Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 12th – Title: Consolidating the Foundation, Cultivating New Growth Drivers, and Striving to Create a New Landscape for Industrialization – An Interview with Li Lecheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Yuan
The 15th Five-Year Plan proposal places "building a modern industrial system and consolidating and strengthening the foundation of the real economy" at the forefront of its strategic tasks. The recent Central Economic Work Conference made a series of arrangements regarding the promotion of new industrialization.
2026 marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. How can we ensure steady growth in the industrial economy? How can we accelerate the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation? Xinhua News Agency interviewed Li Lecheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Four key efforts to ensure the steady and sustainable development of the industrial economy
Q: What measures will be taken in 2026 to maintain steady growth in the industrial economy?
A: Over the past year, the industrial and information technology system has adhered to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting the industrial economy to move forward under pressure and develop towards new and better directions, achieving effective quality improvement and reasonable quantitative growth, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. In the first 11 months of 2025, the added value of industries above designated size increased by 6% year-on-year, and the added value of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing industries above designated size increased by 9.2% and 9.3% year-on-year, respectively. The pace of industrial upgrading has accelerated significantly, and new growth drivers have continued to expand.
In 2026, the advantages of my country's industrial economy—its strong resilience, great potential, and abundant vitality—remain unchanged. While some risks and challenges exist, as long as we remain confident, rise to the challenge, and fully utilize our advantages through innovative thinking and reform, we can absolutely ensure the steady and long-term development of the industrial economy. We will focus on four key areas: stability, expansion, innovation, and growth.
"Stability" means stabilizing growth in key industries and regions. The industrial added value of key industries and regions accounts for 80% of the total industrial output. We will fully leverage the advantages of these key industries—their large scale, long industrial chains, and strong driving force—and thoroughly implement the new round of growth stabilization plans for ten key industries, including steel, non-ferrous metals, and petrochemicals. We will continue to support major industrial provinces in taking the lead, and strengthen policy support and resource guarantees.
"Expansion" means tapping into and expanding effective demand. We will strengthen supply-demand matching, actively promote flexible manufacturing, accelerate the innovative application of new technologies and models such as artificial intelligence, build a matrix of renowned Chinese consumer brands by industry and sector, and guide enterprises to increase the production of marketable products. We will also accelerate the launch of major projects during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and strengthen the coordination of industrial and trade policies.
"Innovation" means promoting value creation and winning through quality. We will coordinate the implementation of actions to revitalize traditional industries and develop and strengthen emerging industries to create new growth drivers, further promote major technological transformation and upgrading projects, and strengthen standard guidance, quality improvement, and brand building.
"Increase" means further enhancing the dynamism and vitality of business entities. We will improve the tiered cultivation system for high-quality enterprises, attach great importance to helping enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, improve their cash flow, and intensify efforts to clear overdue payments to enterprises. We will strengthen capacity monitoring and early warning in key industries and capacity management, and consolidate and expand the results of the comprehensive rectification of "involutionary" competition.
Strengthening the foundation and improving efficiency to drive industrial upgrading towards a new layout
Q: From which aspects will efforts be made to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone?
A: To build a modern industrial system, we must take advanced manufacturing as the backbone. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will focus on the key task of achieving new industrialization, take promoting high-quality development as the theme, and deepen the intelligent, green, and integrated development of manufacturing. We will maintain a reasonable proportion of manufacturing, making the real economy more stable, more resilient, and more efficient.
First, we will promote the revitalization of traditional industries. Traditional industries are the foundation of a modern industrial system. We will implement a revitalization action plan for traditional industries, and formulate transformation and upgrading plans for each industry. We will also implement an "Artificial Intelligence+" action plan to explore the creation of a number of zero-carbon factories and zero-carbon industrial parks.
Second, we will accelerate the "leapfrog development" of emerging industries. Emerging industries are the new pillars and engines driving industrial upgrading and development. We will implement an action plan to develop and strengthen emerging industries and create new growth drivers, and establish a number of national demonstration bases for the development of emerging industries. We will carry out large-scale application demonstrations of new technologies, new products, and new scenarios in manufacturing, and accelerate the large-scale development of emerging industries.
Third, we will focus on the "layout" of future industries. We will further strengthen forward-looking planning and overall coordination, accelerate the establishment of a mechanism for increasing investment and sharing risks in future industries, and promote new breakthroughs in future manufacturing, future information, and future materials. We will focus on fields such as quantum technology, humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces, deep-sea polar regions, and 6G, and strengthen technological research, product development, enterprise cultivation, and ecosystem construction.
Fourth, we will deepen the momentum of service-oriented manufacturing. Innovative development of service-oriented manufacturing is an important path to improve the overall efficiency of the industrial system. We will coordinate technological innovation, model innovation, and product innovation, cultivate new models such as platform-based design and personalized customization, expand new business forms such as flexible production and cloud manufacturing, and promote the extension of industrial design and R&D design towards specialization and the high end of the value chain.
