Deng Zigang: Why emphasizing the high-quality development of industrial chains is essential
The 2025 Central Economic Work Conference explicitly proposed the "implementation of a new round of actions for the high-quality development of key industrial chains." In fact, as early as the end of 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference had already deployed a round of high-quality development actions for key manufacturing industrial chains. This was conducive to responding to the external shocks caused by the rise of trade protectionism at that time, filling gaps in the manufacturing sector by breaking through key technologies. So, how should we understand this latest deployment regarding the high-quality development of industrial chains? This requires interpreting three keywords: the core connotations of "key industries," "the chain," and "high-quality development."
"Key industries" do not refer to a single sector, but rather an "industrial matrix" with advanced manufacturing as the backbone, strategic emerging industries and future industries as the new engines, and the promotion of the renewal and upgrading of traditional industries. This mainly covers the following three aspects: First, advanced manufacturing related to industrial chain security, such as high-end equipment manufacturing, integrated circuits, new types of displays, and biopharmaceuticals. Second, strategic emerging industries and future industries, including artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and the low-altitude economy. Third, traditional industries undergoing accelerated transformation and upgrading. Emphasizing "key industries" means adhering to the practical logic of "leading the overall situation through key breakthroughs," concentrating high-quality resources such as policy, capital, and talent into critical links to achieve systemic improvement.
The so-called "chain" implies a departure from the model of a single industry making a breakthrough in isolation; it emphasizes a chain-like ecosystem characterized by upstream and downstream coordination and integrated advancement. Highlighting the word "chain" is intended both to break the development model of "each fighting their own battle" [1] and to promote integrated innovation between large, medium, and small enterprises with "chain-leader" [2] enterprises as the core. It also aims to focus on the weak links of the industrial chain, striving to overcome "chokepoint" [3] technical bottlenecks and avoid the risk of broken chains. Only by creating a closely coordinated industrial chain ecosystem and achieving resource sharing and complementary advantages can the single-point advantages of key industries be upgraded into cluster advantages.
Different from previous efforts to respond to external shocks and fill gaps, this new round of high-quality development actions for key industrial chains places more emphasis on enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the industrial chain and cultivating new quality productive forces. Through the arduous efforts of recent years, China has achieved breakthroughs in several "weak link" areas of manufacturing. Industries such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaics have formed global advantages, and a pattern in which chain-leader enterprises drive coordinated upstream and downstream development has begun to take shape. Industrial development now possesses the foundation to transition from single-point gap-filling to systemic upgrading. Therefore, high-quality development targets the directions of high-end, intelligent, and green development. This means focusing on key industrial fields, deeply implementing projects to elevate quality and branding, and striving to cultivate a group of global high-end brands with leading technology and strong competitiveness to increase the value-added of the industrial chain and international discourse power. It means accelerating the promotion of "AI Plus," building smart factories in industries such as automobiles, electronics, and machinery, and empowering production process optimization and industrial chain coordination through intelligence. It also means strictly implementing the action plan for reaching carbon peak in the industrial sector, establishing and promoting carbon footprint tracking systems in high-energy-consuming industries such as steel and chemicals, and strengthening the monitoring and management of carbon emissions across the entire industrial chain.
The recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan [4] place "building a modernized industrial system and consolidating the foundation of the real economy" at the top of the strategic tasks. This also implies that the top priority for the future is to transform scientific and technological achievements into effective industrial development results and aggregate them into the scale effects of chain clusters. Currently, front-end breakthroughs have stockpiled a large number of patents, prototypes, and algorithms, but if technology stops at papers and exhibits, it cannot form growth momentum. Only by putting results onto production lines, turning them into commodities, and generating profits can they feed back into further R&D. Whether this "technology–mass production–market" channel is smooth depends first on the quality of the industrial chain—that is, whether the links are complete, the supporting facilities are controllable, the standards are interconnected, and the processes are stable. A gap in any single area could raise costs and amplify risks, leaving innovative achievements locked in the laboratory. In this sense, the high-quality development of industrial chains is the creation of a secure, efficient, and low-cost runway for transformation.
Regarding the industrial chain itself, we should focus our efforts closely on the "chain." Within this, "supplementing the chain" [5] is equivalent to "emergency surgery" for the industrial chain. it targets breakpoints caused by technological voids, lack of production capacity, or external supply cuts. Through localized tackling of key problems, the deployment of backup capacity, and the release of strategic reserves, it first changes critical components, materials, and software from "nothing" to "something," ensuring that the entire production line does not stop and shipments are not interrupted, thus solving the problem of "existence." "Strengthening the chain" is equivalent to a "fitness plan" for the industrial chain. In links that already have a foundation but suffer from low yields, high costs, or poor consistency, through minor process improvements, equipment self-iteration, and the re-definition of standards, we upgrade from "usable" to "high-performing," making domestic substitutes globally competitive and achieving the leap from "being able to make it" to "making it with excellence." "Building the chain" is equivalent to "entrepreneurship on a new track" for the industrial chain. Facing next-generation technologies and future products, we simultaneously lay out patents, standards, testing, production lines, and supply chain finance from scratch to seize the commanding heights, master the power to set rules, and achieve the qualitative change from "following" to "leading." "Smoothing the chain" is equivalent to "clearing the circulatory system" of the industrial chain. We use digital platforms to string together multi-dimensional elements such as logistics, warehousing, funds, data, and carbon footprints. With the help of tools like blockchain warehouse receipts, multi-modal transport, and mutual recognition of rules, we transform cross-regional bottlenecks into "one-stop" nodes, ensuring that the entire industrial chain has low inventory, fast turnover, low risk, and high resilience, truly achieving "unobstructed circulation" [6]. It must also be pointed out that in industrial chain construction, local governments need to avoid the misunderstanding of blindly pursuing being "large and all-encompassing"; rather, they should conduct scientific planning from the perspective of a national unified large market, shifting from a logic of competition to a logic of synergy to promote an industrial layout characterized by rational distribution and complementary advantages.
In practice, specifically implementing the new round of high-quality development actions for key industrial chains should also focus on systemic advancement in areas such as breakthroughs in key technologies, innovation synergy, and ecosystem optimization. First, accurately tackle weak links. Map the risks of key industrial chains, improve cross-departmental coordination mechanisms, dynamically update the list of core technologies to be tackled, and promote technological breakthroughs through mechanisms such as "open competition to select the best candidates" [7] and "horse racing." [8] Promote new models such as "use first, pay later," and focus on building concept verification platforms to provide feasibility assessments and services for early-stage technologies. Second, deepen regional innovation synergy. Build international scientific and technological innovation centers in Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and promote the coordinated layout of strategic technological forces and industrial clusters. Formulate regional synergy innovation plans and launch pragmatic measures centered on major task deployment and institutional reform pilots to promote the cross-regional flow and efficient allocation of innovation resources. Third, optimize the factor support system. Give play to the exemplary and leading role of major economic provinces and advanced regions, and strengthen classified guidance based on local conditions. Encourage relevant institutions to increase financial support for weak areas of the industrial chain such as basic components, basic materials, and basic software; improve the intellectual property protection system in emerging fields; and innovate models for the development of technology-based finance.