BEIJING (Reuters) – China laid out its major policy priorities for 2025 at an annual parliamentary meeting on Wednesday, including how it plans to spur consumption and achieve technological breakthroughs.
Here are some of the key industries and technologies mentioned in the reports and on the sidelines of the meeting:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
China pledged to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI)development, with Premier Li Qiang’s government work report saying that AI would be integrated into the country’s manufacturing base.
The plan calls for broader deployment of large language models and aims to leverage China’s industrial strengths to expand AI applications.
It also highlighted embodied intelligence – the technology underlying humanoid robots – positioning it as a key industry of the future.
AVIATION
China state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said it plans to boost production capacity for the homegrown C919 narrow-body passenger jet and accelerate efforts to expand the overseas market for its smaller C909 regional jet.
Both jets are made by state planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China.
AUTOS
China plans to further boost domestic demand for cars with subsidies this year with a 300 billion yuan ($41.32 billion)boost to its consumer goods trade-in program.
The subsidy program covered over 6.8 million vehicles last year.
It also said it would to “vigorously develop” intelligent connected new energy vehicles as part of its AI initiatives, and also expand large-scale applications of intelligent connected vehicles at the city level.
PLATFORM ECONOMY
China will promote the healthy and “well-regulated” development of the platform economy, Li’s report said.
Authorities plan to encourage further protections for merchants as well as the standardisation of promotion rules, given the increase in low price matching policies across platforms which has caused intense price competition, Luo Wen, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation told reporters on the sidelines of the parliamentary meeting.
China’s so-called ‘platform economy’ which refers to its enormous e-commerce market dominated by platforms from tech giants Alibaba, PDD Holdings and JD.com.
DATA
China will improve its basic data system and further develop and utilize data resources, as part of a broader plan to energize its digital economy, Li’s work report said.
It will also promote cross-border data flows though keeping them under regulation. Cross-border data flows is an area that has concerned many foreign companies in China.
HEALTHCARE
China will revise its centralized drug procurement system following recent quality concerns over generic medicines supplied to public hospitals.
The plans also include expanding mental health education, enhancing disability services, and accelerating the development of long-term care insurance programs.
STEEL
China, for the first time in the past five years, unveiled a plan to trim crude steel output this year in an NDRC draft report.
Although it does not give a specific target of output cut, market participants, who widely did not expect to see such a clear guidance for the steel industry in such reports, expect China’s giant steel sector will see some benefits if implemented stringently.
China’s ailing steel market has taken a hit from the protracted property woes and its growing steel exports have stoked mounting trade frictions from overseas countries, who say the flood of cheap Chinese steel products have hurt local manufacturers.
Another wave of trade frictions stirred by U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs has clouded outlook for its steel exports this year.
China has started to control its crude steel output from 2021 in a bid to limit carbon emissions.
($1 = 7.2602 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Liam Mo, Casey Hall, Che Pan, Zhang Yan, Qiaoyi Li, Andrew Silver and Amy Lv; Editing by Brenda Goh and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
