China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change 9819911982, 9789819911981

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Understanding China

Fang Li Li Junkai Editors

China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change

Understanding China

The series will provide you with in-depth information on China’s social, cultural and economic aspects. It covers a broad variety of topics, from economics and history to law, philosophy, cultural geography and regional politics, and offers a wealth of materials for researchers, doctoral students, and experienced practitioners.

Fang Li · Li Junkai Editors

China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change

Editors Fang Li Beijing Academy of Science and Technology Beijing, China

Li Junkai Center for International and Regional Cooperation Beijing Academy of Science and Technology Beijing, China

ISSN 2196-3134 ISSN 2196-3142 (electronic) Understanding China ISBN 978-981-99-1198-1 ISBN 978-981-99-1199-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8 Jointly published with People’s Publishing House The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the print book from: People’s Publishing House. © People’s Publishing House 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

The world is experiencing profound changes unseen in a century. Major country competition stands to witness the reshaping of the international order, and international landscapes in economics, science and technology, culture, security, politics, and others are undergoing significant adjustment. At the same time, the world is faced with major risks and grave challenges concerning global climate change, energy crisis, food security and safety, cyberspace security, environmental pollution, severe natural disasters, and the raging COVID-19 pandemic. As a major emerging and developing country and a socialist nation with rising international influence in the world, China conforms to the trend of history, takes up its responsibilities as a major country, strives to adapt to new situations of globalization and new political and economic changes of the world, and vigorously steers the adjustment of the globalization process and the global governance system. China is always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development, and defender of the international order, and China is a consistent stabilizing force in a changing world. Domestically, China implements the innovation-driven development strategy in great intensity, moves faster to push forward high-quality economic development underpinned by scientific and technological innovation, and actively explores a new development path that is green, low-carbon, coordinated, efficient, inclusive, and sharing and suited to China’s national conditions. To address a series of major risks and challenges and build the new development paradigm featuring dual circulation, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay, all industries and scientific and technological workers at home and abroad should work together to meet the challenges of our times through scientific and technological innovation and advance peace and development of mankind. We also need to strengthen open cooperation in science and technology, deepen exchange and mutual learning between civilizations, and promote communication and collaboration between Chinese and foreign think tanks, work together to contribute wisdom and strength explore pathways and solutions to important global issues. Against such backdrop, the ZGC Global High-Level Think Tank Alliance (ZGCTA) carefully planned and organized the compilation of the book China’s Development and Opportunities Amid Global Changes. Anchoring on China’s actual v

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and development needs, this book presents an all-round interpretation of the development opportunities that China is facing amid the global changes unseen in a century from the viewpoints of 20 eminent Chinese experts and scholars in the fields of economic development, scientific and technological innovation, high-tech industries, ecological conservation, and media communications. With great academic, theoretical, practical, and reference values, the book provides valuable academic information and case studies for scholars and researchers at home and abroad and offers references to decisionmakers of government departments, social organizations, public institutions, and enterprises as well as readers interested in China’s development in various fields. As a private and multilateral communication platform built with the support of the ZGC Forum, a national incubation platform for global scientific and technological innovation exchange and cooperation, the ZGCTA represents the epitome of the times and a practical instrument of China for actively integrating into the international scientific and technological innovation network and comprehensively promoting scientific and technological exchange and cooperation with other countries around the world. As an active advocate and a loyal contributor to international cooperation with the vision, the ZGCTA takes the responsibility to forge an international exchange platform and accelerate cultural and people-to-people exchanges in a bid to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind by pooling global wisdom. Since its establishment in 2020, the ZGCTA has organized a series of multilateral activities with a focus on scientific, technological, and cultural exchange, continuously advancing exchange, cooperation and coordinated innovation between domestic and foreign think tanks. The ZGCTA now includes 59 top think tanks from 11 countries, covering integrated think tanks, science and technology think tanks, economic think tanks, corporate think tanks, industry think tanks, and press and publishing think tanks, and its members are still growing. “Pool global wisdom and serve innovative development.” As the book goes to press, I sincerely wish that the ZGCTA will remain true to its original aspiration and continue to boost multilateral exchange and cooperation in science and technology and make new contributions to addressing global challenges, creating a better future for human society through win-win and cooperative development, and building a community with a shared future for mankind. I also hope that the book will help translate experts’ research results into international outreach, bridge the ZGCTA and international experts for academic exchange, and create more aspirations for scholars exploring relevant fields.

Beijing, China July 2022

Bai Chunli Academician and former president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Contents

Economy A High-Level Opening Up of China and the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chi Fulin

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China’s Participation in Global Governance Amid Major Shifts . . . . . . . Huiyao Wang

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Major Strategic Arrangements and Route Choices for Accelerating the Creation of a New Development Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zhang Zhanbin

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Vigorously Promoting High-Quality Economic Development in the Western Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fan Hengshan

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Innovation: The First Driving Force to Lead Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . Guan Chenghua

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Science & Technology China’s Scientific and Technological Innovation Strategies and New Pathways in the Context of Global Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wang Yiming

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Reflections and Prospects: China’s Development of the National Innovation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Liu Dongmei Outlook on China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation Towards 2035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Fujun Ren

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China to Promote International Cooperation in Scientific and Technological Innovation with the Development of Beijing as a Scientific and Technological Innovation Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Fang Li Science, Technology, and Health: What Should Be the Focus? . . . . . . . . . 161 Han Qide High-Tech Industry Science and Technology Innovation and International Biomedical Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Zhan Qimin Innovative Practices in High-Tech Industry Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Liu Zhongfan Future Development of Industries in the Intelligent World Riding the New Wave of Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Shu Cheng Environment Change and Transformation of Atmospheric Environmental Governance in the Ecological Civilization Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Yuanhang Zhang and Hancheng Dai Environmental Pollution Control to Drive High-Quality Economic and Social Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Hou Li’an and Yao Hong China’s Energy Technology Innovation and Industrial Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Wei Chang Communications China’s Communication in the Changing World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Zhang Xiaoying Build China’s International Discourse System in the New Era . . . . . . . . . 313 Cheng Manli Metaverse: A New Form of Communication Integrating Reality and Virtuality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Shen Yang New Global Communication Ecosystem Calls for Construction of New International Communication Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Jiang Fei

Economy

Chapter 1 A High-Level Opening Up of China and the World Chapter 2 China’s Participation in Global Governance Amid Major Shifts Chapter 3 Major Strategic Arrangements and Route Choices for Accelerating the Creation of a New Development Pattern Chapter 4 Vigorously Promoting High-Quality Economic Development in the Western Region Chapter 5 Innovation: The First Driving Force to Lead Development

A High-Level Opening Up of China and the World Chi Fulin

Abstract China’s implementation of a high-level, institutional openness to the outside world serves as a critical strategy to uphold sustained economic growth and bolster global economic stability and recovery. This strategic move reflects the nation’s commitment to high-quality domestic development and its responsibility as a great country in constructing an open world economy. China’s high-level opening up features institutional openness as a prominent feature, with the construction of a high-level socialist market economy system serving as a crucial guarantee. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China places a premium on encouraging high-level institutional opening up, which supports the establishment of a new development paradigm, promotes innovative development of service trade, and fosters an open innovation system. Additionally, China is forging ahead with the establishment of a high-level market economic system with high-level opening up. China is also a strong proponent of international and bilateral free trade processes and the highquality joint construction of the “Belt and Road.” In addition, it collaborates with other nations to create a community with a shared future for mankind, valuing the diversity of global civilizations and promoting global peace through civilizations’ mutual learning. Keywords High-level opening up · Economic growth · Global economic stability · Domestic demand · Economic globalization

The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee stressed “opening the door brings progress, while closing it leaves one behind. For China’s development to gain the upper hand, seize the initiative, and have a good future, it is essential that we follow the tide of economic globalization, leverage the strengths of China’s massive market, and pursue a more proactive opening up strategy.” Facing the profound and complex changes in the political and economic landscape around the globe, as well as the severe challenges posed by the unprecedented pandemic and other C. Fulin (B) China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), Hainan, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_1

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global crises, China is working to formulate a new development pattern and a highlevel, institutional opening up. This is not just crucial measures to boost domestic demand, maintain sustained economic growth and support global economic stability and recovery. It is also a strategy to fully integrate into the global economy and advance the process of economic globalization.

1 A High-Level Opening at the New Development Stage Over the course of more than four decades of reform and opening-up, China has insisted on opening its gate to advance development, committed to reform and development fueled by opening up. By doing so, it has not only unleashed profound developmental potential, accelerated economic growth, but also reshaped its position in the global economic system. Generally speaking, China is now ushering in a high-level opening up.

1.1 The Doorway to Opening Up Is Expanding China has consistently viewed opening up as its fundamental national policy since the start of reform and opening-up in 1978, and it has successfully made the historic shift from closed and semi-closed to all-round opening. China’s GDP increased from 367.9 billion yuan in 1978 to more than 90 trillion yuan in 2018. China’s GDP will surpass 100 trillion yuan in 2020, as our economy expanded despite the prevailing global trend. When its GDP is converted using the average annual exchange rate, China is the second largest economy in the world with GDP of over 14.7 trillion US dollars and represents roughly 17% of the global economy. China now boasts the second-biggest economy in the world. It is the largest industrialized nation, largest trader of products, and holds the greatest stockpile of foreign exchange reserves. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it has attained a historical new height of economic development in terms of both overall national power and global influence.

1.2 Become a Global Mega Market 1. From “World Factory” to “World Market”. In 2019, total retail sales of consumer goods in China was $5.96 trillion, compared to $6.22 trillion in the United States. China has followed the United States as the

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world’s second-largest importer, and its share of global imports has climbed from 3.8% in 2001 to 10.8% in 2019, only slightly less than the U.S. share at 12.3%. 2. Become a key proponent of the process of worldwide free trade. From 2001 to 2017, China’s product imports grew at an average pace of 13.5%, which was twice the global average growth rate. During the same period, the import of services in China grew at an average rate of 16.7%, which was 2.7 times the globe’s. According to data from the World Bank, China’s exports of goods and services made up 10.58% of the global total in 2019, while imports made up 10.21% of the world’s total. China has a growing impact on the foreign direct investment worldwide. As was revealed in the 2019 Statistical Bulletin of China’s Direct Foreign Investment, China’s direct foreign investment in 2019 was $136.91 billion, second only to Japan ($226.65 billion), representing more than 10% of total global investment for 4 years in a row and reached 10.4% in 2019. By the end of 2019, China’s outward foreign direct investment stocks measured $2.2 trillion, coming in third behind the United States ($7.7 trillion) and the Netherlands ($2.6 trillion). 3. Grow to be a significant force in the expansion of employment worldwide. Currently, China and the nations along the “Belt and Road” have jointly created more than 80 foreign economic and commercial cooperation zones. A total of US$34 billion has been invested by Chinese businesses in the foreign economic and trade cooperation zones established in countries along the “Belt and Road,” resulting in the creation of 330,000 local jobs. According to Ernst & Young, China generated more than 130,000 positions in Africa from 2005 to 2016, which is more than three times the amount that the U.S. created. In addition, the International Labour Organization announced in its Report on Economic and Trade Relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean that from 1990 to 2016, China created 1.8 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean. 4. Become a significant force for economic growth on worldwide scale. Between 1961 and 1978, China’s average annual contribution rate to global economic growth was a measly 1.1%; between 1979 and 2012, it reached 15.9%, placing it second in the world after the United States; between 2013 and 2018, China’s average annual contribution rate to global economic growth reached 28.1%, placing it first.

1.3 From “First Opening Up” to “Second Opening Up” If we consider the current round of opening up that began after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to be the “second opening up” in the process of China’s modernization, then the first round of opening up from the early days of reform is the “first opening up” to the outside world. The characteristics such as starting point, focus, and route of the “second opening up” in the new stage

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Table 1 From “first opening up” to “second opening up” “First opening up”

“Second opening up”

Starting point

Low income level Early stage of industrialization (domestic) Globalization of Measles Manufacturing (International)

Upper middle income level Mid-to-late industrialization (domestic) Globalization of services (international)

External environment

Stable institutional arrangement of Unstable institutional arrangement globalization of globalization with variables

Internal endowment

Unlimited supply of labor with shortage of capital

Falling labor supply with capital surplus

Opening focus

Trade in Goods Orientation of manufacturing market opening up and export

Trade in services Moderate opening of the service industry market with expanded import

Open routes

Integrated into existing international markets

Actively open up new markets through the Belt and Road Initiative

Capital flow

Dominated by “Bringing in,” net inflow

“Bringing in” on par with “Going Out” and net outflow

Open the market

Accession to WTO

Fully implement the free trade strategy

Open the system

Building an export-oriented economic system: creating a framework of institutional procedures to promote and aid the growth of industries focused on exports in order to implement an export-oriented strategy

Building a new system of open economy: building a new open economy system entails creating a framework and mechanism for global opening that is driven by free commerce

Outstanding features

Flow-type opening up of commodities and resources

Institutional opening of rules, regulations, management, standards, etc.

International role

Recipient, participant and follower Promoter, facilitator and leader of of international rules international rules

are significantly different in comparison to the “first opening up” due to significant changes in the internal and external environment, development stage, and constraints placed on opening up (Table 1).

1.4 Towards a High-Level Opening Up 1. “Second Opening” is a high-level opening up. A bigger, wider, and deeper opening up to the outside world is generally what is meant by China’s “Second Opening Up” in the context of its new developmental

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stage. It featured with the transformation and upgrade of our views, landscape and model of opening up. Cases related to the opening shift from a focus on manufacturing to focusing on the service trade; a deep shift moving from a general opening of elements such as commodities to institutional opening such as laws and regulations; and it represents the shift from being a participant in economic globalization to becoming a key economic globalization supporter. 2. A high-level opening up has outstanding features. China’s high-level opening up reflects not only the requirements of high-quality domestic development, but also the responsibility of a great country to play its role in constructing an open world economy by following the salient requirements and features of the times: it takes the establishment of a new development pattern of a domestic and international dual cycle as the basic requirement; it supports the process of free trade as a strategic goal; it takes the development of trade in services as a strategic objective; it takes building a new high-level opening up to the outside world as a major breakthrough; it puts institutional openness as a prominent feature; finally, it deems the building of a high-level socialist market economy as an important guarantee. 3. Performing well in the “grand picture” of a high-level opening up. First, China must adapt to the new trends in globalization through a process of high-level opening up and establish a supportive external environment for internal reform and development. Second, China has entered a stage of high-quality growth, and its high-quality development—in particular opening up and innovation—is highly dependent on a high-level opening up. Third, as a giant country with new type of opening-up and the world’s second largest economy, China’s promotion of high-level opening up is favorable to the stability and prosperity of the global economy.

2 Establishment of a New Development Model Driving by High-Level Opening Up Moving into a new stage of development, China has undertaken a strategic transition based on its own long-term development and in response to significant changes unprecedented in the past century by creating a new development pattern, which is with the domestic cycle serving as the major body and the domestic and international dual cycles promoting each other. It is essential that a high-level institutional opening up is encouraged during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period in order to support the establishment of this new development pattern.

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2.1 Encouraging High-Level Opening Up with a Focus on Boosting Domestic Demand 1. Although China is now going through an important period of economic reform and upgrading and is under great pressure in the short term, while the country boasts enormous long- and medium-term potential. Take consumption as an example. Total retail sales of consumer products in China rose by 2.5% year over year in August 2021. While growth had picked up to 4.9% in October of the same year, it was still considerably slower than the 7.2% growth in October 2019. It must be acknowledged that the consumer market will encounter greater difficulties in resuming in the immediate future. However, the potential for growth in the consumer sector is enormous over the long run. China had 5.68 trillion U.S. dollars’ worth of retail sales of consumer goods in 2020, which is 97.6% of what the US had in that year. More importantly, there is significant space for growth in the consumption of services by Chinese citizens due to the restructuring and upgrading of the economy and society. There will be a trillion-dollar increase in consumption by 2035, as the percentage of residents who use services will rise from 42.6% in 2020 to nearly 60%. In other words, despite the short-term weakness of China’s consumer market, it is vital to assess medium- and long-term trends and to pay particular attention to the new consumer demand caused by alterations in the structure and composition of the major body of consumption. 2. Within the next 10–15 years, moderate growth will be supported by the potential domestic demand that has been released. China’s total retail sales of consumer goods (39.2 trillion yuan) and national fixed asset investment that excludes rural households (51.9 trillion yuan) in 2020 amounted to a total of 91.1 trillion yuan. The size of this enormous market is a major impetus to China’s medium-speed economic growth. The economic growth rate in China will see an annual increase of 2–3 percentage points if the average annual growth rate of the added value of the country’s service sector is kept at around 6% in the next few years. In addition, due to the superposition effect brought by population urbanization and the upgraded consumption structure on growth, the economic growth rate would increase by an additional 0.5 percentage points annually. It will be conditionally maintained at roughly 5% over the next 10–15 years. 3. China’s domestic market with 1.4 billion people represents a shared market of the world. Opening up the domestic market to the world with its enormous demand potential will provide China greater room to achieve high-quality development and will also give economic globalization a boost. According to preliminary projections, in the next five to fifteen years China’s economy would grow by 4–5%, thanks in large part to the domestic market demand scaling by one trillion yuan. Since 2006, China has led the globe in terms of contribution to economic growth for 15 years running. China is the only major economy to experience positive growth in 2020, despite the terrible

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effects of the pandemic, and its contribution to global economic development is still 30%. China’s economic growth rate has slowed down due to a confluence of events, including the disruption caused by the pandemic and the global economic downturn, but it still serves as a key engine and stabilizer for global economic growth. 4. Encourage high-level opening up in light of rising domestic demand. In order to effectively lead the high-level opening up as we move into a new stage of growth, the fundamental guiding function of increased domestic demand has been thoroughly emphasized. A high degree of opening up with the primary orientation being growth of local demand will actualize the connection between internal and foreign markets and the sharing of capital and resources, and it will establish a more open domestic and international dual cycle. China’s “dual cycle” proposal is a tactical decision based on the sizable demand of the domestic market. On one hand, upgrading the consumption structure will lead to a rise in global demand for a variety of high-quality goods and services. China is anticipated to import more than US$22 trillion in goods over the course of the next decade. On the other hand, when China’s economy becomes completely globalized and the demand potential of its 1.4 billion citizens is unleashed, an even greater degree of opening up and integration into the global economic cycle is required. For instance, imports currently account for 95% of high-end special-purpose chips, more than 70% of intelligent terminal processors, and the vast majority of memory chips in China.

