Science and Technology Daily: 

The Resolution adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee specifically mentions that we should "ensure greater accessibility for new forms of business and new sectors." We noticed that a special section in the opinions is dedicated to this, introducing many new highlights and concepts, with several pertaining to the frontier area of new quality productive forces. Could you elaborate on the considerations behind this?

Li Chunlin: 

Thank you for your question. I am a regular reader of Science and Technology Daily. The question that you raise concerning new quality productive forces is indeed very specialized. As you mentioned, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee explicitly states the need to "ensure greater accessibility for new forms of business and new sectors," making special arrangements for the core issue of improving the market access system. Therefore, it is crucial to accurately grasp this key task and ensure that we align with standards and benchmarks in its implementation.

Currently, the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is developing rapidly, with disruptive technologies iterating and upgrading swiftly. However, there are still unclear access rules in some new forms of business and new sectors, with issues such as overly strict access management and a need for optimization in the access environment becoming increasingly prominent. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the relevant access systems and to relax access restrictions in an orderly manner in order to better promote the development of new forms of business and new sectors.

Let me give you an example: the low-altitude economy. Currently, many regions across the country are vying to develop the low-altitude economy. However, the development of the low-altitude economy brings about a series of issues, such as safety concerns, industry standards for products and regulations regarding flight access. For instance, what are the regulations like? What are the application scenarios? What is the development path for the industry? Though a prominent representative of new quality productive forces, the low-altitude economy could lead to issues like indiscriminate flying without proper regulations. Therefore, it is necessary to relax access restrictions in an orderly manner in order to better promote the development of new forms of business and new sectors. For instance, Article 7 of the opinions clearly outlines policy arrangements for optimizing the market access environment for new forms of business and new sectors, with many noteworthy measures:

First, regarding the optimization of access management methods, the opinions clearly state that with 10 new forms of business and new sectors, namely deep sea, aerospace, aviation, life and health, new energy, artificial intelligence, autonomic and trusted computing, information security, intelligent rail transit and modern seed industry, we should develop and implement specific plans to optimize the market environment for each field, promoting innovative allocation of production factors and improving access efficiency. The market access management for new forms of business and new sectors cannot simply follow the traditional administrative approval-based management model but should fully leverage market mechanisms. It should be guided by standards and scenarios to create a more flexible and resilient access management mechanism. Following the principle of "standards guiding, scenario opening, market driving, industry focusing and system upgrading," we should further optimize the access methods for new forms of business and new sectors. In the early stages of development, new forms of business and new sectors need nurturing, which requires providing appropriate application scenarios. Without application scenarios, there is no industrial development. Without standards, the industry will face various problems. In fact, this hinders the healthy, high-quality and rapid development of the industry to a certain extent. Therefore, it is essential to carry out top-level design and provide principles and pathways.

Second, is refining the innovation application mechanism. Currently, a large number of innovations struggle to reach the market due to many barriers between innovative achievements and the industrial system. Therefore, refining the innovation application mechanism is a critical aspect in improving market access, which is key to effectively bridging the gap between technology and the economy. The opinions propose leveraging promotion centers for advanced technology application and various innovation platforms for scientific and technological achievements application. It also calls for facilitating a smooth flow of industrial systems, innovation resources, capital, application scenarios and policy systems, thereby promoting the transformation of original, disruptive sci-tech innovations into actual productivity. For instance, under the policy of expanding market access, it clarifies that promotion centers for international advanced technology application can be established in comprehensive national science centers and international scientific innovation centers. The first such center, the International Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center in Hefei, Anhui province, was officially inaugurated in November 2022, with its board set to be established next month. The center has made notable progress in reforming the comprehensive allocation of new production factors such as technology, data, computing power, airspace and scenarios. Meanwhile, similar centers in Shanghai’s Pudong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are also rapidly advancing. The opinions also call for fostering a market access environment for the application of innovations in frontier technology fields, and leading the application and standard development of all-space unmanned systems across land, sea and air. Additionally, the opinions advocate expediting the development of market access policy systems in areas such as green energy, and actively broadening market access for digital products. We will ensure the implementation of these key tasks while also providing experience and setting examples for innovation application in other frontier fields.

Finally, is refining the coordination of innovation resources. The opinions focus on key areas such as electronic information, computational science, deep-sea exploration, aviation and aerospace, new energy, new materials, biomedicine, quantum technology and the modern seed industry. The goal is to promote the establishment of collaborative research models in these cutting-edge fields by key enterprises, research institutions and related localities. Moreover, the opinions encourage active participation in the formulation of international market access rules and standards, and the facilitation of convenient and efficient innovation application in key areas. This is of great significance for strengthening strategic layouts in frontier fields, enhancing the capacity to allocate global advanced and high-quality production factors, and leading the development of rules and standards in new business forms and new sectors.

Refining the market access environment for new business forms and sectors is a new reform task assigned by the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. We will follow the requirements of the opinions to the letter, ensure their thorough implementation, and effectively promote the high-quality development of new business forms and sectors through market access reforms. Thank you.