profoundly adjusted, and the wide application of new technologies in thousands of industries has driven the rapid development of the industry. International competition in science and technology and industry continues to intensify, and countries have introduced new strategies and policies. In the face of the great changes in the world unseen in a century, only by seizing the historical opportunity of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation can we win the initiative in future development and seize the strategic commanding heights. In the critical period of rapid development of science and technology and industrial transformation, we must have a sense of distress and urgency if we do not advance, have the courage to meet challenges, bring new growth momentum to economic development, and forge a new path in promoting innovation-driven development.
Accelerating the completion of scientific and technological shortcomings and overcoming the "bottleneck" link of industrial technology is conducive to continuously improving the level of "establishment". Compared with the first economic work conference in previous years, "promoting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance" appeared for the first time in the overall requirements of economic work. Self-reliance and self-improvement not only means being strong in science and technology, but also in achieving a strong industry and a strong economy. To strengthen the research of major key core technologies, it is not only necessary to achieve technological breakthroughs in the laboratory, but also to truly implement them in industrial applications, so as to provide solid and strong support for industrial innovation and upgrading. On the one hand, the demand for tackling key core technologies should be extracted from industrial development, and a number of the most urgent and strategic technology points should be selected according to the actual needs of the industry and the needs of long-term development, and superior scientific and technological resources should be concentrated to fight a tough battle; On the other hand, major scientific research achievements must be effectively transformed, which requires national strategic scientific and technological forces such as national laboratories, national scientific research institutions, high-level research universities, and leading scientific and technological enterprises to do a good job in the transformation of achievements while making every effort to achieve major breakthroughs in science and technology. Only with the "establishment" of new science and technology and new industries can we smoothly promote the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure.
Continuing to invest in scientific and technological research and development and seizing the high-end links of the industrial value chain is conducive to "stabilizing" the overall layout of the industrial chain. At present, the developed countries in the United States and the West have implemented industrial reshoring, near-shore outsourcing, and friend-shore outsourcing on the grounds of ensuring the de-risking of the United States, forcing some enterprises to relocate some manufacturing links in China to some Southeast Asian countries and even Mexico, which has had a certain impact on China's industrial layout. In the face of this situation, in addition to enhancing the ability of the central and western provinces to undertake industrial transfer and actively adjusting the employment structure, the most important thing is to increase R&D investment, promote process innovation, process innovation, and product innovation, improve the skill level of workers through education and training, accelerate the industrial structure from the low-end to the high-end, and keep the links with high scientific and technological content and added value in China. Competitiveness is constantly improving.
The key lies in cultivating new quality productivity.
** The general secretary proposed in the local inspection and investigation that it is necessary to speed up the formation of new quality productive forces. ** The Economic Work Conference once again emphasized the need to "develop new quality productive forces". This is an important theoretical innovation, which means that the development of our productive forces must achieve a qualitative leap. The upgrading of factors of production in the new quality productivity includes not only the breakthrough progress of technology, the improvement of workers' scientific literacy and technical ability, but also the emergence of new factors of production such as data. Through the integration of new organizational methods such as management innovation and system and mechanism innovation, the total factor productivity will be greatly improved, and the development of new quality productivity will be promoted. These are reflected at the industrial level, which is to promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially to promote new industries, new models and new kinetic energy with disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies, shape more innovation-driven and first-mover advantage-driven development, and promote the construction of new industrialization and modern industrial system, so as to continuously form new quality productivity and achieve high-quality development.
Open up a new track for future industries. At present, a large number of new-generation technologies are emerging vigorously, in the industrialization gestation and embryonic period, leading the opening of new tracks for future industries. The new track means the change and upgrading of the technological innovation track and the birth of unprecedented new industries, not just the progress on the original track. For example, the development of quantum technology has given birth to some new technologies with future industrialization prospects. Quantum computing has extremely high computing speed and processing power, and can complete complex computing tasks in a very short time. Quantum communication is extremely secure and efficient, with good anti-interference and concealment performance. This is incomparable to traditional computing and communication. For another example, the development of brain science will reveal the distribution, shape, and state of various functions of the human brain, so as to achieve accurate diagnosis and development of brain diseases; Brain-computer articulation** establishes a non-invasive direct connection between the brain and external devices and enables real-time information exchange; Wait a minute. These new technologies may usher in an explosive period of industrialization in the near future, injecting vigorous impetus into economic growth.
