**China's Innovation Surge Steers New Quality Productive Forces**
This year marks the final stretch of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), spotlighting the development of new quality productive forces. Introduced in 2023, this concept emphasizes advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models, focusing on high-tech, efficiency, and quality. Key areas include artificial intelligence, big data, and new materials.
**Rising R&D Fuels Innovation**
China has solidified its position as a global innovation leader, climbing to 11th place on the Global Innovation Index—a rapid rise among major economies over the past decade. This achievement is driven by sustained investments in research and development (R&D), with R&D expenditure reaching 2.68% of GDP in 2024, up by 0.1 percentage points year on year. Basic research funding surged by 10.5%, now accounting for 6.91% of total R&D spending, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
**New and Old Industries Embrace Tech**
China’s industrial landscape is transforming as emerging sectors rapidly expand. In 2024, the value-added output in high-tech manufacturing grew by 8.9% year on year. Notably, aerospace equipment and electronic communication device manufacturing sectors posted double-digit growth. Smart consumer equipment manufacturing surged by 10.9%, driven by soaring demand for intelligent car-mounted devices (up 25.1%) and unmanned aerial vehicles (up 53.5%).
Kang Yi, commissioner of the NBS, emphasized, \"New market demands are accelerating the supply of high-quality products, reshaping China's industrial pillars.\" Legacy industries also saw robust modernization efforts, with technical transformation investments in manufacturing rising by 8%, outpacing overall investment growth.
**Digital Economy on the Rise**
The digital economy continues its rapid ascent. The value-added output in digital product manufacturing exceeded industrial averages, and the information transmission, software, and IT service sector expanded by 10.9%. Digital consumption innovations spurred online retail sales of physical goods, climbing by 6.5%. Infrastructure for next-gen connectivity advanced steadily, with China deploying 4.19 million 5G base stations by November 2024 and launching its first 400G all-optical interprovincial backbone network under the \"East Data West Computing\" project, establishing ultra-high-speed computing channels.
As China wraps up its ambitious Five-Year Plan, its unwavering commitment to innovation and R&D continues to drive substantial growth and transformation across various industries, positioning the nation as a key player in the global economy.
NewspaperAmigo – Your Global News Buddy 
**China's Innovation Surge Steers New Quality Productive Forces**
**Rising R&D Fuels Innovation**
**New and Old Industries Embrace Tech**
**Digital Economy on the Rise**
As China wraps up its ambitious Five-Year Plan, its unwavering commitment to innovation and R&D continues to drive substantial growth and transformation across various industries, positioning the nation as a key player in the global economy.