2.2 Encourage Innovative Development of the Service Sector with High-Level Opening Up 1. The organic link between domestic and international dual cycle circulation is primarily made through the service sector. Upon entering the new stage of development, the focus of the released consumption potential of the 1.4 billion people in China will be on services, as measured by the domestic cycle. The goal is to increase the market opening of the services industry and hasten the development of the service sector. From the standpoint of the global cycle, the service sector has taken center stage in free trade worldwide. Global service trade volume expanded by 53% between 2010 and 2019, from US$7.8 trillion to US$11.9 trillion, while the share of services in total trade climbed by 2.5 percentage points, from 20.3 to 23.8% (Fig. 1). 2. China’s service trade has enormous development potential. Currently, China’s economic reform and upgrading are concentrated on the service sector. China’s service trade made up only 14.6% of all commerce in 2019, which was significantly less than the global average of 24.5%. From 2014 to 2019, China’s trade in services grew at an average annual rate of 7.8%, which was greater than both the trade in products and the growth rate of all international trade combined. China’s

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Year Global trade in services (trillion USD)

Proportion of global trade in services

Fig. 1 Global service trade volume and proportion from 2010 to 2019

overall import and export of services in 2020, which was impacted by covid-19, was 4,564.27 billion yuan, down 15.7% from the previous year and constituting 12.4% of all international commerce. Expediting the completion of development to fill existing gaps in the growth of the service sector will assist the adaptation to the general trend of economic globalization. It will also help meet the needs of domestic economic transformation and upgrading as well as supporting China’s development as a trade powerhouse and having a strong domestic market in a coordinated manner (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 China’s service trade volume and proportion of total trade from 2014 to 2020

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3. A key objective of high-level opening up is innovative development of service trade. China’s service trade still has extensive room for growth thanks to the acceleration of the economic servitization process and the ongoing release of the capacity of the urban and rural populations for service consumption. China has the prerequisites to surpass the United States as the largest service trading nation, which would not only play a significant role in pushing changes to the domestic economic structure but would also have a significant positive impact on the globalization process and the pattern of global commerce. We should work to accelerate the process of opening up in both consumer and producer services throughout the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. We should also aim to expand the share of service trade in total foreign trade from the current 14.6% to more than 20% by 2025. This would make China the largest service importer in the world.

2.3 Building an Opening up and Innovation System with High-Level Opening Up 1. Convergence and integration of industrial transformation and a new round of global technological revolution. Information technology, smart manufacturing and biotechnology have permeated every sector of the industrial chain with the onset of the fourth industrial revolution, resulting in a series of significant disruptive technical advancements worldwide. 2019 saw the global digital economy grow to a size of US$31.8 trillion across 47 economies, with a nominal growth rate of 5.4% over the previous year. This was 3.1 percentage points greater than the nominal growth rate of the global GDP during the same time period. 2. Opening up and innovation now plays a more significant role in industrial transformation and improvement. Operating systems, high-end lithography machines, critical basic materials, highend CNC machine tools, high-end instruments and equipment, high-end medical equipment, high-end medicinal reagents, etc. are still monopolized by foreign businesses. China’s oil imports have long been overtaken by chip imports, which exceeded US$300 billion in 2019. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on more than 130 important basic materials used by over 30 large firms nationwide, 52% of these materials—including the majority of memory chips, over 70% of intelligent terminal processors, and 95% of high-end specialized chips—are imported. 3. Establish a highly transparent worldwide network for opening up and innovation. In order to advance high-level opening up during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, it is essential to advance the overarching objective of developing a strong nation in

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terms of science and technology, to establish a variety of open innovation platforms, to quicken the creation of institutional frameworks for gathering and taking advantage of global talent, and to converge resources for global innovation to advance industrial transformation.

3 Establishing a High-Level Market Economic System by High-Level Opening Up Against the distinctive backdrop of an increasingly complicated international environment with greatly increased volatility and uncertainty, a major country with a population of 1.4 billion must understand that the mutual promotion of high-level opening up and deep-level market-oriented reforms, the creation of a new development pattern as a fundamental prerequisite, and the choice to create a new course to advance extensive market-focused reforms with a high-level opening up will preserve strategic resolve and assist in effectively conducting its own affairs.

3.1 Encourage Comprehensive and Market-Oriented Change Through Institutional Opening Up 1. Direct fusion of high-level opening up and high-level market economy. Based on international experience, high-level opening up is dependent on a highlevel market economy. A high-level market economy is distinguished by a high level of openness and competition. New criteria have been proposed for developing a high-level market economy system based on the practice of high-level opening up, whether it be the conclusion of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment or the entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. 2. Salient characteristics of institutional opening up. In order to make new strides in high-level opening up, institutional and structural arrangements must be strengthened. The so-called “institutional” opening up focuses on expanding the market, promoting fair competition, and creating an open economic system that is connected to the fundamental principles of trade and economics on a global scale. The so-called “structural” opening up focuses on broadening both the scope and fields opened to the outside world, moving away from the opening of the general manufacturing field and toward the opening up of the service sector with a concentration on finance. This necessitates hastening the process of opening up, shifting from trade in products to trade in services, and switching from a flow-based openness of commodities and resources to a rules-based opening up.

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3. Promote institutional transformation with institutional opening. The next growth stage of China’s economic system reform is focused on accelerating the creation of a high-level market economy system, which is also a fundamental guarantee for fostering a high-level opening up. As is seen from the current scenario, in order to create a high-level market economic system, it is important not only to completely take advantage of the market’s decisive role in resource allocation, fully stimulate the domestic market’s vitality, but also to create a high-standard market system while adjusting to the rewriting of international economic and trade regulations.

3.2 Enhance the System for Fair Competition 1. Fair competition and an open market are essential conditions for high-level opening up. According to the development of international economic and trade regulations, all high-standard bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements call for market transparency and are built on the principles of fair competition. For instance, joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPA) necessitates that the economic and social policies, industrial policies, investment policies, environmental policies, regulatory frameworks, and other “withinborder measures” of member nations reflect fair competition, transparency, and anti-corruption. 2. A high-standard market economy system features open market and fair competition. Throughout the entire process of the market economy’s functioning, an open market and fair competition are necessary for a high-standard market economy system. For instance, from the perspective of the corporate level, it necessitates fair competition among businesses with various ownerships; from the perspective of the product and service level, it necessitates anti-monopoly laws and unfair competition protections; and from the perspective of resources, it necessitates fair competition among various market entities. 3. The main task is to enhance the fair competition system in order to create a high-level market economy system. First and foremost, it’s important to reinforce the fundamentals of competition policy, treat businesses with all types of ownership equally, and achieve fair competition among businesses with all types of ownership. Second, it’s important to recognize the shift in economic policy from being based on industrial policy to being based on competition policy, making it clear that the fundamental goal of industrial policy is not to obstruct free competition. This can be realized by creating a list of applicable industrial support policies to avoid, and rigidly restrict industrial policies to those

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with large spillover effects or those in critical core technology sectors. Third, it’s important to shift the emphasis of market supervision from general market behavior supervision to fair competition review, supporting the shift from commodity-based to service-based market supervision, and improving the fair competition evaluation of economic policies.

3.3 Fully Implement the Market Access Negative List System 1. “Pre-access national treatment plus negative list” management system is a major measure to institutional opening up. This entails not only the opening of borders and access, but also the equal treatment of various businesses after access has been granted. In the next phase of full implementation of the “pre-access national treatment plus negative list” management system, it is essential to hasten the creation of a system of corresponding institutions and policies. Besides, substantially reducing post-access barriers and removing restrictive provisions not contained in the negative list for foreign investment access. 2. Using the market access negative list system in its entirety to replace the traditional administrative approval procedure. The following will support effective use of the negative list system: reducing the number of restrictions on the negative list of market access, encouraging the opening of the service industry market, greatly easing access to the service industry market, further increasing the negative list’s transparency, thoroughly removing all “hidden obstacles,” recognizing the markets, fields, and businesses that are not on the list, and achieving legal access and maintaining equal footing for all types of market players in industries, fields and businesses that are not on the list. 3. Create a negative list management model for both domestic and international investment as soon as possible. The first step is to create a national negative list as soon as possible that is compatible with both domestic and foreign investment and to hasten the merger of the current negative list with the positive list. The second step is to significantly enhance the negative list’s usability. It is advised to make use of the negative list template for international economic and trade discussions, list the management measures for the negative list in detail—along with any related descriptions—and build and enhance the foreign investment complaint mechanism. The third step is to make clear the national treatment standards, while further developing a number of treatment standards including management power, resource supply, finance techniques, import and export rights, tax policies, legal protections, and judicial relief at the access stage. Finally, lay out clear expectations for both domestic and foreign businesses.

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3.4 Encouraging the Reform of the Property Rights System with an Emphasis on Protecting Intellectual Property 1. A thorough framework for protecting property rights must be established as soon as possible to support the development of a high-level market economy system with high-level opening up. The first step is to enhance the protection of intellectual property rights and gradually advance the parallel of intellectual property standards with global standards. The second step is to ensure that entities with different ownership systems have equal protection of property rights, to identify and remove as many hidden barriers as possible, and to assist all enterprises in the following: equal access of production resources, fair market competition, equally protection under the law, and working together to meet social obligations. The third step is to safeguard entrepreneurs’ property rights and innovation benefits in accordance with the law and create institutional restraints to stop public interests from violating private rights. 2. Launch Intellectual Property Law. Intellectual property law must incorporate current intellectual property laws such as those governing patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc.; referring to the World Intellectual Property Organization Convention and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to clarify the range of intellectual property protections in China; make specific provisions for the punishment of intellectual property rights so that the laws will be observed. 3. Strengthen the system of international cooperation for the protection of intellectual property. We must strengthen communication and collaboration with international and regional organizations such as the World Trade Organization, APEC, and the World Intellectual Property Organization in order to raise the level of intellectual property protection in China; intensify collaboration with developed nations’ departments of intellectual property, economics and trade, customs, and other departments; support domestic service agencies to enhance collaboration and communication with pertinent international organizations; advocate for the construction of sub-centers for intellectual property arbitration and mediation by pertinent international organizations in China; and create intellectual property cooperation mechanisms in nations and areas along the “Belt and Road”. 4. Participating actively in the enactment of international intellectual property laws. China has accessed approximately 20 international treaties, including the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Washington Convention on Intellectual Property Rights in Integrated Circuits, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial

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Property, and the Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits. In the upcoming years, in order to satisfy the demands created by service market opening and actively promote the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, we should actively take part in international negotiations on the revision of international laws like the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, and quicken access to the Doha Declaration, the Marrakesh Treaty and Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

3.5 A Significant Development in Implementing Market-Oriented Resource Reform 1. The market-oriented reform of resources must take center stage in order to encourage the development of a high-level market economic system with high-level opening up. One glaring flaw in China’s efforts to build a high-level market economy system is the delay in the reform of access to market-oriented resources. The high-level opening up imposes new requirements on the market-based allocation of resources and the free movement of resources. Unblocking the dual cycle circulation between the domestic and international markets, promoting improved dual cycle connectivity, releasing the enormous domestic demand potential, and putting forth realistic requirements for promoting market-oriented resource reform by optimizing market-oriented resource allocation are all examples of ways to unleash the enormous potential of domestic demand. A major improvement in resource allocation efficiency has resulted from the strengthening of the reform of market-based resource allocation, which is helpful for maximizing the utilization of both local and foreign markets and resources for high-quality development. 2. Fostering integrated institutional innovation for the market-based allocation of resources. The market-oriented reform of resources, together with the reform of the property rights system, the reform of the pricing system, and other related reforms, cannot be isolated from each other. A key objective in advancing the market-oriented reform of resources is to confirm resource rights, including land rights. A new pattern of integrated system innovations should be formed by organically combining the market-oriented reform of resources with the reform of property rights and price reform, in addition to the integration and synchronization of its overall design. The main goals of focusing on the extension of market-oriented resource reforms are: to fully exploit the market’s decisive role in resource allocation, remove institutional and institutional barriers to the free flow of resources, and guarantee that different market entities have equal access to various production factors. However, it is vital to concentrate and push the market reforms in a disaggregated manner

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in order to deepen them from a practical standpoint. In the traditional production factor domain, we should allocate labor, management, land, and capital to more productive sectors so that actual economic growth approaches the limit of feasible output possibilities. With the advancement of the technology revolution, the range of production factors is expanding, and data is emerging as a new resource. Active research into the market-oriented reform of data resources is required in the domain of traditional production factors. 3. Significant developments throughout the 14th Five-Year Plan period in implementing the market-oriented reform of resources. First, speed up the market-oriented reform of land resources, create an institutional arrangement of “same land, same price, and same rights” for urban and rural real estate, and create an open, just, and equitable unified trading platform and trading regulations. Second, completely implement a national residence permit system with a citizen ID number as the only means of identification while furthering the reform of the household registration system, creating a system for tying essential public services like urban jobs, education, and health care to the permanent population; encourage agricultural migrant workers to settle in cities, expanding the urban– rural and geographical mobility of the workforce and unleashing the full potential of urban–rural integration. Third, encourage the market-oriented reform of data by hastening the formulation of pertinent laws and regulations, defining data property rights and the control of ownership, use, income, and disposal rights of data; hasten the development of markets for data components on the foundation of preserving national security and accelerating the formation of normative systems and rules for market pricing mechanisms, market transactions and the market regulation of data on the grounds of safeguarding national safety. Fourth, improve the multi-level capital market as the focus in promoting the market-oriented reform of capital resources by speeding up market-oriented interest rate reforms, achieving “two tracks into one” in regards to market interest rate and benchmark interest rate as soon as possible, and realizing market-determined lending rates for the banking system and the credit sector as soon as possible.

4 Implement High-level Opening Up in Response to New Changes in Economic Globalization How does China, as a newly opened country with global power, influence the globe, and how does the world perceive China in the midst of unprecedented change? These are major concerns both in China and across the globe. China’s encouragement of a high-level opening up has not only given bilateral, regional, and multilateral free trade procedures a significant boost, but it has also strengthened China’s institutional voice and influence as a participant in global economic governance.

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4.1 Advancing the Multilateral and Bilateral Free Trade Processes 1. Firmly supporting economic globalization. China, in taking up its responsibilities as a major global power, seeks to encourage all nations to uphold multilateralism, sustain the current state of economic globalization, and enhance global governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “We must be on the right side of history, uphold multilateralism and the democratization of international relations, plan for development with an open, cooperative, and win–win mentality, steadfastly advance economic globalization in the direction of openness, inclusivity, balance, and win–win development, and encourage the creation of an open world economy.” As part of its ongoing efforts to promote the high-quality construction in joint endeavors to build the “Belt and Road,” China has gradually taken a number of measures to increase opening up in order to guarantee the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain as well as to increase the level of infrastructure connectivity in different countries. 2. Upholding the international free trade system. Free trade is the cornerstone of the institutional framework of economic globalization. Not only are unilateralism and trade protectionism detrimental to solving domestic issues, but they also are significant barriers to economic globalization and a global economic recovery. It should be noted that promoting economic globalization can be accomplished by adhering to the fundamentals of free trade and collaboratively defending the international multilateral trade system. 3. Ardently advance the multilateral and bilateral free trade processes. After participating in the formation process and actively promoting the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), China ratified the RCEP and took the initiative by making all necessary preparations for upholding the agreement’s responsibilities. A fair, balanced, inclusive, and open free trading system is necessary to advance the free trade process. China’s support for a free trading system adds new meaning to it, including openness, inclusivity, universal benefits, balance, and win–win outcomes, rather than just being a mere continuation of the previous free trade system.

