At the recently held National Industrial and Information Technology Work Conference, it was proposed that the value-added of industries above designated size is expected to grow by about 5.7% year-on-year in 2024, with the manufacturing sector's value-added maintaining a stable proportion of GDP. Looking towards 2025, the conference outlined 12 key tasks, including fully promoting stable growth in the industrial economy, advancing the integration of technological and industrial innovation, upgrading traditional industries, and fostering the development of emerging and future industries.

Promoting Stable Growth in the Industrial Economy:
The government will implement a new round of growth stabilization plans for ten key industries, strengthen the monitoring and guidance of industrial provinces, and develop mechanisms to maintain a reasonable proportion of manufacturing investment. Policies will be strengthened to support large-scale equipment renewal and consumption product replacement. The initiative to cultivate world-class advanced manufacturing clusters will also be launched.

Promoting the Integration of Technological and Industrial Innovation:
The government will continue implementing major national science and technology projects, innovate the organizational model for innovation, and form a series of core technologies that drive industrial development. A comprehensive system for cultivating high-tech enterprises, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, gazelle enterprises, and unicorn enterprises will be established. Construction of national manufacturing innovation centers and industrial technology public service platforms will be enhanced, along with the establishment of new high-tech zones at the provincial level.

Promoting High-Quality Technological Supply:
Looking ahead to 2025, Zhang Li, director of the China Electronics and Information Industry Development Research Institute, emphasized that technological innovation should lead the development of new productive forces, focusing on increasing high-quality technological supply, strengthening enterprises' role in technological innovation, and promoting the transformation and application of scientific research results. Key efforts will focus on critical common technologies, cutting-edge technologies, modern engineering technologies, and disruptive innovations.

Upgrading Traditional Industries:
The conference highlighted the importance of improving standards and guiding the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries. This includes enhancing technological upgrades for key industries, advancing equipment renewal, process upgrades, digital empowerment, and management innovation within major sectors.

Fostering Emerging and Future Industries:
To grow emerging industries and future sectors, the conference proposed initiatives such as promoting large-scale applications of new technologies, new products, and new scenarios in the manufacturing sector. Additionally, efforts will be made to develop intelligent connected vehicles and expand the use of Beidou satellite navigation. Policies for innovation in fields like biomanufacturing, quantum industries, embodied intelligence, and atomic-level manufacturing will also be formulated.

Promoting High-Quality Development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT):
The government will refine policies to support the development of "dual-gigabit" networks, pilot the deployment of 10-gigabit optical networks, and aim to build more than 4.5 million 5G base stations. Optimization of the computational power center layout will be implemented, and efforts to upgrade networks through "joint computation networks" will accelerate. The development of 5G technology will be promoted, alongside innovations in 6G.

Deep Integration of Information Technology and Industrialization:
The conference also emphasized the need for deep collaboration between "point, line, and surface," accelerating the digital transformation of large industrial enterprises and specialized small and medium-sized enterprises. A digital transformation guide for key industries will be formulated, with a target to build 200 high-standard digital parks within three years.