Stepwise layout of new tracks! National Development and Reform Commission releases key interpretation: What emerging industries and future industries will be cultivated and strengthened during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period?

Everyday Economic News Reporter | Zhang Huaisui Everyday Economic News Editor | Wen Duo

On March 7, the State Council Information Office held a briefing to interpret the “14th Five-Year Plan” Outline (Draft).

According to a reporter from Daily Economic News at the scene, the draft outline adheres to a goal-oriented and problem-solving approach, balancing comprehensive planning with highlighting key areas. It outlines 16 major strategic tasks covering key fields and critical links of economic and social development, with many innovative measures such as integrated promotion of education, science and technology, and talent development; emphasizing investment in both physical assets and people; and promoting regional coordinated development.

Focusing on the deployment of emerging and future industries during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Bai Jingyu, Director of the Innovation and High-Tech Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, leading to a large number of new technologies, industries, business models, and formats, providing rare opportunities for modernization. To seize this historic opportunity, the draft outline makes specific arrangements for cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries, as well as digital intelligence development. The major tasks can be summarized into three aspects: phased layout, ecological cultivation, and digital empowerment.

Accelerate the Construction of a National Integrated Computing Power Network

Regarding specific deployment arrangements, Bai Jingyu explained that first is phased layout, constructing a new emerging industry development sequence that combines strategic emerging industries, emerging pillar industries, and future industries, with a focus on both near-term and long-term development.

Currently, efforts will continue to develop strategic emerging industries such as new-generation information technology and new energy, building characteristic and complementary industrial clusters based on local conditions.

In the medium term, focus will be on developing emerging pillar industries like integrated circuits, biomedicine, and aerospace to establish new pillars for the national economy. Looking ahead, forward-looking deployment will target future industries such as quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces, and embodied intelligence, cultivating strategic emerging industries of tomorrow and pillar industries of the future.

Next is ecological cultivation, creating an innovation-led, demand-driven, factor-accumulating, regionally tailored, and effectively regulated industrial development ecosystem.

Focusing on innovation leadership, several industrial innovation projects will be implemented to achieve decisive breakthroughs in key core technologies across the entire chain, creating new demand through new supply. For scene-driven development, large-scale demonstration actions for new technologies, products, and scenarios will be carried out to lead new supply with new demand. Regarding factor accumulation, mechanisms for increasing investment in future industries and sharing risks will be established, along with strengthening talent cultivation in key areas, optimizing the layout of national science and technology innovation platforms, and bases to support industrial development. For regionally tailored approaches, strict implementation of major productivity layouts will guide rational and scientific work. For effective regulation, legislation in emerging fields will be promoted, market access systems improved, innovative regulatory methods adopted, and development and safety balanced to ensure a free yet well-managed environment.

Third is digital empowerment, utilizing high-efficiency computing power, algorithms, and data to empower economic and social development, and advancing the construction of Digital China. Bai Jingyu further explained that in terms of computing power, efforts will accelerate the building of a national integrated computing network, promoting scalable, intensive, green, and accessible development of computing resources. In algorithms, breakthroughs in fundamental AI theories and core technologies will be made, with strengthened research and development of key algorithms and iterative innovation of models. In data, the foundational systems for data elements will be improved, and data resource development and utilization deepened. In empowerment, the “AI+” initiative will be fully implemented to comprehensively empower various industries, fostering deep transformations in production methods and revolutionary leaps in productivity.

By 2030, the share of non-fossil energy in total energy consumption will reach 25%

From the briefing, it was learned that the draft outline proposes 23 projects related to the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, new energy systems, and new infrastructure. How will the development direction of modern infrastructure be clarified over the next five years? What are the key tasks in transportation, energy, water conservancy, and new infrastructure?

In response to media questions, Chen Lei, Director of the Development Strategy and Planning Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that infrastructure is a vital support for economic and social development. The draft outline dedicates a chapter to “building a modern infrastructure system,” which includes not only transportation, water conservancy, and energy infrastructure but also major scientific and technological infrastructure, information and communication networks, and computing power grids. The overall direction is to strengthen coordinated planning, optimize layout and structure, promote integration and fusion, and improve safety resilience and operational sustainability.

In transportation, during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, efforts will be made to improve a modern comprehensive transportation system, with the basic construction of the “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal” high-speed railway corridors and national highway network, upgrading inland river channels, and establishing world-class port and airport clusters. Major projects include connecting high-standard along-river high-speed rail corridors, building the Three Gorges waterway new channel, and enhancing road safety and resilience. Additionally, efforts will be made to strengthen coverage and accessibility in weak areas, and to update and maintain transportation infrastructure.

In energy, the focus will be on building a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system, supporting wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear power development simultaneously. The ten-year plan to double non-fossil energy will be implemented, with efforts to ensure safe and reliable substitution of fossil fuels. Major projects such as the Yadong hydropower station, Shago renewable energy base, and power transmission channels will be advanced, aiming for over 420 million kilowatts of electricity transmission capacity from west to east. By 2030, non-fossil energy will account for 25% of total energy consumption.

In water conservancy, the main framework of the national water network has been gradually improved in recent years. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, efforts will focus on modernizing water networks, accelerating the implementation of major projects such as river governance, flood control reservoirs, large-scale water transfer, and the reconstruction of large and medium-sized irrigation districts, enhancing flood and drought disaster prevention, water resource coordination, and urban-rural water supply.

In new infrastructure, coordinated promotion and efficient utilization will be emphasized. A systematic layout will be developed for major technological infrastructure such as 10-gigabit optical networks, 5G-A mobile communication networks, and the construction of a national integrated computing network. Deployment of satellite communication, navigation, and remote sensing systems will be advanced, along with the development of low-altitude infrastructure driven by scene expansion, providing strong support for industrial upgrading and digital intelligence development during the “14th Five-Year Plan” and beyond.

Cover image source: Meiri Media Asset Library