4.2 Encourage High-Quality Joint Construction of the “Belt and Road” An important step in advancing economic globalization is the collaborative development of the “Belt and Road.” China would cooperate with all interested parties willing to take part in building the “Belt and Road” as a “road of poverty reduction” and a “path of growth” in order to pragmatically promote its construction and advance

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the prosperity of humanity as a whole. By 2030, the joint development of the “Belt and Road” is anticipated to assist 32 million people in escaping moderate poverty and 7.6 million people in escaping extreme poverty, according to relevant World Bank research. The “Belt and Road Initiative,” put forth by developing nations, has drawn praise as the most significant economic globalization initiative since the turn of the century. By the end of 2020, a total of 138 nations and 31 international organizations had signed 202 cooperation agreements with China to engage in the collaborative construction of the “Belt and Road.” China actively aided the implementation of certain projects as part of its pragmatic promotion of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road,” and it also started the AIIB and the Silk Road Fund. The Silk Road Fund, which offers investment and financing support for economic and trade cooperation and fosters multilateral and bilateral connectivity within the “Belt and Road” framework, has signed a total of 47 projects as of October 2020, totaling US$17.8 billion in pledged investments. It promotes development in the nations and areas along the route in the fields of infrastructure, manufacturing, services, and other industries as well as energy sources. The region’s economy and global economic growth have received a new boost as a result of the extensive cooperation in the field. To continue the construction of the “Belt and Road” with high quality in the future, we should use the interconnection of infrastructure as the foundation to achieve the linked development of many countries and switch from focusing primarily on production capacity cooperation to focusing both on production capacity cooperation and the service trade. To further broaden the scope of cooperation, we should aspire to develop a multi-level and multi-form free trade network, which would accelerate the building of partnerships for global connectivity and promote global openness on a worldwide scale, benefiting more nations through cooperation with third-party markets and other means.

4.3 Collaborate to Create a Human Community with a Shared Future 1. All nations’ futures are intertwined with one another. There is a saying, “For us Chinese, China will do well only when the world does well, and vice versa”, All countries’ interests and futures are now intertwined due to economic globalization and the new technological revolution. Their industrial, supply, and value chains are all intricately entwined, and their economic progress is mutually dependent. No country can stand alone, and no country can dominate the world in the face of universal problems like pandemic disasters and a downward spiral of the global economy. For mutually beneficial cooperation, we must look for a win–win and multi-win solutions. Global action and cooperation are urgently required to advance the development of a society with a sense of humanity’s shared destiny, whether it be

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in response to global public health emergencies like the current covid-19 pandemic or in addressing global challenges like aging populations and climate change. 2. Promote global governance based on thorough consultation, shared responsibility, and mutual benefits. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the current global economic governance structure is out of step with the changes in the international economic pattern. We can only offer a solid assurance for the stability of the world’s economy by adjusting to growth and changes in the international economic pattern and encouraging reform of the system of global economic governance. This is done in part to uphold the fundamental values and tenets of multilateralism, but it is also done to reform and enhance the system of global governance in light of the changing global environment and the need to jointly address global concerns. China firmly supports the international system with the UN at its center, international order based on international law, and a multilateral trading system based on the WTO. China actively participates in WTO reform, focuses on increasing representation, fairness, and effectiveness, and promotes global reform of economic governance mechanisms. 3. Overcome a “clash of civilizations” through mutual appreciation of civilizations and the advancement of world harmony. “Diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which in turn promotes mutual learning and their further development.” China promotes moving beyond the limited notion described as a “clash of civilizations” and suggests respecting the diversity of global civilizations, moving beyond the estrangement between civilizations, using mutual learning exchanges to go beyond the conflict between civilizations, and promoting a peaceful coexistence between civilizations to move beyond the idea that one civilization is superior to another. The most crucial aspect in valuing the diversity of civilizations is to respect national decisions about social structures and growth trajectories while keeping pace with the times. Furthermore, it is essential to advance global peace through civilizations’ mutual learning. In order to sustain a vibrant, diverse existence, civilizations must be built on mutual exchanges and mutual learning. Each must learn from one another’s strengths to make up for its own deficiencies. Seeking common ground while retaining differences and showing complete respect for the diversity of civilizations and the development pathways of different countries are crucial for realizing the peaceful coexistence of many civilizations. Thus, “together we can make the garden of world civilizations colorful and vibrant.” President Xi Jinping stressed in his keynote address at the 2nd United Nations Global Sustainable Transportation Conference that “China will continue to hold high the banner of true multilateralism, and stay connected with the world and abreast with the times. This way, we will contribute more to global development while pursuing our own development.” China has reached a new developmental stage as a nation that embraces a new kind of opening up. It continues to cooperate with all peoples of the world to create a shared future for humanity by adopting an open strategy of mutual benefit and win–win strategies while adhering to the road of peaceful development.

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Chi Fulin President of China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), concurrently chairman of the Board, Expert Committee for China Association of Trade in Services and vicechairman of China Society of Economic Reform.

China’s Participation in Global Governance Amid Major Shifts Huiyao Wang

Abstract The global governance system is undergoing a momentous transformation. As a key participant in the global community, China has a vital responsibility to participate in global governance. China can lead the charge in addressing climate change, constructing infrastructure, multilateralizing the Belt and Road Initiative, integrating the Asia–Pacific region, and cultivating a digital economy. In terms of climate change, China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and is playing an active role in formulating international regulations and industry standards related to sustainable development. Collaboration between China, the United States, and Europe is critical in promoting cooperation between North and South countries in addressing climate change. Infrastructure development is in high demand globally, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank should take the initiative to work with other multilateral development banks to create a global infrastructure supported by these institutions. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership also has the potential to develop into a new platform to coordinate Asia– Pacific geo-relations, and China’s entry facilitate moving towards higher standards of international trade norms. The formation of the International Data Consortium will also aid the G20 in promoting global governance in the digital economy sector to ensure data security across nations. Keywords Global governance · China · Climate change · Infrastructure · Belt and Road · Trans-Pacific Partnership · Digital governance

The global governance system reflects the international power structure and the state of world development at a particular time. The crucial analysis that we are facing “a time of momentous changes unseen in a century” was made by General Secretary Xi

H. Wang (B) Center for China and Globalization (CCG), Beijing, China

© People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_2

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Jinping in December 2017. China is now facing a more difficult and harsher international environment of uncertainty and instability as it strives to complete its new mission of constructing a socialist modern state. These challenges in this new stage of development are due to current global shifts such as the faster evolution of the international landscape, the continuous devastation caused by the Covid pandemic, the global economic slump, and adjustments to the worldwide political and security order and global governance system. Global governance lags behind global practice, and one major factor contributing to this problem is the absence of international leadership in the face of a shifting international environment and growing global challenges. Global governance will switch to “Asian time” in 2022 when China will preside over BRICS and host the gathering of its leaders. Additionally, Asian nations will host the APEC, G20, and SCO summits. China has the opportunity to take the lead in addressing climate change, building infrastructure, multilateralizing the Belt and Road Initiative, integrating the Asia–Pacific region, and developing the digital economy. By engaging in global governance more deeply and completely, China can lead world development through the application of Chinese wisdom and strength, providing certainty and stability to the global community.

1 Working Together to Response to Global Climate Change The most important ecological threat facing humanity at present is climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on Global Temperature Control at 1.5 °C, ensuring that global temperature increases stay within 1.5 °C is key to preventing irreversible detrimental effects of climate change on natural ecosystems and human society. To do this, governments must collaborate to achieve a net global anthropogenic CO2 reduction of roughly 45% of 2010 levels by 2030 and net zero by about 2050. Research shows that the next few years will be crucial for the future security and prosperity of humanity. A 1.5 °C increase in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels is inevitable if significant action is not taken during this time and the results would be catastrophic. By 2050, the death rate brought on by climate change could be comparable to Covid19, and by 2100, it may be more than five times as lethal as the epidemic, according to a study by Bill Gates’ team. No nation is an island and no one can escape the grave challenges posed by climate change. Short-term consensus-building and major reforms are more likely to occur in the domain of environmental protection, and there is now widespread agreement that the world must aggressively improve cooperation and its response to climate change. China has promised to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060—its so-called “double carbon” objective. The tasks required to meet this are demanding, laborious, and urgent. However, this will also present China with new opportunities for sustainable growth and the pursuit of a different kind

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of green revolution. Achieving carbon neutrality requires the coordinated efforts of government, businesses, and people. It also requires extensive and significant changes of our economic and social systems. It calls for the entire country’s support and the participation of all members of society. Also, it will serve as the new benchmark for measuring success as nations and businesses compete in the technological sector. As part of China’s medium- and long-term growth policy, low-carbon development will be adopted in all facets of industry and daily life over the course of the next 10–40 years. Although there are enormous obstacles to overcome, there are also tremendous opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration. In this regard, China must actively participate in the creation of relevant international regulations on sustainable development, intensify research and enhance specific courses of action and industry standards for China to reach its “double carbon” objective. It must implement systemic, nationwide economic and social reforms in the energy, industry, transportation, agriculture and other sectors through institutional and technological innovation by employing digital, market-based and administrative means. It must also remain vigilant and prevent the possible risks that may arise from drastic reforms. At the same time, China should collaborate with other nations to encourage the creation of a new UN agency to deal with climate change as a unique challenge that affects many areas of international cooperation. The United Nations has taken the lead in combating climate change through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, a large portion of UNEP’s work focuses on other environmental concerns, and the UNFCCC is constrained by the challenges associated with achieving broad consensus among member nations. A permanent UN body that specializes solely in working on climate change would help keep climate governance moving forward and encourage collaboration among stakeholders. This must happen not just at the national level but also at the local, regional, and global levels in order to generate long-term policy and technical solutions. In the process of working to achieve “carbon neutrality” on schedule, China, the United States, and Europe have large roles to play due to their large economies and higher levels of development as well as their advantages in terms of capital, technology, skills, industry, and experience in research and development. A proposal has been made to strengthen coordination and collaboration between China, the United States, and Europe by establishing a trilateral coordination structure to assign greater responsibilities to key players to encourage cooperation between countries in the North and the South. All countries must work together in addressing climate change, pursuing green economic development, and participating in the clean energy revolution. A trilateral effort will lead to better outcomes in research and innovation, application, and dissemination, promoting green cooperation and climate-oriented reforms in the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other institutions, and it will strengthen the clout of motivating markets to adopt climate-friendly technologies and standards. Climate change might become a destabilizing geopolitical

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“risk multiplier” if China, the US, and Europe do not work together, increasing pressure on societies and institutions, exacerbate demographic pressures brought on by climate change, and create new areas of competition.

2 Starting with Infrastructure to Encourage Collaboration Between International Development Banks The demand for infrastructure investment is global. Along with the Belt and Road countries, infrastructure development is also in high demand in established nations like the U.S. and Europe as well as emerging nations in Latin America and Africa. The Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH) under the Group of Twenty (G20) published a report called Global Infrastructure Outlook that projects that between 2016 and 2040, the need for global infrastructure investment will rise to 94 trillion USD with an average annual expansion of roughly 3.7 trillion USD. Long-standing structural issues in financing international development include a lack of capital supply and challenges in balancing supply and demand. Global economic development has lacked momentum since the 2008 financial crisis, and major economies have made historically low commitments in terms of infrastructure investment. A small number of wealthy nations control multilateral governance and finance systems in the traditional sense. For instance, the United States has the most votes in the International Monetary Fund while a few high-income nations control more than 60% of the voting rights in the World Bank. In terms of lending conditions and criteria, traditional multilateral development bank lending instruments are typically accompanied by strict rules that may touch on the internal affairs of the borrowing country while also requiring adherence to high “one-size-fits-all” norms for environmental and social safeguards. This makes it difficult for low-income countries to profit from existing aid system. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has made improvements in these areas to overcome the barriers that developing nations face due to the incompatibility of the institutional voice that they should be able to retain under the international multilateral process, their contribution to the world economy, and their responsibilities as upcoming major powers. Helping members deal with the pandemic and promote economic recovery is another area where the AIIB has taken the lead. The development of the Belt and Road Initiative was a key launching point for the AIIB. Between its founding in December 2015 and the end of October 2021, membership increased from 57 countries at its inception to 104, and current members now make up over 79% of global GDP. The AIIB is the second-largest international development bank after the World Bank and represents 65% of the global economy. The AIIB has set up a 13 billion USD “COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility” (CRF) to assist members who are in need of economic recovery, medical infrastructure, and the acquisition of vaccines to combat the pandemic. The COVID-19 Recovery Facility was extended by the ADB in March 2022 and funding was increased from 13 billion USD to 20 billion USD in order to

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assist members who continue to confront the still difficult worldwide epidemiological scenario and challenges to economic recovery. The geographic scope and magnitude of financial requirements will continue to grow as economies in emerging markets and developing nations gradually make progress. Whenever the right circumstances arise, the AIIB could grow into a “World Infrastructure Investment Bank” to strengthen China’s collaboration with nations on every continent, increase the scope and number of regions in which it invests in infrastructure, and offer financial and other supports to eligible projects worldwide. At this point, the AIIB should take the initiative and work with other multilateral development banks—including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank—to create a global network of infrastructure driven by these institutions. The goal here is to create a system of common lending, common contracting, and common bidding for international multilateral development banks that is internationalized, standardized, open and transparent. This should pique the interest of nations and multinational enterprises worldwide and inspire them to carry out joint construction and collaboration. This is beneficial for both the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the infrastructure on other continents as well as for the connectivity of Asia with other regions across the globe. In the fight against the pandemic and assist with economic recovery, the AIIB currently works in collaboration with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to provide loans. Other multilateral banks ought to be encouraged to join together and work more closely with multilateral organizations to support the development of global infrastructure and to support efforts to fight the pandemic. Lawrence H. Summers, a renowned American economist and Secretary of the Treasury under the Clinton administration, was interviewed by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) in January 2022. He concurred that the post pandemic rebirth of the global economy and progress were important, and that efficiency and focus issues plague the investment and financing of both international and regional development institutions like the IBRD. He agreed that the financial sectors in the US and China, particularly the international financial sector, should work closely together. According to Summers, there shouldn’t be any more replenishments after the World Bank’s most recent one in 2018, as the Bank currently has no advantages. Summers emphasized that in the future, the United States and China should be dedicated to reinventing the global development banking system, not only by working with suitable development banks but also by accepting development bank partners and pursuing collaboration on shared goals. In Xi Jinping’s description of a “new type of major-country interaction,” cooperation between the United States and China plays a significant role in this area. The 1997 Southeast Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis saw cooperation between the two countries in the international financial sphere. The United States and China can work together as they did previously considering the potential for a significant rise in interest rates in the future, which will increase the risk of a global financial crisis. Summers expressed his desire for the US to eventually join the AIIB.

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There is a great amount of opportunity for cooperation between China and the US when it comes to infrastructure. In addition to having a significant amount of excess capacity, China has a comparative advantage in specific areas like high-speed rail and bridges. There is bipartisan agreement that the United States needs to enhance infrastructure construction, as there is a great deal of outdated infrastructure that needs to be repaired or replaced. Prior to the passage of infrastructure and economic stimulus initiatives totaling more than 2 trillion USD, primarily for the purposes of infrastructure construction and addressing climate change, U.S. President Biden signed a 1.9 trillion USD economic relief bill in March 2021. Despite challenges to China’s involvement in infrastructure in the US such as investment assessment, national security, and relationships with the federal, state, and local governments, Sino-U.S. ties—particularly cooperation in local infrastructure projects—can nevertheless be seen as a starting point for improving overall Sino-U.S. relations. Due to the federal system of the United States, state governments enjoy a high degree of autonomy and are in charge of attracting foreign capital and the majority of infrastructure development initiatives. States in the US, particularly those in economically disadvantaged regions, are motivated to build ties with China by the desire for investment. China and the US can further their dialogue on infrastructure and create a mechanism to promote investment in this sector. This may also improve communication between governments at the provincial and state levels as well as cooperation on infrastructure projects at these levels, making cooperation at these levels a focal point for leveraging improved Sino-U.S. relations. A Sino-U.S. Provincial Governors Forum could be held annually in China and the United States in turn, and collaboration on provincial and state-level infrastructure projects can be encouraged through strong connections between the provincial and state governments, highlighting the role of state governments as a potential “stabilizer” in Sino-U.S. relations. Additionally, we should also work to link the Belt and Road Initiative with European and American infrastructure projects like B3W, improve third-party market cooperation, and collaborate on the construction of infrastructure in developing nations. By engaging in third-party market cooperation, Chinese and international businesses can complement one another’s strengths and contribute to the development of infrastructure, industry, and the livelihood of developing nations. The Belt and Road Initiative will also benefit from this process as it will promote multilateral and institutional development, achieve stability and long-term development, and establish itself as an international and institutionalized platform for robust and stable international multilateral cooperation and global governance.

