Pivot to new growth drivers key

Greater efforts are needed to bolster the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, especially manufacturing, and develop strategic emerging sectors to build up new growth drivers amid rising trade protectionism, said entrepreneurs and experts at the 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos, in Tianjin.

Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL Technology Group Corp, said manufacturing is China's most competitive sector and a core advantage of the Chinese economy, as the nation has taken the lead in manufacturing across the globe.

Highlighting that globalization is an irreversible trend, Li said the company is stepping up efforts to boost export industry capacities, establish industrial chains in overseas markets, strengthen localized operations and bolster the development of local economies, so as to cope with changes in the global economic landscape.

He added that enterprises' localization strategies are predicated on serving the demands of local societies and cultivating local partners in supply chains, while bringing employment and tax revenues to local markets.

Li noted fast-developing artificial intelligence has a huge influence on the high-tech manufacturing as this cutting-edge technology has been increasingly applied into terminal devices, industrial production, and products' research and development.

The application of large language models will greatly enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises, Li said, adding that he believes that AI technology will boost the development of China's high-tech manufacturing industry.

He also emphasized the significance of entrepreneurial spirit, which means being proactive, innovative and persistent, and full of passion and vitality, adding that this spirit has been forged during the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, and that China's economy will be underpinned by a large number of private enterprises that are creative, dynamic and resilient.

China ranked as the world's largest manufacturer for the 15th consecutive year in 2024, and its manufacturing output accounted for about 30 percent of the global total, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Peng Sen, president of the China Society of Economic Reform, said China's manufacturing industry has become a significant engine driving the growth of global manufacturing, while exports of Chinese manufacturing enterprises have transitioned to high value-added, technology and capital-intensive products.

"In the next five years, China's manufacturing sector is expected to account for 40 percent of the global total," Peng estimated, adding that the United States' export control measures on advanced AI chips and core software technologies to contain China's rise in the high-tech sector will accelerate Chinese enterprises' efforts to achieve technological breakthroughs. The move also harms the interests of US companies, he said.

He underscored the importance of cultivating strategic emerging industries and future-oriented industries, such as new-generation information technology, AI, new energy, new materials, biomedicine and quantum technology, to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive international scenario.

He also observed that an increasing number of companies have begun to pay attention to their supply chain layouts, and are formulating digitalization and diversification strategies, increasing their investments in emerging industries and adopting localized strategies to explore more new markets.

Liu Zongchang, rotating CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet, said the company is intensifying efforts to drive technological innovation and leverage advanced AI technology to boost productivity and reduce costs in industrial production, adding the company's AI server business is expected to maintain growth momentum in the second half of the year.