Promote the deep integration of the two chains and comprehensively enhance the technological innovation capabilities of the industry.
Q: During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, what significant breakthroughs has my country achieved in the manufacturing sector by accelerating the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation? What are the next steps?
A: During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we adhered to strengthening supply, enhancing key players, and promoting transformation, and coordinated the implementation of national major science and technology projects and national key R&D programs. We initially established a tiered cultivation system for high-quality enterprises, including basic, backbone, and mid-tier enterprises, and laid out the construction of innovation and service platforms such as the National Manufacturing Innovation Center. Through the efforts of all parties, we overcame a number of "bottleneck" technologies, forged a number of major national instruments, and significantly improved the technological innovation capabilities of our industries.
Next, we will focus on accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, deepening the integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, comprehensively enhancing the technological innovation capabilities of industries, and continuously fostering new types of productivity.
First, we will systematically increase the supply of high-quality science and technology. We will plan major national science and technology projects and coordinate the advancement of industrial base reconstruction projects and major technological equipment tackling projects. We will build platforms such as national manufacturing innovation centers and make good use of market-oriented means such as "open competition" and "competitive bidding" to guide enterprises to collaborate with universities, research institutes, and other institutions to tackle key challenges.
Second, we will continue to strengthen the leading role of enterprises in technological innovation. We will further implement policies such as the additional deduction for R&D expenses and implement a new round of central government financial support policies for the high-quality development of specialized, refined, and innovative SMEs. We will continuously increase the proportion of enterprise experts participating in and leading enterprises in major national science and technology projects under the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Third, we will accelerate and streamline the channels for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. We will build a nationwide pilot-scale service network for the manufacturing industry and strengthen basic technical services such as metrology, standards, and intellectual property. We will promote pilot reforms such as "use first, pay later" for scientific and technological achievements and make good use of technology transfer institutions and technology managers. We will leverage the "connector" role of key application scenarios to promote seamless integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain.
Fourth, we will focus on optimizing the integrated innovation ecosystem. We will strengthen inter-departmental collaboration and central-local government coordination to promote the clustering of intelligent and green technologies, science and technology services, and other related fields towards enterprises. We will further implement the manufacturing talent support plan and vigorously build an outstanding engineer training base. We will make good use of the "Science and Technology Industry-Finance Integration" special project and the national industry-finance cooperation platform, investing early, in small-scale, and long-term investments in hard technologies.
Strengthen the integration of informatization and industrialization to promote the digital and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry.
Q: What measures will be taken to further promote the deep integration of informatization and industrialization?
A: During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology focused on intelligent manufacturing, deeply implemented the industrial internet innovation and development strategy, and promoted the accelerated digital, networked, and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry, achieving remarkable results. Data shows that 5G integrated applications have been incorporated into 91 of the 97 major categories of the national economy, and more than 7,000 advanced-level and more than 500 excellent-level smart factories have been built.
The 15th Five-Year Plan proposed "promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry," which is a new mission and task for promoting the deep integration of informatization and industrialization. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will adhere to the integration of informatization and industrialization as a strategic task for promoting new industrialization, accelerate the integration and application of digital and intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence, expand to more industry sectors, promote more typical applications, and explore more scenario value.
First and foremost, we must solidify our digital foundation. On the one hand, we must focus on industrial data as the key driver, launching an industrial data infrastructure development initiative to build a number of high-quality industry datasets and strengthen businesses engaged in data consulting and data labeling. On the other hand, we must accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, promoting the full transformation of large-scale enterprises and deepening the special action to empower the digital transformation of SMEs.
The key is to ensure smooth networking. Networking is the bridge connecting digitalization and intelligence. We must focus on both "connectivity" and "applications." On the one hand, we need to accelerate the upgrading of network technology, orderly promote the evolution and upgrading of "dual-gigabit" networks to 5G-A and 10-gigabit optical networks, and strive to solve bottlenecks such as the compatibility and interoperability of industrial standard protocols. On the other hand, we need to focus on "applications," cultivate and strengthen industrial internet platforms, and vigorously develop digital and intelligent software and hardware products and solutions for key industries and critical scenarios.
The key is to activate the engine of intelligentization. Intelligentization is currently the most important driving force for the integration of informatization and industrialization. We will implement the "Artificial Intelligence + Manufacturing" special action in depth, coordinate the layout of general large-scale models and industry large-scale models, and cultivate a number of key industry intelligent agents and intelligent native enterprises; accelerate the intelligent upgrading of manufacturing, widely explore artificial intelligence application scenarios, and gather thousands of "small scenarios" to form a "large-scale" integration, injecting strong impetus into promoting the high-quality development of manufacturing.