3 Supporting Institutional, Multinational Development Along the “Belt and Road” As of January 2022, China had signed a total of more than 200 cooperation agreements with 147 nations and 32 international organizations since the launch of the

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Belt and Road Initiative, while the relevant cooperation concepts and ideas have been incorporated into the final texts of the United Nations, G20, APEC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and other significant international mechanisms. One of China’s most significant worldwide efforts, the Belt and Road Initiative not only links the economies of the Asia–Pacific region and Europe, it also crosses Africa and links continental Asia and Europe. It has become the longest-spanning and most cooperative economic belt in the world and is the broadest and most comprehensive international cooperation platform. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which supports cross-border connectivity as well as trade and investment liberalization, has greatly increased the potential for global trade and investment growth. It also plays a significant role in fostering faster industrialization and economic growth in developing member nations while also promoting social peace and stability. According to the World Bank’s Economics of the Belt and Road report, the Belt and Road Initiative is “an ambitious initiative to expand regional cooperation and promote cross-continental connectivity, which will improve transport infrastructure and enhance the regional economic environment, thereby dramatically decreasing trade costs, stimulating cross-border commerce and investment, and greatly enhancing the growth of nations and regions along the route and the global economy.” The Belt and Road Initiative, according to the report, will boost global real income by 0.7–2.9% and the real income of the nations and regions along its route by 1.2–3.4%, thereby promoting increased shared prosperity. Belt and Road Initiative, when fully implemented, will boost commerce between participating nations by 4.1% and total foreign direct investment in member nations and regions by 4.97%. In addition, BRI-related investments may help to lift up to 34 million people out of moderate poverty and 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty. According to research by the UK Centre for Economics and Business Research, the Belt and Road Initiative could boost global GDP by more than 7 trillion USD annually by 2040, and as many as 56 countries will see a GDP increase of more than 10 billion USD annually as a result of the initiative. Since the introduction of the BRI, the international community has largely viewed it as favorable and logical; however, concerns about the Belt and Road Initiative have occasionally been raised in terms of the environment, labor standards, transparency, public procurement, and social responsibility. Improving the international reputation of the Belt and Road Initiative and expanding its circle of allies can support its multilateralization and institutionalized development, taking it into a new era of increased multilateral globalization of new goods, demonstrating the positive role of the Belt and Road Initiative as a new global governance platform, addressing negative perceptions of the BRI by certain parts of the international community, and further promoting its expansion by creating a more institutionalized development path. First, in order to promote the development of the Belt and Road Initiative as a multilateral mechanism, it must have a multilateral organizational structure and decision-making mechanism that reinforce the BRI’s international and public qualities. For example, a new system of international and regional governance through the Belt and Road Initiative could come in the form of a Multilateral Steering Committee and a BRI International Committee. BRI member countries have been asked to

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actively participate in the establishment of a Belt and Road International Secretariat in Beijing, which is modeled after the ASEAN Center. Annual Belt and Road conferences also take place in different nations similar to the G20 and APEC. BRIrelated agenda topics are often discussed at international conferences, where countries engage in extensive discussions and exchanges, working together to advance the initiative through projects, plans, processes, and other measures. China may take a more proactive role among them as the initiator in the Belt and Road Initiative. For instance, it may set agendas, research negotiation topics, offer helpful ideas, and set up mechanisms to advance a more multilateral BRI that guarantees more freedom of speech. Second, China should attract foreign agencies affiliated with the United Nations to take part in Belt and Road projects and engage in collaboration. It should promote the creation of a UN agency for Belt and Road cooperation, maximize the utilization of the resulting synergies and encourage communication between Belt and Road Initiative participants. It can also fully utilize the UN’s global influence and its role as a bridge between nations. Furthermore, a Belt and Road international alliance organization could be established with United Nations organizations invited to join the project, while BRI-related ideas could be included in the plans of the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO, and the World Trade Organization. Cooperation in these areas will help international organizations realize the Belt and Road concept is relevant to their development agendas. Third, China can involve more developed nations through engagement in thirdparty market cooperation. The focus of third-party market cooperation is on complementary advantages, which may connect China’s advantage in production capacity with advanced technologies from industrialized nations and the development requirements of a sizable number of developing countries. This can synergize individual advantages and create new path models for high-quality mutual development of the Belt and Road Initiative, creating another successful strategy for advancing the multilateral expansion of the BRI. It is another successful strategy for advancing multilateral expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative. Fourth, China could carefully consider joining the Paris Club. China is a significant growing creditor, but lacks expertise in managing the risks associated with external debt. The Paris Club serves as a regular channel of communication for important creditor nations. China should consider announcing its intention to join the Paris Club, abide by the principles of open, practical, and long-term global lending, and establish itself as a trustworthy creditor nation. In addition to preserving global financial stability, this would help China reduce the risks associated with external debt. China should also provide a multilevel platform for public collaboration and service in addition to developing a multilateral mechanism for the Belt and Road Initiative, which in itself is a multi-level, varied platform for international collaboration. For non-state organizations, institutionalized or non-institutionalized channels for exchanges and cooperation that could lead to the formulation of norms and rules could potentially improve the efficiency of cooperation while also offering

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direct aid to Belt and Road members. The Chinese government should actively participate in the creation of this mechanism by providing advocacy, direction, dissemination, support, and policy recommendations, while also encouraging Chinese businesses, organizations, and people to actively participate and play a positive, leading role. As a multilateral mechanism, the Belt and Road Initiative is open to relevant organizations from member countries, which are invited to participate to promote diversity and the values of internationalization. 1. Enterprise platform China should establish a Belt and Road International Enterprise Alliance that uses an “open” franchise approach, draws businesses to actively integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative. The International Enterprise Alliance could potentially host global conferences like the Manufacturing Summit, SME Summit, Multinational Corporation and SME Collaboration Forum to facilitate discussions between enterprises in BRI countries about business, investment, cooperation, and other topics. 2. Talent Platform China should also create a platform that links talent with companies in Belt and Road countries. This platform would fully embody the function of an international professional association, establish a platform for professional contacts related to the Belt and Road, and concentrate on experts in Belt and Road development. It could also draw on global expertise to create a Belt and Road talent database and service system to make it easier for businesses and organizations to find qualified international talent, and for professionals to find partners or development platforms. In order to ensure a cooperative, mutually beneficial model that works with the countries along the route, the platform should also build long-term strategic cooperative relationships with professional groups in those nations. 3. Financial Platform The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank should take the lead and collaborate with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international multilateral development banks to create the Belt and Road International Development Bank Cooperation Alliance to develop a lending community for Belt and Road construction projects. By focusing on international multilateral development banks, this strategy will result in an internationalized, standardized, open, and transparent system for common loans, common contracting, and common bidding by international multilateral development banks. Moreover, when the time is right, the AIIB can be expanded into a global infrastructure investment bank, enhancing China’s cooperation with nations across all continents, broadening its infrastructure investment, and offering financial and other support services to projects that qualify for infrastructure investment around the globe.

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4. Risk Control Platform China should also build a “firewall” and establish an early warning system or information exchange mechanism for the Belt and Road Initiative. It should also strengthen the development and upkeep of the Arctic passage. This collection of passageways could not only reduce the time and expense of commercial sea and aviation traffic, but it also has an immediate impact on China’s military, political, resource, and economic security. President Xi Jinping noted in a video chat with US President Biden on November 16, 2021, that the international initiatives China has proposed are open to the United States, and it is hoped that the United States will do the same. Biden stated that he is prepared to manage disagreements in a positive manner, advance bilateral cooperation in areas where the United States and China have common interests, and work with China to cooperatively solve global issues like COVID-19 and climate change. Later, on November 19, while addressing the third Belt and Road Construction Forum in Beijing, President Xi Jinping again emphasized the necessity to further develop triangular or multimarket cooperation and international production capacity collaboration. He also emphasized the importance of efforts by various departments to make Belt and Road construction projects an essential part of their agenda. The Belt and Road is the best way to create a community of shared human interests because it embodies practical implementation of the idea of creating a shared future for humanity. The ongoing expansion of the BRI may enable more nations to expand policy communication, facility connection, unhindered trade, financial integration, and people-to-people ties. Collaborative development of the BRI could effectively help the international community avoid the Thucydides Trap and Kindleberger Trap. If not, the world may be plunged into chaos due to fundamental changes in the international power structure caused by profound changes unseen in a century. China will actively support the creation of a new, fairer, more inclusive, tolerant, and sustainable world by actively participating in the development of global governance standards.

4 Joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as Quickly as Possible to Deepen Asia–Pacific Integration Several regional accords have recently evolved into instruments for significant liberalization as the world’s trade regulations have become more disorganized. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a new free trade agreement that was signed by the US, Mexico, and Canada. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) followed in early 2021. Due to its special geographical location, Asia is the heart of regional multilateralism. The new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), was revived in the wake of the US departure and went into effect in

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early 2019. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement in the world, was signed in November 2020 and went into effect on January 1, 2022, making significant progress toward the integration of the economies of the Asia–Pacific region. These dynamic accords offer a flexible and multi-track roadmap for Asian economic integration, as they will continue to grow and may draw new participants. For instance, a stricter CPTPP might help establish criteria for upcoming commerce in developed economies, whereas a less restrictive RCEP would offer a route for emerging nations to take part in free trade. In the long run, the CPTPP has the potential to serve as a model for restructuring the World Trade Organization and restarting the global free trade agenda, and China’s entry into the CPTPP will also assist China in maintaining higher standards of international trade norms, thereby calming economic and trade frictions and escalating geoeconomic trends. China submitted its formal CPTPP application in September 2021. Against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions in the Asia–Pacific region, CPTPP has the potential to act as a new platform for the coordination of Asia–Pacific georelations and improve communication between China and related countries. This would reshape the Asia–Pacific geopolitical situation and achieve mutually beneficial economic growth and trade among regional countries, hedging against the geopolitical division into various camps according to ideology. As one of the world’s main economies with the quickest rate of growth, China now trades with ASEAN countries more than any other region. China and CPTPP members have a great amount of potential for cooperation. In a study published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the institute estimates that if China enters the CPTPP, its national income will rise by 298 billion USD by 2030 and income for other member countries would increase by 632 billion USD. The CPTPP now consists of 11 member nations, home to roughly 500 million people, and represents 13% of the world economy with a combined GDP of more than 13.5 trillion USD. If China joins the CPTPP, this trade network would cover a huge market with a population of close to 2 billion, a GDP of more than 25 trillion USD, and a total economic volume of about 30% of the global economy. Although China’s entrance to the CPTPP will not be easy because of the current differences between China’s own standards and those of the CPTPP, the country’s application to join the trade pact represents a new opportunity for China to push more extensive internal reforms as China must get the approval of the participating nations to join the CPTPP. China will have a new avenue for communication and coordination with CPTPP members if it succeeds in joining. Dialogue has undoubtedly created new opportunities for reducing geopolitical tensions when compared to strategies that intensify conflict like remote confrontation, reciprocal sanctions, and breaking off contacts. China has gained the ability and capacity to link with the CPTPP in recent years thanks to legislative initiatives and advancements in the areas of intellectual property rights, labor standards, treatment of state-owned companies, environmental policy, and data flows. China’s accession to the CPTPP is highly likely as it provides the opportunity to once again drive domestic reform through external opening. It can

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further promote the process of deeper domestic reform and continued opening up by bolstering the protection of intellectual property rights, improving the business climate, increasing openness, while also promoting research and exploration in new global governance sectors like cross-border data flow and international mobility of talent. The CPTPP’s guiding principles are particularly compatible with China’s objectives of enhancing intellectual property protection and reforming state-owned companies, and China’s membership into the CPTPP will further encourage different domestic institutional reforms in China. Military alliances and conflicts significantly increase risk, as recent history in the twentieth century has demonstrated. Even as geopolitical rivalry in the Asia–Pacific area intensifies in the twenty-first century, neighboring nations must maintain their composure. Countries throughout the region have a vested interest in a prosperous and secure Asia–Pacific. Deeper and more orderly economic and commercial relations between nations in the region will also contribute to a more peaceful and secure Asia– Pacific. In this regard, China’s ascension to the CPTPP will unquestionably make a substantial contribution to reducing regional tensions and driving Asia–Pacific regional integration.

5 Improving Global Digital Governance in the Digital Era Today, the world is becoming more interconnected, most notably through the movement of data across international borders and the expansion of the global digital economy. A result of the fusion of traditional economics with digital technology, the digital economy is now a major trend in, and force behind, global economic growth. Data has evolved into the lifeblood of global growth in the twenty-first century, much as oil opened up new frontiers for trade and business in the twentieth century. Cross-border broadband usage surged 148 times to more than 700 terabytes per second between 2005 and 2017, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. Digitalization sped up considerably after the breakout of COVID-19 in 2020. Due to the shift toward online employment, leisure, and education in 2020, data traffic witnessed a massive surge. According to research data from the American telecom market research company Telegeography, the amount of international Internet traffic increased by 48% between mid-2019 and mid-2020. Trade in digital services is on the rise, and data flows are supporting trade in physical products, powering intricate global value chains and driving the development of technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. The rise of trade in the twenty-first century is more dependent on data, but little has changed in terms of regulations on international trade since the 1990s. Individual countries have enacted legislation to control data use, safeguard national security, and protect citizens’ privacy in the absence of a global standard for controlling data flow. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was put into effect by the European Union in 2018, and China has established a comprehensive cybersecurity law and is now working on a significant data protection law. Although it has taken

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longer for the U.S. to regulate data, it is also attempting to change the laws governing personal data. According to OECD data, the number of data rules rose from 50 in the early 2000s to nearly 250 in 2019. The Digital Trade Restriction Index, which measures the overall level of data control, has increased by a factor of two over the previous ten years, according to the European Centre for International Political Economy. The complexity of these regulations is escalating international conflict and making it more difficult for corporations to function. Regarding data governance, countries differ widely in terms of preferences, values, and capacities. To protect their national security, all nations are free to modify their data regulations as they see fit. At the same time, the world needs agreed-upon guidelines for data management; otherwise, these disputes will only worsen and eventually stymie international investment and innovation. Many bilateral and regional organizations are currently working to develop shared standards. By allowing countries to manage data flows in a rules-based manner, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership reduces trade obstacles to a large degree. If China ratifies the agreement, it will assist in bringing China into line with standards for modern data governance and assist Chinese technology firms in “going global.” The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) is a digital trade agreement that Singapore, Chile, and New Zealand released online on June 12, 2020. It aims to improve digital trade cooperation and set necessary regulations for the three nations. Following the agreement’s signing, DEPA became valid in Singapore and New Zealand in January 2021 and went into effect in Chile on November 23. On November 1, 2021, China officially applied to join DEPA. China’s application to join DEPA is a significant indicator of the country’s active involvement in international cooperation in the digital economy as well as the preservation and advancement of multilateral digital economy governance mechanisms, especially considering the increased rivalry in international digital trade norms. Digitization has put pressure on the existing global governance framework, but it has also generated new demands for collaboration. A new framework is needed that can support the safe and healthy expansion of the global digital economy, and constructing digital infrastructure will allow all people to benefit from the rise of the digital economy. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is closely associated with digitization, the Internet of Things, robotics, and artificial intelligence, all of which have the potential to promote equitable global prosperity but may also cause instability within a number of communities and sectors. If ignored, these upheavals and ongoing digital gaps could worsen inequality inside and across nations. Multilateral data governance standards encompassing both China and the United States must be established by the international community. First, the World Trade Organization’s ongoing e-commerce negotiations must work to develop a solution as soon as possible. These discussions should focus on establishing global standards and exclusions for data while preserving the WTO’s primacy. Second, based on the Osaka Declaration on the Digital Economy, the Group of Twenty (G20) should continue to work on the formation of legislation governing

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digital trade. The US should make clear statements that Huawei, TikTok, WeChat, and other Chinese businesses are allowed to operate within its borders, while China should consider open its borders to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other US digital economy firms so they can compete and work with Chinese firms. Another option that can be taken into consideration is the formation of the International Data Consortium (D20), which would include the 20 biggest digital economy enterprises worldwide. The G20 is a crucial forum for advancing international law and also now hosts the B20 (G20 Business Summit), T20 (G20 Think Tank Meeting), C20 (G20 Civil Society Meeting), Y20 (G20 Conference for the Youth). Creation of the D20 can help the G20 better promote global governance of the digital economy. The majority of the top 20 digital economy businesses in the world are based in the US and China, and their collaboration to develop industry consensus and best practices for international standards will assist China and the US to continue communication in the fields of science and technology. Once the D20 is established, it will be possible to bring together government representatives, business leaders, academics, and NGOs to create cross-border corporate norms for the digital economy. The world requires precise standards for determining what qualifies as secure data management procedures to guarantee data security across nations. As a benchmark for domestic methods, nations should be encouraged to embrace international standards like the ISO 27000 information security standard. As the world economy recovered from the destruction wrought by World War II, rules-based free trade played a crucial role. Digital protection will impede the revival of the global economy as we currently make our way through the worst downturn since World War II. The digital economy is changing how trade is conducted on a global scale, and China’s economy is now seeing new development opportunities in the service sector. Only when data flows are governed by multilateral trade regulations can they be a source of growth and opportunity instead of a source of conflict and disputes. The time has come for nations like China, the US and the countries of Europe to work together on global regulation of the digital economy. Today, US hegemony is decreasing. The model of a single superpower and many other smaller powers following the conclusion of the “Cold War” has progressed in a more balanced and pluralistic direction. China, a rising global power that has just gained the status of middle-income nation, has risen to the top of the international rankings in many fields, but it also has many flaws and is faced with uneven and incomplete development. Development remains China’s top objective in this new era of change. China adopted a global strategy throughout the first two decades of the twenty-first century, taking advantage of the transition of the global industrial chain’s strategic potential and profiting greatly during that period. However, China needs to participate more actively and extensively in international affairs and play a more proactive leadership role if it is to maintain fast and stable development over the next few decades. This will open a new window of strategic opportunity for China’s development as well as the development of the rest of the world. We must seek the path of coexistence and co-prosperity that includes both the East and the West through in-depth dialogue and communication and prevent

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the further escalation of international disputes and confrontation as geopolitical tensions threaten to rise. We haven’t seen these kinds of global transformation in at least a century and as a major player in the global community China will undoubtedly be a key player in this process of change as it fulfills its responsibility as a global power. The world is watching as China works to fit into its new role and embrace a development model based in the Chinese value of “harmony with diversity”.

