Beijing needs to unleash the creativity of its researchers if it is to close the technology gap with the West on its own.
It may not roll off the tongue but “new quality productive forces”, or xinzhishengchanli, was the buzzword at the weeklong gathering of lawmakers and political advisers that wrapped up on Monday in Beijing.
According to the cabinet’s information office, the term describes a departure from the traditional growth engines of the economy towards innovative and sustainable development.
Under this banner, the government vowed to redouble efforts to support new industries such as electric vehicles, new materials, new drugs and the digital economy, as well as foster potential in areas of the future such as quantum technology and life sciences.
However, investment alone is not enough to realise these ambitions. China will need a large pool of talented, innovative people of its own to make up for sanctions and hostility from the West, particularly the United States.
In decades past, China tried to close the technology gap by buying chips, acquiring core technologies, forming joint ventures, hiring professionals from overseas, or sending students to study abroad.
But now US sanctions and suspicions about Chinese companies operating in the West are forcing Beijing into self-reliance mode.
To be fair, China has made immense technological progress in the past decade and is a leading manufacturer of many hi-tech products such as EVs.
