PRESIDENT Xi’s new quality productive forces have garnered significant attention both regionally and internationally. This innovative concept is grounded in advanced technologies such as modernization, digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and green technologies, as well as the pivotal role of human capital. It serves as a fresh blueprint for China’s industrial growth, seamlessly integrating all sectors of the macro-economy. Introduced during President Xi’s tour of Heilongjiang Province in September 2023, the concept emphasizes the integration of scientific and technological innovations to drive the development of strategic emerging and future-oriented industries, thereby accelerating the formation of these new quality productive forces.
It is creating new products, new technology and new business models, which will broaden the room for global economic sharing and mutual development, injecting impetus into the world’s development. High-quality development is the first and foremost task of transforming China into a modern socialist country in all respects, while developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement for promoting high-quality growth in China. These high-tech products are a vivid display of China’s new quality productive forces, which not only empower the country’s economic transformation and high-quality development but can fuel the development of modern and intelligent industrialization around the world, especially in developing countries.
Undoubtedly, new quality productive forces are described by innovation with high quality and advanced productivity. The sci-tech innovation plays an important role and is the fundamental element in the development of new quality productive forces. The key for developing new quality productive forces is enhancing the country’s self-innovation capability. Driven by the strategy of innovation-driven development, China has consolidated a series of achievements in areas including aviation, quantum computing and nuclear power. Notable progress has been made in developing China into an innovative country.
It carries a new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation. It is suggested to seizing opportunities, intensifying and invigorating innovation efforts, transforming and upgrading traditional industries, cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, and with a visionary approach lay out the construction of future-oriented industries, and refining the modernized industrial system. It seems that the Chinese government is promoting high-quality development with great efforts, with new quality productive forces already taking shape and robustly propelling high-quality development in practice.
Despite persistent speculation about China’s economic trajectory, its economy has proven resilient, demonstrating stability and sustainable growth. With advancements in industrialization, integration into global supply chains and notable achievements in science and technology, China has undertaken structural reforms and embraced openness. Official data for 2023 shows China’s GDP surpassing 126 trillion Yuan (US$17.51 trillion), achieving a growth rate of 5.2%, ranking it high among global economies and contributing significantly to global growth. As China celebrates the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic in 2024, its macroeconomic indicators remain robust, ensuring continued stability and sustainability.
The policy makers of China have already announced a GDP growth rate of 2024 up to 5 percent with the primary task to vigorously promote the building of a modernized industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. It is crystal clear that persuasion of new quality productive forces will benefit the improvement of the total factor productivity, constantly shape new momentum and advantages for development, promote a new leap in productivity, and sustain the continuous high-quality growth of China’s economy, bringing new opportunities to countries around the world, in particular to our iron-clad friend Pakistan.
Pakistan is situated with a strategic geographical location, significant demographic dividend, and abundant natural resources, which provide uniquely advantageous conditions for development. Its firm belief is that geo-economic is the right and long term policy to move forward. Critical analysis reveals that the Pakistani government’s “5Es” framework, pillared by growth, security, reform, livelihood, innovation, productivity and connectivity, not only meets Pakistan’s current development needs, but also chimes with China’s approach of promoting high-quality development through new productive forces.
Pakistan and China enjoy all-weather strategic cooperative partnership under the main framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will yield more befitting propositions in the days to come. The achievements of CPEC Phase-I have provided crucial support for Pakistan’s economic and social development, including early gains made in cooperation in fields of renewable energy, information technology and biotechnology. China has helped Pakistan build four wind farms, one hydropower dam and one solar power station, with two more hydropower dams near to completion. The steady supply of clean energy helps maintain Pakistan’s energy security.
Chinese private companies have also built the Lahore Safe City, employing technology to greatly enhance police response efficiency and reduce traffic violations by 40 percent. The establishment of a buffalo embryo laboratory by a Chinese company in Pakistan with an annual production capacity of 30,000 embryos has empowered agricultural cooperation between our two countries. As CPEC enters Phase-II, both countries will hopefully seize the opportunity of jointly building an upgraded version of the corridor with high standards, to turn Pakistan’s unique advantages into development momentum and help Pakistan achieve self-reliance and sustainable development.
The new government is driving comprehensive reforms to propel national development forward. China pledges to collaborate closely with Pakistan, implementing key agreements and advancing together. This includes integrating CPEC’s “Five Corridors” and Pakistan’s “5Es” framework, fostering a deeper China-Pakistan community for mutual prosperity. Xi’s paradigm of quality productive forces will shape CPEC Phase-II, focusing on industrial development, modernization, green technologies and AI. Social development and AI corridors are vital components of this phase.
— The writer is President: Pak-China Corridor of Knowledge, Pakistan, Executive Director: The Centre for South & International Studies (CSAIS) Islamabad, Regional Expert: Indonesia, China, CPEC & BRI
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