Huiyao Wang Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), former Counselor of the China State Council, and Member of the Central Committee of Jiusan Society.

Major Strategic Arrangements and Route Choices for Accelerating the Creation of a New Development Pattern Zhang Zhanbin

Abstract The construction of a novel development pattern is a remarkable achievement of contemporary Marxist political economics, and its theory and practice embody significant trend characteristics that necessitate a comprehension of numerous critical relationships. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the acceleration of the construction of a new development pattern that prioritizes domestic circulation, while boosting domestic and foreign circulation in tandem. This new development pattern has a robust theoretical foundation that is in line with Marxist political economy and a vital component of socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics. The implementation of this new development pattern necessitates a “dual-drive” approach that relies on the supply side of innovation and the demand side to increase domestic demand. High-level institutional openness to the outside world is crucial to support both local and international dual circulation. The construction of a new development pattern aims to shift from unbalanced and insufficient development to balanced and sufficient development. The creation of a new development pattern is a strategic decision based on changes in China’s development stage, environment, and conditions, and it is also the inevitable outcome of correctly understanding the laws of socialist construction. Keywords New development pattern · Domestic circulation · Socialist modern nation · Marxist political economy · High-quality development · Industrial chain security · Belt and Road · Foreign investment

Since April 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping has frequently suggested in his speeches that we must “accelerate efforts to foster a new pattern of development that is focused on the domestic economy and features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows” The 19th CPC Central Committee’s Fifth Plenary Session introduced the strategic idea of swiftly constructing a new development Z. Zhanbin (B) Party School of the Central Committee of CPC (National Academy of Governance), Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_3

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pattern while completely developing a modern socialist nation. The 19th CPC Central Committee’s Sixth Plenary Session reaffirmed the need to encourage high-quality development, coordinate development and security, and hasten the creation of a new development pattern. These significant concepts have evolved into major content and distinguishing characteristics of the 14th Five-Year Plan and long-range goals for 2035. They offer a frame of reference for understanding the overall strategic situation of the world’s unparalleled changes and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, as well as how to comprehensively establish a strong socialist modern state. The construction of a new development pattern has opened a new chapter in the contemporary Marxist political economy. It is the most recent accomplishment of modern Marxist political economics, and both its theory and practice represent significant trends that call for an understanding of numerous crucial relationships.

1 Creating a New Growth Pattern from a Marxist Political Economy The emergence of a new pattern of development has a strong theoretical foundation that is consistent with a Marxist political economy and a crucial component of the socialist political economy with Chinese features, thus expanding the scope of a Marxist political economy.

1.1 Creating New Development Patterns Inherits Social Reproduction Theories Marx’s social reproduction theory is specifically used in a socialist market economy through the formation of the new development pattern, which is in accordance with the theory’s fundamental tenets. The formation of the new development pattern, on the one hand, represents the process of social reproduction. Starting from industrial capital, Marx’s broad theory of capital circulation, G − W − G' (G' = G + m), which states that when labor becomes a tradeable good, money is turned into capital G, was based on industrial capital. Following the acquisition of labor and raw materials, production P is established to create a new commodity W' . From the new commodity W' to the new capital G' , “If it falls shorts, then, although the commodity itself is not harmed, its owner decidedly is.” Similar to industrial capital circulation, circulations of financial capital, production capital, and commodity capital all adhere to a spatial coexistence and temporal succession, allowing for the formation of a single capital circulation. Production, distribution, trade, and consumption are the connections that make up a whole in the process of social reproduction, which is a process of overlapping countless individual capital circulations. All social existence is based on the production of

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material things. “A particular production establishes a certain consumption, distribution, exchange, and interaction among these different parts. Undoubtedly, there are other elements that affect manufacturing in its unilateral form.” “The key to building a new development dynamic is to ensure unimpeded economic flow, just the same as a healthy person needs to keep the blood vessels circulating freely to maintain a good balance of vital energy and blood.” Economic activity requires the integration of various production factors at the stages of production, allocation, distribution, and consumption in order to realize a circular flow. On the other hand, creating a new development pattern can satisfy ever-expanding social reproduction. Marx separates social production into the two main categories of means of production and means of consumption. The two major categories must fulfill certain requirements for financial compensation and value compensation to ensure social reproduction. In the case of simple reproduction, the total amount of variable capital and surplus value from the category of means of production must equal the total amount of constant capital from the consumption category; as for expanded reproduction, the total of the initial amount of variable capital from the means of production, the additional amount of variable capital, and the surplus value utilized by the capitalist for personal consumption must equal the total amount of the original constant capital and the additional amount of variable capital. Technology, distribution, demand, and the production structure in the economy are determined by the interaction between these two categories. The demand structure, which forms the basis for converting financial capital into production capital, is determined by the technical structure and the distribution structure. The technical structure and the distribution structure both influence the production structure. This is shown to be the foundation for the transformation of productive capital into commodity capital, and the requirement for the transformation of commodity capital into financial capital is the adaptation of the production structure to the demand structure. In order to meet the requirements for social reproduction, a new development pattern is being built that prioritizes supply-side structural reform, pays attention to demand-side management, and modifies the distribution, demand, and production structures. This will also encourage the ongoing expansion of social reproduction.

1.2 Creating a New Pattern of Development Builds upon Division of Labor Theories “The category of all categories of a political economy” is the division of labor. Marx’s theory of division of labor continues on at all levels in the creation of a new development pattern. A key mechanism for fostering production, distribution, circulation, and consumption from a macro perspective is social division of labor. The social division of labor, which Marx referred to as “the first type of division of labor,” can be summarized as “each owner or producer of a commodity represents before another a specific branch

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of labor, and the whole of these special branches of labor, that is, their existence as a whole of social labor, is mediated by the exchange of commodities, or further, by the circulation of commodities.” These owners of commodities owners or producers are separate from one another and mutually independent, constituting a relationship of cooperation and competition to some extent. They successfully distribute resources through a market-oriented process. Building a new development pattern entails improving the performance of the government, which allows the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation based on the social division of labor and encourages the adjustment of production relations and the growth of productive forces. The division of labor inside a factory is a crucial strategy for raising labor productivity on a micro level. The division of labor that takes place at a factory is what Marx referred to as “the second type of division of labor” since “it happens when a certain use value is produced before it is sold or circulated as a unique, independent good.” The producers in this instance are not portrayed as independent workers because “they may make a full product, the general commodity, only through collaboration, in which each one symbolizes not a distinct form of labor, but merely separate operations joined, brought together in a certain sort of labor.” Furthermore, “the second type of division of labor… shortens the labor necessary to manufacture a specific use value, freeing up labor for a new social sector of labor… The second type of division of labor is able to separate a specialty into components through its decomposition process.” This indicates that the division of labor inside the factory significantly boosts labor productivity. Creating a new development pattern involves regulating and improving the division of labor. Building a new development pattern, guided by a new development concept, entails encouraging industrial upgrading and transformation through innovation, particularly through independent inventions in science and technology, along with championing an artisan spirit that has a love for labor and intentional creation, encouraging the transition to the middle and high end of the industrial chain, while also continually increasing society’s overall productivity and improving the quality and efficiency of produced goods.

1.3 Building a New Development Pattern Expands the World Market Theory Marx’s concept of the world market suggests that it encompasses not only the domestic markets of other nations but also domestic markets that are connected to the international market. In other words, the world market is the sum of all nations’ domestic markets, and the expansion of the world market theory occurs with the creation of new development patterns. On the one hand, we must concentrate on utilizing the global market. The expansion of markets, the growth of cities, the opening of new air routes, industrial revolution, and the advancement of transportation and communications are all prerequisites

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for the birth of the global market. In particular, “giant industry built… the world market” during the Industrial Revolution. Large-scale developments in commercial, maritime, and land transportation have been fueled by the global market. When local circulation is insufficient to satisfy the demand for switching from the new capital G' to the new commodity W' , that circulation shifts to international circulation, and innumerable international circulations overlap to support the growth of the global market. The connotation and scope of economic globalization are coherent, which is a necessary condition for the growth of socially productive forces and the inescapable outcome of scientific and technical advancement. China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, gaining access to the global market and significantly boosting global economic growth. The advancement of China is inextricably linked to that of the rest of the globe and vice versa. Building a new development pattern necessitates maintaining the underlying national policy of being open to the outside world, following the path of economic globalization, and maintaining a focus on tapping global markets and resources. On the other hand, we need to focus more on China’s domestic market. All participants can fully enjoy the advantages of globalization and multilateralization when there is reasonably smooth progress in economic globalization and the world market succeeds in unifying organically. “Great industry links people from all over the world and merges all small regional marketplaces into one global market.” However, worldwide circulation has proven to be tremendously fragile since the 2008 global financial crisis, notwithstanding economic globalization. The necessary phase of regional economic integration has revealed significant instability, with Brexit serving as an exemplar of this fragility. Of course, more importantly, China has advanced to a new stage in its development, and the previous export-oriented model is increasingly difficult to maintain. Building a new development pattern requires not only opening up to the outside world on a larger scale, in a broader field, and at a deeper level, but also fostering a high degree of systemic opening up with China’s domestic circulation as the primary channel for that process and leveraging the role of international circulation in service of domestic circulation. This is an extension of the theory of the international market in the creation of a new development pattern, showcasing the virtues of a Marxist political economy that has been adapted to China’s circumstances and the realities.

1.4 The Construction of a New Development Pattern Has Innovated the Theory of Large Countries’ Competitive Advantage Although Marx did not specifically study the economies of great powers, the theories of the organic composition of capital, production of space and international markets, among other concepts, all point to the logic of a great power’s economic development. American economists Chenery and Selkun conducted statistical analyses of a

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large number of nations and discovered that major economies typically pursue development policies that are inward-looking, which are reflected in domestic resource accumulation, resource allocation, and international commerce. An essential distinction between the economy of a great power and a small country is the ability of the former to be recycled internally. Whether looking at the historical experience of the growth of great powers or the contemporary perspective of the development model of great powers’ economies, their competitive advantages are clearly not derived from exogenous possibilities but rather from internal power. Since the beginning of the first industrial revolution in the 1760s, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan have all leaned on their own technological advancements to enhance their overall strength and foster the competitive advantages that are a trademark great powers. Building a new development pattern puts greater focus on primary domestic circulation while simultaneously placing emphasis on the domestic and international circulations. It thoroughly illustrates the internal development logic of China’s economic development as a huge country to a certain extent and reveals the theory of the new competitive advantage of large countries, which is a breakthrough and innovation of contemporary Marxist political economy.

1.5 Creating a New Development Pattern Advances the Theory of Common Prosperity for All The future society that Marx and Engels envisioned is distinguished by a large wealth of material goods, a significant improvement in the people’s spiritual lives, and every individual’s free and full development. The Chinese Communist Party developed the idea of common prosperity for all people by fusing this ideal with China’s reality. The fundamental prerequisite for socialism and a key component of modernization in its Chinese form is common prosperity. In keeping with the demands of creating a new development pattern, it necessitates addressing the issue of uneven and insufficient development. Common prosperity is required for creating a new development pattern, since the two are mutually supportive and serve as mutual prerequisites. The rise of domestic demand, which is ultimately accompanied by an equitable distribution pattern that benefits all parties, is the foundation for the new development pattern in particular. We should establish basic institutional arrangements enabling coordination and complementarity between the primary, secondary, and tertiary distribution. This will help us expand the relative size of the middle-income group, raise incomes among low-income earners, properly adjust excessive incomes, and prohibit illicit income, creating an olive-shaped distribution structure that is larger in the middle and smaller at each end. By doing so, we can make pragmatic progress in advancing common prosperity of all, which is also the demand for building a new development pattern.

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2 The Strategic Value of Accelerating the Emergence of a New Development Pattern Accelerating the development of a new development pattern is an important strategic decision based on changes in China’s development stage, environment, and conditions. It is also the inevitable outcome of correctly understanding the principles of socialist construction, reflecting the benefits of socialism with Chinese characteristics and emphasizing the new progress of the Chinese modernization path over the rise of Western countries and the creation of a new form of human civilization.

2.1 The Necessity of Developing into a Strong Modernized Socialist Nation China has started a new journey to create a contemporary socialist nation in an allaround manner after constructing a moderately prosperous society. This is a new stage of growth after China has stood up, grown affluent, and became strong. Now we must hasten the creation of a new development pattern. Internationally, the complicated global environment has compelled China to accelerate its creation of a new development pattern. The modern world is witnessing significant changes the likes of which have not occurred in a century. Possibilities and obstacles are two sides of the same coin, but instability and uncertainty have also grown substantially. As an illustration, consider the relationship between China and the United States. The size of the Chinese economy surpassed 100 trillion yuan in 2020, making up more than 70% of the entire US economy. Notably, the expansion of China’s national scientific and technology might has accelerated, and in several hightech domains China has been running neck and neck or even overtaking the United States. In order to keep its hegemonic position, the US unilaterally stoked trade and economic tensions with China, utilized state power to crush Chinese high-tech firms, and tightened export controls on high-tech goods to China. The US is engaged in so-called “decoupling” and “de-sinicization,” which have disrupted the initial international circulation and raised the possibility of a broken chain in the global industrial supply chain in which China is involved. This serves as a caution sign for us to modify China’s economic development pattern, preserve the security and stability of our industrial supply chain, and improve our competitiveness. This means focusing especially on the enormous risks emanating from numerous black swans and gray rhinos to prevent China’s path toward modernization and power from being interrupted. Seen from a domestic viewpoint, the shortcomings of China’s initial development model made that model unsustainable. After the reform and opening up, China briefly capitalized on its comparative advantages of a large labor force and low prices and seized the chance to import industries from developed nations like the United States, Europe, and Japan. It welcomed a significant amount of foreign capital, actively

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expanded its international trade, developed a paradigm of growth where the market and resources (such as mineral resources) were both pushed into the international market and imported and exported on a large scale. This had been crucial in utilizing the advantages of economic globalization, boosting China’s economic strength, and enhancing people’s lives. The comparative advantage of China as a “global factory,” however, has progressively lost its edge as a result of time and technological advancements. The initial impetus for development has also slowed. For instance, the benefit of cheap labor in China has gradually diminished. Several of its neighboring nations, particularly those in Southeast Asia, have labor costs that are 5–10 times lower than China’s. The labor costs in many African nations are roughly 10–20 times lower than ours, and in general, China’s advantages in foreign commerce and low-end exports are gradually eroding. This demonstrates the need to create a new development model, strengthen China’s strategic support for science and technology, and encourage industrial growth at the middle to high end. This difference in labor costs also calls for China to take advantage of its peak science and technology, industry, and economic development and give shape to the new advantages of China’s economic development and international cooperation, which is a necessary condition for the creation of a strong socialist state.