Continuously expand strategic emerging industries. The development of China's strategic emerging industries has entered a critical stage. Following the law of the development of new technologies and new industries, more and more new technologies are expected to enter the stage of large-scale industrialization and commercial application in the coming period, becoming an important force driving industrial transformation and promoting economic and social development. In 2022, the added value of industries such as new-generation information technology, high-end equipment, and new energy vehicles will account for more than 13% of GDP; The annual output of industrial robots reaches 4430,000 sets, accounting for more than 50% of the total new installed capacity in the world; Key components of clean energy equipment such as photovoltaic modules and wind turbines account for 70% of the global market share; The annual sales of new energy vehicles have reached more than 6.8 million, ranking first in the world for many consecutive years. In the next step, we should continue to support these new advantageous industries to increase investment in scientific and technological innovation, enhance global competitiveness, and contribute new strength to new industrialization.
Accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. The core of new quality productivity is innovation. Traditional industries often rely on traditional production methods and processes, but the emergence of new quality productivity has given rise to a series of innovative technologies and new production methods. Through the integration of scientific and technological innovation resources, the new quality of productivity has injected new vitality into traditional industries. It is necessary to widely apply digital intelligence technology and green technology, strengthen the guidance of standards, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. In this process, it is necessary not only to expand the coverage of the technical standard system, gradually improve the standard requirements, and build a full-chain standardization system from R&D, promotion to product inspection and testing, supervision and law enforcement, but also to accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, promote the integrated application of the Internet, big data, cloud computing, metaverse, blockchain and other new-generation digital technologies in R&D and design, manufacturing, operation and management, and promote the deep integration of digital technology into the real economy; It is necessary not only to promote the demonstration and application of artificial intelligence large models in various industries, conduct precise training for vertical industries on the basis of general large models, develop industry-specific artificial intelligence solutions, and give full play to its huge potential for deep empowerment, but also actively develop green manufacturing and build more green factories, green parks, green data centers and computing infrastructure, so as to better promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.
Strengthen institutional and institutional safeguards.
At present, a new round of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is in the ascendant, and cutting-edge technologies in the fields of general artificial intelligence and life sciences are profoundly changing the industrial production function. In this arena of scientific and technological innovation, we must coordinate scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and strengthen the guarantee of systems and mechanisms, so as to catch up, catch up, and strive to surpass.
The first is to explore and improve the new first-class system. Improving the new first-class system is an inevitable requirement for the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, and it is also a practical need to firmly grasp the initiative of innovation and development, and realize the practical need to lead industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation. The new first-class system is an organizational model and operating mechanism that is oriented to the major needs of the country, through the coordinated efforts of national forces and market forces, and the cohesion and integration of national strategic scientific and technological forces and social resources to jointly overcome major scientific and technological problems. The key to the new first-class system lies in the "new", which should not only absorb the successful experience and reasonable elements of the past, but also keep pace with the times and reflect the more distinctive characteristics of the times. It is necessary to explore and improve the new first-class system, selectively focus on supporting the strategic areas facing the world's scientific and technological frontiers and major economic and social needs, aim at a few key core technologies related to the overall development of the country, give full play to the advantages of China's system, accelerate the process of technological research and industrial application, promote industrial replacement, core strengthening, intelligence and integration, continuously strengthen the resilience of the industrial chain, and comprehensively improve the modernization level of the industrial system.
The second is to strengthen the main position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation. Enterprises are not only the main body of the industry, but also the main body of innovation. Strengthening the dominant position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation is a key measure to deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system and promote the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance. In 2022, a total of 30,782 funds were invested in research and experimental development across the country900 million yuan, of which 23,878 was invested by enterprises600 million yuan, accounting for 776%。With the continuous improvement of R&D investment intensity, enterprises will surely make greater achievements in applied basic research and cutting-edge research. To coordinate scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, we should give full play to the role of enterprises as scientific and technological innovation reporters, respondents and markers, refine the major needs of scientific and technological innovation from the actual needs of enterprises, strengthen the innovation ability of enterprises in various ways such as organizing innovation consortiums and supporting the construction of innovation platforms, establish a technological innovation system with enterprises as the main body, improve the enterprise-led scientific research organization model, improve the service guarantee mechanism with enterprises as the core, and accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance.
The third is to create a good innovation ecosystem. Opening up the chain of "science and technology-industry-finance" will help give full play to the supporting role of finance in scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and create a good ecology for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and the development and growth of emerging industries. Venture capital and equity investment are important forces to realize the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and they are the key links between science and technology and industry. It is necessary to focus on the key points of industrial development, use more financial resources to promote scientific and technological innovation, and support long-term capital, patient capital, and strategic capital to invest more in scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation by encouraging the development of venture capital and equity investment. In addition, we should also try our best to broaden the channels of fundraising, promote the improvement of the all-round, multi-level scientific and technological financial service system including credit, bonds, insurance, venture capital, financing guarantees, etc., deepen the structural reform of the financial supply side, and continuously improve the strength, breadth and precision of financial support for scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and effectively create a good innovation ecology.
Author: Tian Jietang, Director of the Industrial Economy Research Department of the Development Research Center, **Economy**).