China's manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world in overall scale for 14 consecutive years; 27 national manufacturing innovation centers have been established; exports of the "new three" products exceeded one trillion yuan for the first time; the industrial internet covers all 41 major industrial categories... A set of data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shows that in 2023 the industrial economy rebounded and improved, and the information and communications industry achieved steady and rapid growth.

A relevant official of the MIIT said that next, it will actively respond to internal and external risks and challenges and consolidate and strengthen the momentum of recovery and improvement in the industrial economy, including studying and issuing follow-up policies for 5G application development, issuing guiding opinions on promoting the high-quality development of the industrial internet, and striving to newly cultivate 1,000 national-level green factories in 2024, so as to continuously promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of the manufacturing industry.

In 2023, the "combination punch" of policies to stabilize growth was strong and effective, and the value added of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 4.6% year on year, 1 percentage point higher than in 2022. Looking ahead to 2024, Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the MIIT, said that the internal and external environment facing the industrial economy remains severe and complex, but China has advantages such as a complete industrial system, a huge market scale and sound information infrastructure, and the long-term positive trend of the industrial economy will not change.

Among them, the automobile industry is an important pillar industry of China. Data shows that in 2023 China's automobile production and sales both exceeded 30 million units, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 9.587 million and 9.495 million units respectively, up 35.8% and 37.9% year on year. According to estimates by industry associations, total automobile sales in 2024 are expected to reach 31 million units, a slight increase of about 3% year on year; the production and sales of new energy vehicles are expected to reach about 11.5 million units each, an increase of about 20%.

Xin Guobin said that next the MIIT will, together with relevant departments, further strengthen macro guidance, strengthen industry management and promote the high-quality development of the automobile industry. This includes implementing in detail preferential policies such as vehicle purchase tax reductions, carrying out trials for the full electrification of vehicles in the public sector and activities to bring new energy vehicles to rural areas, and actively expanding new energy vehicle consumption; organizing trials for intelligent connected vehicle market access and "vehicle-road-cloud integration" applications, accelerating the construction of infrastructure such as roadside perception and connected cloud control, and further promoting the commercial application of intelligent connected vehicles.

At the same time, the core industries of the digital economy continue to develop and grow. Taking 5G as an example, by the end of 2023 the total number of 5G base stations in China had reached 3.377 million, and 5G industry applications had been integrated into 71 major categories of the national economy. According to estimates by research institutions, 5G is expected to have directly driven total economic output of 1.86 trillion yuan in 2023, up 29% from 2022.

"Next, the MIIT will strengthen cross-departmental collaboration and promote new achievements in the large-scale development of 5G applications," said Zhao Zhiguo, Chief Engineer of the MIIT. First, strengthen policy guidance by studying and issuing follow-up policies for 5G application development, giving full play to the guiding role of policies, and promoting the high-quality development of the entire 5G industry chain and value chain. Second, deepen network coverage, accelerate 5G network construction, advance the construction of 5G industry virtual private networks, and provide network support for industry transformation and development. Third, accelerate application expansion, focus on application scenarios in key industries, set up demonstration benchmarks, and promote the large-scale development of 5G applications. Fourth, enhance innovation capacity, continue to promote the evolution of technologies such as 5G-A and 5G lightweight and product R&D, and accelerate research on 6G technology.

Accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing is an inevitable requirement for raising the level of industrial modernization and building a modern industrial system. MIIT data shows that China currently has more than 340 industrial internet platforms with certain influence; by the end of December 2023, 421 *** demonstration factories and more than 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and smart factories had been cultivated.

Zhao Zhiguo said that the core industry scale of the industrial internet is expected to reach 1.35 trillion yuan in 2023. Next, the MIIT will issue guiding opinions on promoting the high-quality development of the industrial internet, implement the identification "through" action, issue another batch of application guidelines for industrial internet sub-sectors, further optimize the policy environment for industrial internet development, and promote large-scale application.

While manufacturing promotes digital transformation, the pace of green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading will also accelerate. Tao Qing, Director of the Operation Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the MIIT, said that industrial carbon reduction will be actively and steadily promoted, and in 2024 it is planned to formulate about 100 carbon footprint rules and standards for key products and vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries such as hydrogen energy and energy storage. The green manufacturing project will be implemented in depth, and in 2024 efforts will be made to newly cultivate 1,000 national-level green factories, improve the green manufacturing service system, pilot the "enterprise green code," and actively create green consumption scenarios in areas such as new energy vehicles and green home appliances.

"As the industrial development ecosystem continues to optimize, the integration of digital technology and the real economy accelerates, and the dual drive of traditional and emerging industries promotes the transformation of growth drivers, this will support the steady growth of the industrial economy. The value added of industrial enterprises above designated size is expected to grow by about 4.5% in 2024," Guan Bing, Director of the Industrial Economics Research Institute of the CCID Research Institute, told the reporter of the Economic Information Daily. Next, it is necessary to accelerate the high-end, intelligent and green development of the manufacturing industry, accelerate the building of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone, and give full play to the role of industry as the "ballast" stabilizing the overall macroeconomic situation.