2.2 A Practical Option to Exploit China’s Unique Development Advantages Fully The establishment of a new development model that prioritizes domestic circulation and encourages double circulation at international and domestic levels allows China to benefit from its massive economy, which is a distinctive development advantage. A large economic scale is a requirement for a nation to develop an effective economic circulation that is dominated by a large domestic circulation. The formation of a more complete national economic system is difficult for nations with small populations and sparse natural resources. Such nations can only operate well economically if they are closely tied to the global economy. Singapore, for instance, has a high per capita income but a small economy while having beneficial industries, such as electronics and finance, and ports. It is unable to create a moderately independent internal economic circulation. Thus it is more than 200% dependent on foreign trade. However, a somewhat independent domestic self-circulation is more likely to arise in nations with larger economies. For instance, following the Civil War, the United States implemented a number of regulations to safeguard domestic industries, created a single domestic market, and fully tapped the benefits of a sizable home market to create a domestic economic circulation. The United States’ overall economic volume surpassed that of the United Kingdom in only around 30 years. Possessing a huge market scale serves as the foundation for China’s internal circulation and its promotion of a dual domestic and international circulation. After

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more than 40 years of growth following its promulgation of policies for reform and opening up, China’s economy has expanded quickly, and the circumstances and underpinnings of its domestic circulation have improved steadily. With a strong material base, ample human resources, a complete industrial system, strong scientific and technological power, and the capacity to continue improving its macroeconomic governance, China has grown to be the second biggest economy in the world and boasts the largest manufacturing industry and the largest trade in products. This is a crucial assurance not only for the improvement of its primary domestic circulation’s status, but also for supporting China’s in-depth integration into the global economic circulation. As a nation, we are in a position to take full advantage of the scale and agglomeration effects of large economies and are able to better utilize domestic and international markets and the two types of resources.

2.3 A New Model for Surpassing the Rise of Western Countries There are various models for how great powers rise. China has opted to construct a new development pattern that is based on a novel self-development model, which stands in contrast to the rise of Western nations and reflects the transcendence over the rise of Western nations. The creation of a new development pattern places an emphasis on domestic circulation as the key component and seeks to propagate significant advancements in common prosperity. Inequality of income across the world is a major issue presently, and some nations are split between rich and poor regions, with the middle class in many of these nations in disarray. The wealthiest 1% of Americans control 40% of the nation’s wealth, compared to only 7% owned by the other 80% of the population. Further advancing social justice and fairness, encouraging a marked improvement in people’s living conditions, and creating a robust domestic market are crucial tasks in establishing a new development pattern. Allowing the masses to benefit from reform and development is therefore closely related to the creation of a new development model. In this new stage of development, China will accelerate its construction of a comprehensive domestic demand system, place greater emphasis on coordinating economic development and the improvement of people’s living standards, progressively raise people’s income levels on the basis of improving labor productivity, and attempt to have the growth of residents’ income be faster than economic growth. More focus is to be placed on coordinating pertinent policies across the three areas of distribution, enhancing the quality of income distribution, reducing the income gap, and advancing the goal of common prosperity for all. The emphasis of creating a new development pattern is on the reciprocal promotion of the dual circulations of the local and international, as well as the unwavering expansion of opening to the outside world. The majority of Western nations, led by the

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United States, have enacted trade protectionism during the industrialization process to preserve the competitiveness of their own industries. In the United States, the average tariff ranged from 30 to 50% from the end of the Civil War until the end of the nineteenth century. In an effort to re-direct capital and conventional manufacturing to China after the global financial crisis of 2008, the United States engaged in trade and investment protectionism. China, in sharp contrast, is a staunch advocate of free trade. China has prioritized the development of the “Belt and Road” since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, facilitating the creation of an open pattern of connectivity between land and water as well as reciprocal assistance between the East and West. Currently, 21 free trade pilot zones have been developed. The Belt and Road has signed cooperation documents with 147 nations and 32 international organizations. It has also negotiated 19 free trade agreements with 26 nations and regions. Instead of being a closed domestic circulation, the new development pattern is a dual circulation that is both open domestically and internationally. The door to China’s process of opening up will not be shut; rather, it will continue to open even wider.

2.4 Enabling the Global Economy’s Revival and the Growth of International Trade Cooperation As a significant economic power, China has the ability to not only encourage domestic circulation by opening its doors wider, but also make invaluable contributions to the smooth operation of international circulation on the merit of its strong supply and demand capabilities. It also can support the steady recovery and expansion of the global economy. China will encourage high-quality economic growth and drive the recovery of the global economy by opening up its domestic circulation. It will continue to promote the opening up of laws, regulations, management, standards, and other systems, constantly raise the bar for intellectual property protection, and offer a fairer, more transparent, and predictable business environment for foreign investment as the global epidemic spreads and the global economic situation remains dire and challenging. Through efficient local and international circulation, China has increased its exports of commodities to other nations. Furthermore, it has established the most active business platform in international commerce circulation thanks to more than 5,000 professional wholesale markets, including the China International Import Expo, Canton Fair, Service Trade Fair, Consumer Expo, and Yiwu. It has contributed in a special way to the stabilization of the world’s industrial and supply chains by creating a sizable market and platform, as well as clearing a major channel. Global consumers profit from China’s economy and foreign trade’s steady growth. Many WTO members now trade extensively with China, and many nations, including developing nations, depend on the Chinese market for economic growth. The rapid expansion of cross-border commerce has stabilized the global supply chain and

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benefited consumers worldwide in recent years, thanks to China’s service industry trade, which has also supported economic transformation and propelled the development of service trade. Furthermore, China has fully tapped into the benefits of its massive market and has moved closer to the global economy in terms of trade, investment, people, technology, and data. The global economy will benefit from new prospects brought by China’s rise. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has formally gone into effect as of January 1, 2022, and China is submitting an application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which will undoubtedly provide new contributions to global economic development.

3 Trend Characteristics of Accelerating Construction of a New Development Pattern Compared with the old development pattern of large-scale imports and exports with two ends of the economic process, markets and resources being located abroad, the construction of a new development pattern will show some different trend characteristics.

3.1 From a Dualistic System to a Unified Market China first employed a dualistic planning method when the PRC was founded in 1949. The dualistic planning system was replaced with a dual planning and market coexistence system as a result of China’s reform and opening up process, but issues remained since the system and norms were not sufficiently harmonized. Notable issues include poor resource flow, local protection, and market segmentation. To create a new development pattern in this new era, the dual system must be eliminated, and a unified national market established in its place. The first step is to create unified legal and institutional frameworks. Although the laws in China are unified, some of the regulations permit different departments and municipalities a certain amount of authority, leading to disparate system norms. This institutional weakness prevents the development of a unified national market. Guideline on Accelerating the Establishment of a Unified Domestic Market have been examined and approved by the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms. Future policies and initiatives should put a strong emphasis on institutional development and be dedicated to enhancing the fundamental structure and rules of the market. This would foster high-standard connectivity among market facilities, accelerate construction of factors and resources, promote high-level integration of the market for goods and services, raise the bar for governance and supervision, etc.,

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and continuously enhance the coherence of laws, the consistency of regulations, and the coordination of their execution. The second step is to encourage the free and market-driven flow of factors. Due to its dualistic system, China’s resource distribution is influenced by both market factors (such as the transfer of labor and rural land) and planning forces (such as the control of household registration and non-market-oriented land stickiness), which results in an institutional surplus of labor. The Guideline on Improving the Marketbased Allocation Mechanism of Production Factors were published in 2020 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council with the intention of removing institutional barriers that stood in the way of the free flow of factors of production and supporting market-determined factor pricing, autonomous and orderly flow, and efficient and equitable allocation. They outlined precise prerequisites for the market-based allocation of factors such land, labor, capital, technology, and data. The third step is to eliminate market segmentation and local protection. When a nation is creating a new growth pattern, a misconception can arise that acting in one’s own way and only focusing on one’s own sphere of interest. Some are neglecting the task of building a unified national market and promoting overall domestic flow, preferring instead to focus on their own local or regional market. Building a new development pattern entails dismantling local protection and market fragmentation. The creation of a unified, large market allows for resources to be aggregated effectively. It encourages economic growth, continuously sparks innovation, optimizes division of labor, and promotes fair competition.

3.2 Shifting from International Dependence to Focusing on the Domestic Market Since the founding of New China, it has gone through roughly four stages: a relatively single domestic circulation stage, an export-oriented stage where domestic circulation predominated, a comprehensive opening stage where international circulation predominated, and a high-level institutional opening stage where domestic circulation predominated. China will stop relying on international circulation and instead use domestic circulation as the primary component of a new development pattern. According to international experience, a large country’s economy tends to focus on its domestic circulation as its major economic engine. The applicable theories of international trade hold that a nation should create and export goods that have a distinct advantage over the goods of another nation. According to the factor endowment theory, however, a nation should manufacture and export goods made from the relatively abundant production elements found there. Whichever theory it is, it demonstrates the importance of global trade, especially for small economies, yet the

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economies of great powers operate rather differently. Using the expenditure technique to compute GDP, if export and import are considered to be international circulation, while consumption, investment, and government expenditure are considered domestic circulation, the smaller the ratio, the greater the dependence on domestic circulation. Since the 1950s, the United States and Japan have generally had a ratio between domestic and international circulation of less than 30%, demonstrating that these two economic powers are more dependent on domestic circulation. China’s international circulation to domestic circulation ratio has increased to over 30% since 1990, with the highest percentage ever reaching 77.2% (in 2006). The ratio of international circulation to domestic circulation, however, gradually declined after peaking following the creation of a new development pattern. China has progressively taken on the features of a great power economy, with the domestic circulation acting as its major engine. Domestic circulation, as seen from the standpoint of domestic practice, requires a strong base of conditions and is something that few nations can attain. First, domestic circulation requires a solid material foundation. In 2011, China overcame Japan to become the world’s second biggest economy. In 2013, China surpassed the United States to become the largest trader of goods (the largest exporter and the secondlargest importer). It has the highest influx of foreign capital as well as the largest amount of foreign exchange reserves, all of which form solid material foundations for establishing domestic circulation as a nation’s primary circulation. The second condition for domestic circulation is the presence of a super large-scale market. Unmatched by any other country, China has a market size of 1.4 billion people, including 400 million middle-class citizens. With the exception of 2020, China’s final consumer expenditure has contributed more than 50% of GDP growth each year since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. China has become the second-largest global consumer market. China’s total retail sales of consumer products climbed from 20.6 trillion yuan in 2012 to 39.2 trillion yuan in 2020, growing at an average annual rate of roughly 8.4%. Consumption quality in China has also continually improved. The third condition is a complete industrial system. China boasts the most comprehensive categories, which break down into 39 major categories, 191 medium categories, and 525 subcategories into which the United Nations has subdivided the global industrial system. China ranked second after Germany in the 2021 UN Industrial Development Organization’s Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, which evaluated the ability, technological advancement, and upgrading level of 152 nations and regions worldwide in producing and exporting manufactured goods.

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3.3 From Rapid Expansion to High-Quality Development Acquiring a high level of self-reliance and self-improvement is the most crucial component of creating a new development pattern. The extensive growth approach, which depended on factor input in the past, may indeed produce quick growth over the near term, but it needs to shift to high-quality development going forward. The first step is to change the way of development. After World War II, some underdeveloped nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America actively embraced Western investment and opened their ports hoping that their own low-cost resources and global trade would lead to prosperity. But most ended up as victims of the “middleincome trap” or “low-income trap.” The reform and opening up policies provided China with excellent development opportunities, but the development strategy at the time was very extensive and largely depended on the input of factors, including lowcost labor, expanding land, and blind capital, which was to some extent a necessary part of the development process. Lessons learned from developing nations, however, demonstrate that extensive, sustained super-high development is detrimental and counterproductive. Its drawbacks include overuse of resources, severe ecological harm, industry overcapacity, overall inefficiency, and the loss of opportunity for structural adjustment and technical innovation. It is vital to switch from a quantitative growth model that depends on a significant amount of factor input to a quality and benefit-oriented development model that depends on technological innovation. The second step is to optimize the country’s economic structure. Economic structure encompasses more than just how the three industries are distributed. Using the industrial structure as an illustration, it is important to maintain the position of the advanced manufacturing sector while fostering the growth of the contemporary service sector. The manufacturing sector is a nation’s economic lifeline, and the real economy serves as its cornerstone. The international financial crisis of 2008 exposed the hollowing out of various industries in Western nations, which taught us a painful lesson. We need to make sure the manufacturing sector is represented while creating a new development pattern. In some developed nations, the tertiary industry makes up more than 80%, as much as even 90%, of the economy. However, in China, there is no need to focus excessively on the tertiary industry’s share of the economy; instead, we must encourage the growth of contemporary service industries, particularly the development of services related to advanced manufacturing. The third step is to convert growth momentum. The question of what to rely on to accomplish growth is answered by growth momentum. In the past, it was dependent on an extensive and substantial quantity of factor input. The creation of a new development pattern involves a commitment to converting growth momentum. We need to rely on innovation, coordination, environmentally friendly practices, openness and sharing in the future. Innovation is the primary force propelling progress; coordination is a required condition for sustainable and healthy development; going green is a condition for sustainable development and a significant manifestation of people’s aspiration of a better life; openness is a way to national prosperity and development,

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and finally, sharing is a fundamental prerequisite of socialism with Chinese characteristics. As a new development pattern is being built, a new concept of development has evolved into a new growth engine.

3.4 Shift from Unbalanced and Insufficient to Balanced and Sufficient Development The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China noted that the principal contradiction in Chinese society is that between the ever-growing needs of the people for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Construction of a new development pattern means shifting from unbalanced and insufficient to balanced and sufficient development. On the one hand, a new development pattern means shifting unbalanced development to balanced development. Unbalanced development is characterized by limited resources being directed toward the growth of important departments and regions, with attempts made to use regional and industrial linkages effect to drive growth. The short-term gains naturally come quickly, but the long-term adverse repercussions are clear, emerging as “huge structural imbalances” in many sectors and areas of the national economy, overpowering the role of government and industrial policy, and restricting the market’s room to function. The characteristics of balanced development include giving the market a decisive role in resource allocation, improving the role of the government, relying mostly on market forces to allocate resources, and the government’s provision of necessary advice and adjusting resource allocation in various sectors and between various areas to achieve balanced development. On the other hand, this new development pattern also seeks replace insufficient development with sufficient development. According to economic theory, the production possibilities frontier or curve represents the greatest number of different commodities that may be produced by combination under the circumstances of available resources and technology. According to this viewpoint, insufficient development means that the objective of generating the greatest number of goods has not been met. The various components have not been completely exploited, and the multiple combined components have not had the greatest impact. Creating a new development pattern entails continuously promoting the allocation of land, labor, capital, technology, data, and other factors in accordance with market mechanisms through factor market reform. The government should also play a certain regulatory role in order to ensure that the factors and factor combinations are maximized to ensure sufficient development.

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4 The Vital Relationships in Accelerating the Creation of a New Development Pattern The creation of a new development pattern incorporates all facets of the economy; therefore it is important to understand the relationships between supply and demand, overall circulation and local circulation, and the intrinsic relationship between the supply side and the demand side.

4.1 Recognize the Relationship Between Domestic and International Circulation A misunderstanding results from placing an unbalanced emphasis on primarily domestic circulation or domestic and international dual circulation. Domestic circulation is a crucial component of international circulation, and both are intricately linked together. The unity of opposites between domestic and international circulation must be understood dialectically. Domestic circulation plays a significant role in international circulation. Marx’s theory of the world market holds that all countries’ domestic markets collectively form the global market, and that there can be no so-called international circulation without each nation’s domestic circulation. Even though regional economic integration and economic globalization have run into some negative fluxes, the tide of globalization will not be stopped. International labor division, international trade, international investment, and international cooperation will all continue to develop under the impact of the decisive role of market’s allocation of resources. China should contribute significantly to international circulation since it is the largest developing nation in the world. Conversely, the international circulation needs the domestic circulation. China has made internationally acclaimed economic progress since its reform and opening up of the economy. China’s GDP expanded from 367.9 billion to 82.7 trillion yuan in 2017, growing by an average annual real rate of 9.5%, which is far greater than the 2.9% annual growth rate of the global economy during the same period. Since the start of the reform and opening process, China’s GDP has increased from 1.8% of the global GDP to 15.2%, and its contribution to world economic growth has consistently exceeded 30%. Additionally, the cumulative value of China’s imports and exports of goods has increased from USD 20.6 billion to more than USD 4 trillion. China’s overall merchandise imports and exports have likewise increased from USD 20.6 billion to over USD 4 trillion, while total foreign direct investment inflows have surpassed USD 2 trillion. Total foreign investment reached USD 1.9 trillion, with foreign direct investment exceeding USD 2 trillion. The global economy has recovered slowly since the global financial crisis in 2008, but China has still been able to expand at a medium-to-high rate and has taken the lead in driving this growth. China’s domestic circulation is necessary for the international circulation.

