CCTV:
What progress and achievements has China made in the manufacturing industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan period? How does the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology evaluate these accomplishments? Thank you.
Wang Zhijun:
The manufacturing industry is the lifeblood of China's economy and of critical significance to long-term national development. Whether it's in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects or in the new upcoming journey of building a modern socialist country, the manufacturing industry has always and will always shoulder lofty responsibilities and have major missions to perform. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the industry and information technology sector has fully implemented the policies and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and made solid progress in building China into a manufacturer of quality products. Remarkable achievements have been made in this regard. I'd like to summarize the accomplishments in five aspects: continuously leading the way in terms of growth, solid results achieved in innovation, significant structural improvements, faster growth of enterprises, and increased levels of opening-up. To prove these five statements, I'd like to share some data with you.
First, comprehensive strength has been further enhanced. From 2016 to 2019, China's total value-added in industry increased from 24.54 trillion yuan to 31.71 trillion yuan, registering an average annual growth rate of 5.9%, much higher than the world's 2.9% during the same period. In 2019, our value-added in the manufacturing industry accounted for 28.1% of the global total, up 1.8 percentage points from 2015, with China remaining the world's largest manufacturing country for 10 consecutive years. At present, China is the only country in the world that has 41 major industrial categories, 207 medium industrial categories, and 666 industrial sub-categories in the United Nations' International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC). For the first nine months of this year, the total added value of industry above designated size grew by 1.2% year-on-year, and that of the third quarter grew by 5.8%, showing a recovery trend quarter by quarter.
Second, innovation capacity has been significantly increased. In 2019, the investment of our industrial enterprises above designated size in research and development (R&D) reached 1.32% of GDP, up 0.42 percentage points from 2015. A manufacturing innovation network with 17 national manufacturing innovation centers as the core and over 100 supplementary provincial centers has taken initial shape. In 2020, China ranks 14th on the Global Innovation Index of World Intellectual Property list, up 15 places from 2015.
Third, industrial structure has consistently improved. The steel industry achieved its 13th Five-Year Plan target of cutting overcapacity by 150 million tons two years ahead of schedule. Demonstration and application of smart manufacturing has been accelerated. By June 2020, the penetration rate of digital tools for R&D and design as well as the numerical control rate of critical processes for enterprises in key areas of the manufacturing industry stood at 71.5% and 51.1%, respectively, up 14.8 and 3.8 percentage points from 2015. The value-added in high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing accounted for 14.4% and 32.5%, respectively of the total value-added in industry above designated size, 2.6 and 0.7 percentage points up from 2015, constituting a major driving force in manufacturing development.
Fourth, high-quality enterprises have grown faster and leading enterprises have continued to gain global competitiveness. Leading companies with strong innovation capacity and international competitiveness have emerged in the fields of information and communications, rail transit, new energy vehicles, etc. Thirty-eight Chinese manufacturing companies are on this year's Fortune Global 500 list, ranking first in the world for the most companies listed from one country. Eighteen Chinese manufacturing brands entered the world's top 500 most valuable brands list this year. Additionally, 14 Chinese companies made it onto Forbes' top 100 digital companies list in 2019.
Fifth, China is opening up further. Restrictions on general manufacturing sector are being removed in an orderly manner. Caps on ownership in automobile, shipping, and aircraft sectors are being gradually lifted.High-speed railways, nuclear power, and satellite systems are gradually going overseas. In 2019, China's industrial products were exported to nearly 200 countries and regions, with exports accounting for 71% and 21% of China's total exports and global demand, respectively, occupying a key position in the global industrial chain and supply chain. By the end of 2019, China had signed industrial capacity cooperation agreements with more than 30 countries along the Belt and Road routes and over 70 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones had been established. Thank you.
