"On the new journey, central enterprises must fully recognize their responsibilities and missions, better serve the overall work of the Party and the country, serve high-quality economic and social development, serve the protection and improvement of people's livelihoods, bravely shoulder social responsibilities, and contribute more to China's modernization." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on the work of central enterprises serve as the general guideline, general program, and general principle for all work of state-owned assets and central enterprises. Effectively enhancing core functions and improving core competitiveness, and safeguarding the new journey of China's modernization with the new responsibilities of central enterprises, has become a broad consensus and is being transformed into concrete practice.
In my country's economic and social development, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the "ballast" of the national economy, the "national team" of technological innovation, the "leading force" of industrial development, and the "main force" of maintaining security. A set of figures is sufficient to demonstrate their importance: since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the total assets of central SOEs have exceeded 90 trillion yuan, with a cumulative investment of 8.6 trillion yuan in strategic emerging industries; they have paid over 10 trillion yuan in taxes and fees, and transferred 1.2 trillion yuan of state-owned equity to the social security fund; they are responsible for approximately 80% of crude oil, 70% of natural gas, and 60% of electricity supply.
As we embark on the new journey of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the impact of changes in the external environment is deepening, and uncertainties and unpredictable factors are significantly increasing. Faced with this complex and challenging situation, the superior quality and stronger foundation of state-owned assets will provide stable and reliable support for us to cope with risks and challenges, and bolster our confidence and strength for development. At the same time, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating the restructuring of the global economy, profoundly changing technological innovation paradigms, significantly shortening industrial iteration cycles, and rapidly evolving corporate organizational forms. These trends place higher demands on central enterprises to proactively plan and advance their work from the overall perspective of the Party and the country's development.
Faced with higher requirements, we must respond to risks and challenges with stronger strategic capacity. Central enterprises should further clarify their functional positioning, strengthen the evaluation of their strategic missions, improve the management of their core businesses, accelerate the concentration of state-owned capital in areas related to overall and long-term development, and give full play to their roles in technological innovation, industrial control, and security support to support the Party and the country in achieving their overall goals.
We must unswervingly promote high-quality development, consolidate the positive momentum of steady progress, and go all out to stabilize operations and improve efficiency. In practice, this means accurately capturing potential market demand, innovating and improving the quality of goods and services to seize market opportunities and expand development space; adhering to internal potential tapping, improving comprehensive budget management, and enhancing management to improve development quality; and making good use of various support policies, proactively planning and implementing a number of major projects and landmark initiatives to accumulate development potential through effective investment.
We will promote layout optimization and structural adjustment to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system. Optimizing the layout and adjusting the structure of the state-owned economy is not about simple contraction or blind expansion, but rather about adhering to core functional orientation, following development laws and reform directions, and systematically restructuring the layout of the state-owned economy. New energy, new energy vehicles, new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, quantum technology, and 6G are key areas for continued development; artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, marine energy, and green ships are cutting-edge sectors requiring forward-looking planning.
Strengthening national strategic scientific and technological capabilities and cultivating new productive forces through innovation. In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, central enterprises have clear priorities in their efforts to lead the innovation-driven development campaign. These include increasing the proportion of investment in basic research, deepening the construction of original technology sources, promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and strengthening the guiding role of R&D capacity building, scientific research project layout, and scientific and technological innovation cooperation in areas such as industrial development.
With our mission on our shoulders, we forge ahead on our journey. Central enterprises must align their thinking and actions with the Party Central Committee's scientific assessment of the situation and its decisions and plans, further clarify their position and role, earnestly shoulder their responsibilities and missions, and continuously create new prospects for reform and development.
(Author: Jin Guanping)