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4.2 Grasping the Relationship Between Overall Circulation and Local Circulation While partial circulations are used in the building of new growth patterns, it is important to understand circulation as a whole to prevent any misunderstandings. The first step is to concentrate on creating a unified national market. Each area is in control of its own region, and each department is concerned with its own business. Local governments and vertical departments share a “block relationship,” which has developed over many years. The chess should serve as the foundation for a huge united market that is viewed from the perspective of the entire nation in order to create a new development pattern. The circulation of different departments and areas can only be smoothed out better when the national economic circulation is unblocked. The second step is to focus on building a high-level circulation system. Plans should be formulated to encourage the modern circulation system’s hardware and software construction, the development of new technologies, formats, and modes of circulation, the improvement of institutional norms and standards in the field of circulation, and the cultivation and expansion of modern logistics companies with international competitiveness. These will provide a solid foundation for establishing a new development pattern. Smooth economic circulation, however, comprises more than just smooth logistics. To develop a high-level circulation system rather than merely completing low-level logistics, it is important to understand the meaning and implications of smooth economic circulation thoroughly. The third step is to focus on establishing a balanced industrial structure. China is currently dealing with some bottle necks, and creating a new development pattern requires overcoming certain challenges. However, not all departments and localities are required to concentrate on extravagant projects nor are economic and technological departments the only ones required to assume full responsibility. All departments are required. According to China’s objective reality and industrial foundation, each region must establish a comparatively balanced industrial structure. Each department and region must implement an orderly division of labor, coordination, and cooperation based on unified deployment. They must create a new development pattern together.

4.3 Grasping the Relationship Between Supply and Demand The relationship between supply and demand, a key idea in economics, must be taken into account when creating a new development pattern. A higher-level dynamic balance must be created where demand drives supply and vice versa. First, supply is driven by demand. The compass of business production is consumer demand. What nature of supply will depend on what kind of demand is present. According to Keynesianism, the main reason for the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1933, was a lack of effective demand. As a result, demand should

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be stimulated, and economic growth should be promoted by increasing government spending and running fiscal deficits, which theoretically supports government macrocontrol. Under a new growth pattern, building demand-driven supply requires a focus on both quantity and quality. High-quality demand generates high-quality supply by balancing the economic circulation. Second, supply creates demand. French economist Say posited that “supply creates its own demand.” Therefore, demand for one supplier leads to demand for another. Although Say’s economic principle mentioned here might be debatable, new forms of supply have always generated new demand during earlier industrial revolutions. The first industrial revolution’s steam engine increased customer demand for numerous steam-powered travel equipment. Energy demand was a result of the industrial revolution’s use of electricity, while other needs like consumption were a result of the third industrial revolution’s use of information technology. New supply will continue to generate new demand as a fresh development pattern is built in tandem with a new wave of technical advancement and industrial transformation. Third, a higher level of dynamic balance between supply and demand. The goal of supply and demand balance is to achieve a high level of balance between quantity and quality, relying particularly on innovation-driven, high-quality supply to generate high-quality demand. It also relies on high-quality demand to propel high-quality supply and encourage high-quality development. The balance between supply and demand is not a short-term balance; rather, it focuses on balance over the long term. In particular this is dynamically balanced supply and demand, meaning that even if there may occasionally be exactly the same level of high-quality supply and highquality demand, there may also occasionally be relatively more high-quality supply overall. There are times when high-quality supply and high-quality demand may be perfectly aligned, but a dynamic balance can be maintained in the long run.

4.4 Grasping the Internal Relationship of the Supply Side Numerous production factors are mostly involved in the supply side. Understanding the internal dynamics of the supply side and advancing the major thrust of supply-side structural change are prerequisites for creating a new development pattern. On the one hand, we should uphold the basic tenet of innovation. Innovation has played a key role over the course of China’s modernization. A crucial component of modernization is the creation of new development patterns. In establishing a new development pattern, innovation plays a fundamental and crucial function that must be acknowledged. Innovation in technology can give development a fresh impetus. Connotative growth fueled by innovation is required to attain high-quality development. It is essential to rapidly advance the capacity for independent innovation and make strides in crucial fundamental technologies. This is a crucial issue for the progress of China as a whole, and it also holds the key to the emergence of a significant domestic circulation.

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On the other hand, we also should promote the reform of market-oriented allocation of factors. One focus of economics research is resource allocation. Marketbased allocation, “plan-based, market-assisted” allocation, and planned allocation all played a role in the past, and each possessed some benefits but also numerous drawbacks. The Communist Party of China’s 18th Central Committee’s Third Plenary Session proposed to “make the market play a decisive role in resource allocation and better perform the role of government.” It has made a scientific and precise definition of the core issues of economic system reform, stressing that an effective market and effective government need to coordinate and cooperate. On the supply side, it is vital to support the reform of the market-based allocation of factors, continuously tap the inherent potential of different factors such as land, labor, capital, technology, and data, and encourage the function of diverse elements to be maximized for the creation of a new development pattern.

4.5 Grasp the Internal Relationship of the Demand Side Understanding the relationship between consumption, investment, importation, and exportation on the demand side is vital as demand-side management plays a significant role in creating a new development pattern. First, expanding domestic demand serves as a strategic base. China’s economy is primarily driven by domestic demand, and China’s long-term prosperity and stability are tied to the creation of a fully functional domestic demand system. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, the main driver of the economy in China has been domestic circulation. Currently, the current account surplus as a percentage of GDP is less than 1%, down from 9.9% in 2007. In 7 years, China’s growth contribution rate was greater than 100%. China has the advantage of a mega market with a population of more than 1.4 billion people, 900 million workers, more than 400 million people in the middle income bracket, more than 170 million talents with advanced degrees or other professional skills, and more than 100 million market participants. Domestic demand has always played a significant role in China’s economic development. China’s national economic circulation will be dominated by the domestic market in the future, and the country will continue to tap the potential for domestic demand-driven economic development. Second, unlocking the potential for investment plays a key role. A crucial component of production is capital. When it comes to maximizing the supply-side structural reform and creating a new development pattern, maintaining a reasonable growth in investment and concentrating on optimizing the nation’s investment structure are crucial. Some nations are ensnared in a low income or middle income, each of which has its own set of issues, but all have causes for investment stagnation. According to World Bank figures, since the 1980s, the capital creation rate of Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and other nations has essentially dropped below 20%, and the investment stall has also resulted in an economic one.

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In contrast, the capital formation rate of South Korea during the same period was higher than average. It has essentially remained above 30%, indicating that the country is a representative of a country that has escaped the middle-income trap. China’s capital formulation rate has been over 30% ever since the reform and opening up, and it has stayed above 40% even after the global financial crisis in 2008. However, it is still necessary to maintain a specific investment growth rate and continuously improve the investment structure in order to create a new development pattern in the future. It is essential to advance the layout properly now that the time for planning significant national infrastructure has arrived. Third, the optimization of imports and exports is an important direction for development. Long-term trade imbalances between China’s exports and imports and a preference for quantity over quality led to a sizable current account surplus, which the United States used as a pretext for unilaterally igniting trade and economic tensions. In fact, it is common for exports to outpace imports during a time of fast expansion, especially since China serves as a global factory, and for quantity to outweigh quality. But now that the economy is in a new developmental stage, it is no longer possible to concentrate just on boosting exports and raising volume; instead, it is now necessary to boost imports and raise their quality while maintaining exports. China is still at the lower and middle levels of the global industrial and value chains, and mediumand high-tech manufacturing still has a low level of value-added creativity. China will keep improving imports and exports in order to ascend the value chain and move into the industrial chain’s middle and high end.

5 Hasten the Route Selection of a Development Pattern The implementation of a new development pattern is a systematic undertaking that calls for cooperation and coordination between numerous policies. In order to unblock large-scale domestic circulation, the country requires a dual-drive that relies on the supply side of innovation and the demand side to increase domestic demand. Opening to the outside world at a high level is important for supporting domestic and international dual circulation.

5.1 Supply Side from the Domestic Circulation: Maintain Innovation-Driven Development Although China now has the second largest economy in the world, there are still issues such as the bottleneck found in essential key technology. To create an innovationdriven development model, it is vital to unblock major domestic circulations and to adhere to supply-side structural transformation.

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The first step is to define the major orientation of innovation in science and technology. Demand-oriented innovation must be the primary focus of science and technology, especially in light of the country’s immediate and long-term needs. Through a series of reports as early as 2018, the Science and Technology Daily highlighted the 35 essential technical items that were China’s bottleneck including photocopy machines, processors, operating systems, tactile sensors, and vacuum and steaming equipment. The urgent and long-term demands of the nation are on the bottleneck list. It is necessary to convert this list into a list of projects for scientific research. Under the socialist market economy, we must work to exploit the benefits of a new form of national system (the ability to pool resources behind major undertakings + the principles of market economy + the spirit of the national defense scientists) and combat crucial core technologies. The second step is to enhance the technology innovation of China’s enterprises. Making up the major body of innovation, businesses are innovative subjects and micro-foundations that understand their self-reliance. We must build an innovation consortium, encourage all qualified enterprises to collaborate on innovation, and promote in-depth integration of manufacturing, education, research, politics and finance; we must allow the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish and urge businesses to boost investment in research and development with greater efforts on tax privileges. Furthermore, we must support collaborative innovation, in which large-scale businesses and head businesses take the lead. In this approach, small and medium-sized businesses will make significant contributions to innovation, and upstream, middle, and downstream integration and innovation of large and medium-sized businesses in the industrial chain will take shape. We must strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, encourage scientists and businesses to collaborate, and encourage the achievement of innovation results. The third step is to deepen the reform of systems and mechanisms related to science and technology. We must strengthen the employment system, while also focusing on the introduction of talent as well as their cultivation, create high-level talent centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and the Macao Bay Area, and seek to create a dynamic scientific and technology innovation workforce. We must enhance methods for managing, organizing, and evaluating scientific research projects, inspire individuals to focus on innovation through the open competition mechanism for selecting the best candidates to lead research projects, increase financial support for R&D, and increase the autonomy of scientific inquiry. It is necessary for us to develop a financial support system with government investment as the primary emphasis and multi-channel investment from society. There is also a need to develop a financial support system with angel investment, risk investment, stock financing, investment and loan linkage, and other forms of investment.

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5.2 Demand Side from the Domestic Circulation: Expanding Domestic Demand as a Strategic Priority A new development pattern’s establishment is dependent on rising domestic demand, a strategic factor. This rising demand is essential to developing a robust domestic demand system. Next, using the links between consumption, distribution, and circulation, it is vital to continuously improve demand-side management. The first step is to enhance the basic role of consumption links. We must promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional consumption, put a strong emphasis on quality brands, and continuously raise the standard of traditional consumption. We must cultivate new forms of consumption. We must adapt to new consumption trends related to information technology, environmentally friendly practices, health, customization, and diversification as well as gradually encourage and grow new consumption in order to keep up with the reduction of the Engel coefficient and the gradual increase in new consumption expenditure on healthcare, culture and tourism, entertainment, and leisure. To give renewed vigor to consumption, we must continue to cultivate and spread new consumption, promote the integration of online and offline consumption, and encourage the deep integration of online and offline consumption with the strength of what is referred to as Internet+. The second step is to expand the supporting role of the distribution chain. Increasing demand that is compatible with the ability to pay workers is necessary to increase domestic demand, and the distribution link is crucial. The foundational element of socialism and a key component of Chinese development is common prosperity. With the aim of achieving common prosperity, it is essential to encourage fairer and more equitable distribution. We must expand the scope of middle-income groups, focus on college graduates, skilled workers, small- and medium-sized business owners, and individual industrial and commercial homes, as well as migrant workers in cities and civil servants, particularly grassroots frontline civil servants and grassroots employees of state-owned businesses and institutions. It is also necessary to take precise measures and encourage more low-income people to move into middle-class positions. We must strengthen high-income regulation and rationally control excessive income through taxation, charitable giving, clean-up, and rectification. Finally, we need to have a firm crack down on insider trading, stock market manipulation, financial fraud, tax evasion, and other illegal income. The third step is to enhance the supporting role of the circulation link. Since the circulatory system is the “artery” that unblocks the national economic circulation, building a contemporary circulation system ought to be seen as a crucial strategic undertaking. We must strengthen the role of competition policies and encourage the development of a contemporary circulation market in which circulation businesses operate independently and compete fairly, consumers freely choose and consume on their own terms, and goods and factors are freely flown and traded on an equal basis. We must enhance the supply of creative financial products and prioritize the development of financial infrastructure. We must enhance the social credit system’s

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construction, assist various businesses in the circulation link, and encourage the expansion of trade and the modernization of the circulation system.

5.3 Domestic and International Circulation: High-Level Opening Up Building a new development pattern necessitates opening to the outside world at a high level in addition to evening out the domestic circulation in order to promote the dual circulation of goods between the domestic and international markets. The first step is to create a reliable system for upholding the industrial chain’s security in China. Many nations and international corporations are considering reorganizing the industrial chain in response to the current Covid-19 pandemic. Developing a new development pattern must take the security of the industrial chain into account. We must scientifically lay out the industrial chain, define the distinction between key and non-key industries, and ensure the safety of key industries. We must also improve the value chain effectively in order to move the two ends of the value chain toward the “smile curve” by enhancing our core competitiveness. We must make every effort to ensure that the whole supply chain is improved from the standpoint of industrial coordination. To preserve the security of the industrial chain, we must build a protection chain and implement systems for macro-management, coordination services, smooth information flow, risk assessment, forecasting and early warning, and international collaboration. The second step is to encourage opening to the outside world at a high level by producing a Belt and Road program of the highest caliber. The China’s process of opening to the outside world in general began with the rolling out of the Belt and Road. We must encourage the combined construction of the Belt and Road and its high-quality development. We must encourage infrastructure connectivity, carry out significant international initiatives, and increase third-party market cooperation. Furthermore, we must also increase bilateral trade and investment, walk the path of economic globalization and regional economic integration, foster multilateral trade and investment through multilateral cooperation, and establish economic and trade ties along the Belt and Road. Finally, we must strengthen China’s system of diversified investments and financing, fully recognize the crucial role that businesses play in bringing investments in and going out, uphold the values of market orientation and debt sustainability, and foster an environment that is conducive to sustainable international investment. The third step is to create a new system with a higher-level opening of the economy. We must fully utilize crucial tools of reform, encourage more extensive reforms, open China’s economy to a greater degree, and give China’s new development pattern a powerful push. We must advance the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, encourage innovative trade and investment development, and increase the overall competitiveness of China’s trade and investment. We must

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advance reforms to foreign investment, enhance the pre-entry national treatment and negative list management system for foreign investment, and create a fair, orderly, and fully competitive foreign investment and business environment. We must deepen the reform of pilot free trade zones, promote the integration of pilot free trade zone’s laws and mechanisms with the international community, and use the pilot free trade zone and free trade port as a pilot project to establish a new ground for opening China. In terms of opening up to the outside world, the deployment of RCEP marks a new turning point and raises the bar of that effort. We must enthusiastically embrace the RCEP era, create a united domestic and foreign market, encourage institutional opening, and offer resounding support for creating a new development pattern.

Zhang Zhanbin Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, Dean of the School of Marxism, Party School of the Central Committee of CPC (National Academy of Governance).

Vigorously Promoting High-Quality Economic Development in the Western Region Fan Hengshan

Abstract The western region of China, despite its unique physical environment and historical background, lags behind in terms of economic and social development, making it a crucial area for high-quality development. To promote such development, the establishment of six major systems is crucial. These systems must be optimized to improve the soft environment for development and promote the comprehensive efficiency of strategic functional platforms. Moreover, the western region must accelerate the development of distinctive industries and expand the industrial chain by combining new and old infrastructure to generate advanced potential for digital technology development. Despite various internal and external difficulties, the western region’s contribution to China’s stable economic recovery, improvement of people’s lives, and social harmony has been significant. However, the western region still faces several challenges that hinder high-quality development. To overcome these challenges, the western region must improve the soft environment for development, broaden the industrial chain, merge new and old infrastructure, and monitor the requirements for development. By focusing on these key steps, the western region can achieve higher-quality, more efficient, equitable, sustainable, and safer development, thus contributing to the overall development of China. Keywords Western region · High-quality economic development · Modern industrial system · Distinctive industries · Digital technology · Strategic functional platforms

The overall economic and social development of China’s western region has generally lagged behind the rest of the country. It falls under the national high-quality development of the “short board” region. Indeed, promoting high-quality economic growth in the western region holds long-term significance for China and impacts the nation’s overall situation. The establishment of six major systems—a modern industrial system, high-quality urban system, complete market system, sustainable F. Hengshan (B) National Development and Reform Commission, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_4

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green development system, complete social construction system, and high-level open development system—must be the focus for promoting high-quality economic development in this region. We must use advanced regions across the country as benchmarks to further optimize the western region’s soft environment for development. We must closely track development demands and promote strategic functional platforms’ comprehensive efficiency. Furthermore, we must accelerate the development of distinctive industries, expand the industrial chain, and combine new as well as old infrastructure to generate advanced potential for the development of digital technology. The Communist Party of China’s 19th National Congress declared that a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics had begun. The National Congress further stated that China’s economic development had to move from rapid growth to highquality development. Promoting high-quality development is a significant goal that affects both China’s present and the future and has evolved into the main strategy for the nation’s journey toward comprehensive modernization. Twelve provinces in western China constitute more than 71% of the country’s total land area. The general economic and social growth of these provinces, however, remain comparatively behind due to the region’s unique physical environment, historical background, and other factors. Consequently, the area represents China’s uneven and inadequate development and is the “short board” region of high-quality development. The global economy is expected to become further mired in trouble due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, China’s economic and social progress has maintained its speed and registered an astounding growth rate of 2.3%, making it the only major economy to experience positive growth during this time. In 2021, the entire nation implemented the State Council’s and Party Central Committee’s decision and plan. Policies were put in place to tie economic and social development to the prevention and control of epidemics. China’s macroeconomic trend remained solid, reinforced, and optimistic. In the face of difficulties, both internal and external, as well as impacts from regular and abnormal elements, China has maintained stable economic recovery, constant improvement of people’s lives, and social harmony and stability. China’s western region has contributed greatly to this, yet China’s development, nevertheless, remains dire and complex. Indeed, the path to high-quality development is littered with thorns and obstacles. The western region must be viewed as a priority and taken seriously for development because of its developing economy, large territory, and greater hazards than other areas.

1 Promoting High-Quality Economic Development in the Western Region Is Significant The party has developed a two-step strategic plan that is rooted in accomplishing a broader three-step strategic aim. In 2021, China undertook a new journey for the comprehensive creation of a contemporary socialist nation after having established

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a moderately prosperous society. In the long run, it will be crucial for the western region to implement high-quality economic development as the region’s state impacts China’s overall situation. Given the actual state of affairs in the country, it can be argued that China will only truly succeed when the western region has achieved prosperity; without high-quality development in the western region, China as a whole will be unable to secure high-quality development. There are four reasons for this relationship between the western region’s success and the nation’s overall development. First, substantial development in China is connected to the western region’s highquality economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping underlined the need to coordinate the overall task of revitalizing China and face the enormous, once-ina-century changes happening in the world in order to advance high-quality growth. The only way to rejuvenate China is high-quality development. The degree and quality of the western region’s development have implications for China’s development overall. This region is vast in size, possessing land that makes up more than 90% of the country’s total area. It occupies a crucial strategic location. Furthermore, it serves as an essential hub for the Belt and Road Initiative, a strategic node for China’s growth, and a crucial region for fusing development and security. Development in the western region has made remarkable advancements in the 20 years since the government implemented the Strategy for Large-scale Development of Western China. However, as scientific and technological revolutions and industrial change in the world accelerate, domestic transformation and development shifted toward increasingly intense and fierce regional competition, thus exposing the issues and contradictions the western region faces in its path to development. Overall, the western region’s growth rate has slowed in recent years, and transformation and development have unfolded in a relatively gradual manner. The region’s new economy, new kinetic energy, and new industries are not yet experiencing the same scale and degree of development as what is being seen in China’s eastern and central regions. Indeed, regional divergence has grown more pronounced, and the provincial economic development gap is wider. Nevertheless, the western region possesses tremendous growth potential. High-quality economic development not only is of value to the western region, but also is key to the nation’s overall modernization effort and transformation. In the overall context of China’s grand revitalization strategy, we must view highquality economic development in the western region as a key issue and maintain a sharp focus on it. Second, the prosperity of citizens throughout China is linked to the high-quality economic development of the western region. The original goal of the Chinese Communists was rooted in promoting people’s happiness. Achieving common prosperity represent the essential requirements of socialism as well as a widespread expectation among the populace, according to General Secretary Xi Jinping. The Communist Party of China’s Fifth Plenary Session stated that in 2035, more obvious and significant progress should be achieved in providing for the common prosperity of all people. It was also stated that China will essentially realize this goal of common prosperity in 2050. The western region of China is situated on the northwest side of the Hu Huanyong line and features a strong concentration of ethnic minorities.

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The region struggles with relatively poor development, and there is a growing gap between the western and eastern regions. Since the implementation of Strategy for Large-scale Development of Western China, the per capita disposable income of inhabitants in the western region has witnessed rapid expansion, 15.48 times that of 1999 in 2019 (3,472 yuan in 1999); however, at 3,472 yuan, it is still visibly low, compared to China’s eastern and central regions. The per capita income in the western region, however, is much lower than that of the eastern and central regions, accounting for less than 40% of the eastern region in 1999 and less than 61% in 2019. The economic disparity of residents in the western region between provinces, between urban and rural areas, and between industries is also evident. Infrastructure and public services are two sectors of the western region’s societal and civil domains that have long been regarded as having shortcomings. The cornerstone for people’s prosperity is economic progress. In light of this, it will be challenging to attain widespread prosperity for all citizens of the nation without high-quality economic development in the western region. Third, the western region’s high-quality economic development is crucial for maintaining national ecological security. The CPC Central Committee places a high priority on the western region’s ecological security. When General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Qinghai in 2016, he highlighted the importance of ecological environmental conservation and ecological civilization construction as the two pillars of China’s sustainable development. The creation of a robust ecological security barrier for all of China requires Qinghai to prioritize the construction of an ecological civilization. A Guideline on Advancing the Development of Western Regions in New Era to Promote Coordinated Regional Development published in 2020 stressed that it was essential to accelerate the development of the stunning western region and construct a robust, nationwide ecological security barrier. Generally speaking, the western region is in the middle of its industrialization process, and development is a highly challenging undertaking. At the same time, the western region’s environment is particularly vulnerable, and ecological construction and protection are highly demanding endeavors. Considered independently, ecological preservation and economic growth are not difficult to achieve; yet, striking the proper balance between the two is no easy task. A persistent issue for the western region’s highquality development is the overall planning and organic integration necessary to accomplish sustainable growth. Solving this is significant both practically and historically. It will demonstrate Chinese wisdom and present the world with the pinnacle of human achievement. Fourth, the high-quality economic development of the western region is related to the establishment of a new development pattern. Based on the profound changes in China’s stage of development as well as its the internal and external environmental conditions, the Party Central Committee made a significant strategic decision to produce a new growth pattern that simultaneously promotes domestic large-scale circulation and domestic and international dual circulation. Thoroughly integrating and coordinating the area’s four key sectors are essential to hastening the creation of China’s new development pattern. The western region currently struggles with both slow and insufficient development, as well as its unsuitable business environment and

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limited degree of globalization. Overall, the region seemingly only plays a small and insufficient role in creating a new development pattern for China, and it falls short of the prerequisites for accelerating the establishment of this new pattern. Promoting high-quality economic growth in the western region primarily entails facilitating this western region’s full integration into the new national development pattern and active involvement in the double cycle of the domestic and international economies. Doing so will further advance the market-oriented reform of factors. That development will also serve as an additional lifeline for the domestic economy, particularly in the western region itself and will encourage the free flow of resources, technology, talent, and other factors between regions. The promotion of this region’s high-quality economic growth will accelerate the pace of opening up the western region to the outside world. This will allow the region to become the frontier of China’s openness to the outside world and a focal point for open development. In this regard, speeding up the high-quality economic growth of the western region is also a crucial step that needs to be taken in China to quicken the creation of a new development pattern.

2 Concentrate on Developing Six Key Systems to Achieve High-Quality Economic Development in the Western Region What forms of high-quality development should be implemented in the western region? The answer will vary depending on the person. Some academics contend that we should concentrate on maximizing late-developing advantage and gaining innovative leadership; other people stress the need to concentrate on improving the region’s business climate and boosting its talent attraction. Some individuals argue for concentrating on high-level industrial development platforms and increasing the area’s industrial carrying capacity, while still others contend we should concentrate on encouraging opening up, building a border economic belt, and creating an open highland in the new era. It has also been argued that we should work to improve the western region’s institutional framework and its level of green development, among other things. These observations are significant and helpful in advancing the western region’s high-quality development. According to General Secretary Xi Jinping, high-quality development is a form of growth that can effectively meet the populace’s growing demands for a better quality of life. It exemplifies a new development concept. It is where innovation becomes a primary motivating factor for growth, and coordination becomes an internal characteristic. Environmentally friendly practices become the standard, and openness becomes the preferred approach. In this form of development, sharing becomes the primary goal. Based on the actual situation of the western region, the western region should, in my opinion, further prioritize six elements based on a systematic concept and overall thinking, or, to put it another way, we must concentrate on creating the six key systems.

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First, build a modern industrial system. The cornerstone of high-quality economic development is the contemporary industrial system. The level of industrial development in most parts of the western region is insufficient. Therefore, the entire industrial system needs to be improved in alignment with the standards of high-quality development. We must start with actual conditions, such as the region’s advantages, resource endowments, and characteristic industries in order to construct a contemporary industrial system in the western region. This goes beyond simply understanding the characteristics of building a modern economic system. We should also focus on researching the customs and practices that are specific to the western region. For instance, in order to encourage economic development, we must work effectively in traditional and modern manufacturing sectors. We should also engage in productive services modern agriculture, modern secondary and tertiary industries, the industrial chain (upstream, midstream, and downstream) and regional productivity layouts that promote convergence, mutual synergy, optimization, and upgrades to the region. We must engage in relevant studies that assess the real situation in the western region in addition to understanding and reflecting the common regular requirements to promote the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure in the region. What characterizes the western region’s industries generally? What traits do the 12 provinces share? How can we create an industrial system that complies with general legislation, the features of the western region, and the characteristics of various provinces while also meeting the demands of the era of a new wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial changes? After resolving these concerns, we may then move on to target and concentrate on research to produce meaningful outcomes. Second, build a high-quality urban system. Modernization goes hand-in-hand with urbanization. As such, high-quality economic development is impossible without a high-quality urban system. In 2020, China’s urbanization level was 63.89% by resident population and 45.4% by household population. The western part of China possesses more potential for urbanization. In Yunnan and Guizhou, the urban population registration rates in 2020 were 37% and 41.68%, respectively. Only 35.73% of Tibet’s permanent population was urbanized as of 2020. It is especially important to pay attention to the development of urban agglomerations and core cities. In a related article, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted that the central cities and urban agglomerations are increasingly serving as the primary form for carrying elements of development as the economic growth space in China undergoes fundamental changes. According to the Report on the Integration of Urban Agglomerations in China published by the China Development Research Foundation in 2019, 12 provincial new urban agglomerations made up 82.03% of the national proportion, while 12 new interprovincial urban agglomerations in the nation account for 82.03% of the GDP, with the Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta exceeding 40%. Nine major city clusters, including Chengdu-Chongqing, the Guanzhong Plain, and the Beibu Gulf, have been formed in the western region. However, there are clear differences in how each city cluster has developed. One will find a high level of industrial homogeneity within the city clusters and a network of interconnected infrastructure that require improvement. There has yet to be a

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complete and efficient cooperation mechanism established, and these clusters lack internal momentum for regional synergistic development. At the Central Finance and Economics Committee’s sixth meeting in January 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to advance Chengdu’s Shuangcheng Economic Circle construction and establish the western region as a key growth pole for high-quality development. Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, and other cities were urged to accelerate construction of international portal hubs, according to the Guideline on Advancing the Development of Western Regions in New Era to Promote Coordinated Regional Development published in May 2020. To encourage the high-quality development of the entire western region, we should support the free flow and optimal allocation of production factors including capital, technology, skills, and labor. We must also improve the agglomeration and leadership roles of metropolitan regions or city clusters. Urban development cannot follow the “big cakes” model in the western region due to several constraints, including topography, terrain, and ecology. Large, medium, and small cities must all be developed in tandem, with an emphasis on strengthening small and medium cities and organic integration with the promotion of rural rejuvenation. Third, build a sound market system. Since China’s reform and opening-up, the country has focused on understanding how to better utilize the market’s deciding role and the government’s function in resource allocation. At a private enterprise seminar in July 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that market entities are the biggest contributors to economic activities in China, the main source of employment possibilities, and key supporters of technical advancement. A market entity plays a critical role in the development of the country. The western region’s high-quality development should pay more attention to encouraging the growth of market entity vitality. The business climate is a clear indicator of the degree of cultivation of the market system. Chongqing and Chengdu in the western region ranked in the top 10, and Xi’an was in the top 20, according to a report on the business climate of 296 cities in China in 2020 jointly published by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Research Institute and the 21st Century Business Research Institute. A total of 8 cities were in the top 50, and all 8 cities were provincial capitals. In contrast, up to 25 non-provincial cities in the eastern area have made it into the top 50 cities in the country in terms of their business climates. We must work to foster a social environment that will support innovation and entrepreneurship as well as the expansion of these activities across the board. It is a practical need to promote the high-quality economic development of the western region. Fourth, create a system for green, sustainable development. The new development model places a strong emphasis on green development. The western region’s highquality growth must follow the path of green development. China’s cities were home to around 900 million permanent residents in 2020, but more than 280 million of them are migrant laborers from other parts of China, according to the results of the seventh national census. Urban residents consume nearly twice as much per person as migrant laborers do. If China’s citizenization rate of rural migrants rises to 80% in the future, there will be at least 550 million additional urban citizens (with 2035 as the forecast year). Even at today’s per capita industrialization levels for Japan and South Korea,

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China’s industrial scale will be more than twice as large, and its future development will be subject to severe resource and environmental constraints. “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized. “To protect the environment is to protect the productive forces; to improve the environment is to boost the productive forces.” In general, the ecology of the western region is vulnerable. It will be necessary to adjust its industrial structure, bolster the region’s science and technology, enhance the organization of productive forces, and advance the adoption of industrial ecology and ecological industrialization. More innovative thinking is required as we work to build and enhance ecological financial compensation, ecological markets, and ecological support structures. Fifth, create a solid framework for social construction. Economic development shouldn’t be the goal in and of itself; rather, it should be used to advance social progress and quality of life for all. The western region’s social construction typically lags behind the rest of China and still has many weak points, including an overall lack of educational and medical resources, unequal distribution, and the dual issue of shortages and idleness. It is important to connect the consolidation of successes in poverty reduction with rural revitalization strategies. The degree of social construction and economic progress are, to a significant extent, correlated. Therefore, a crucial component of high-quality economic development in the western region should also be the creation of a solid social construction system. Sixth, build a high-level open development system. Since the reform and openingup, an essential experience in the economic development of China has been coordinating domestic and international resources along with domestic and international markets. The gateway to the outside world will continue to open wider in the new era. It is impossible to accomplish high-quality development in the western region without opening up to the outside world to a considerable degree. With the Belt and Road Initiative, the western region is now leading the way in opening up to the outside world, which presents a chance for the region to experience high-quality development. The western region should pay particular attention to several crucial concerns as it opens up at a high level, such as how to activate significant international logistics channels, how to construct various significant opening platforms, and how to accelerate institutional opening-up. To reach the ideal of inclusivity and cooperation, we must integrate our individual realities, venture forth in faith, practice what we learn, and work hard.

3 Some Issues with the Western Region’s High-Quality Economic Development General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that our Party’s efforts to lead the people in carrying out revolution, economic development, and reform initiatives have always been aimed at resolving China’s practical problems. He emphasized the need for strengthening awareness of problems and focusing on the big issues. In order to

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advance the resolution of a number of unresolved contradictions and concerns affecting China’s growth, we should focus our attention on the main subjects for further research and consideration. We must concentrate on solidifying the foundation, leveraging our strengths and tackling areas of weaknesses if we are to promote high-quality development. The western region’s development is characterized by a number of beneficial factors, but there are also some glaring problems that will demand significant effort. We must pay attention to and address the following shortcomings in particular as they impede high-quality development. First, the western region has a relatively low capacity for economic independence and innovation. Innovation-driven economic development is a dynamic mechanism as well as a clear characteristic of high-quality economic development. Spending on scientific and technical innovation serves as a crucial determinant of innovation capabilities. The national R&D expenditure in 2019 was 2,214.36 billion yuan, with the eastern region accounting for 66% and the central region for 17.47%. The western region was just 12.91%, substantially less than the share of its entire economic production in the country’s GDP (21%), according to data from the China Statistical Yearbook on Science and Technology. In terms of the costs associated with innovation for industrial businesses larger than the required size, the eastern and central region regions spent 1,475.06 billion yuan and 437.07 billion yuan in 2019, respectively, yet China’s western region only spent 277.68 billion yuan. This region makes up 11.97% of the country’s total, which is less than the total amount spent on R&D. In terms of businesses that continue to operate at an advanced level within their respective industries, the proportion of businesses in the eastern, central, and western regions that continue to operate at or above the international leading level within their respective industries is 6.2%, 4.5%, and 4.2%, respectively. The proportion in the western region is the lowest, coming in at 18.6% as opposed to 21.2% in the eastern region, and 20.0% in the central region. From the perspective of provinces (cities), Sichuan, Chongqing, and Shaanxi had the biggest investment in innovation by industrial businesses over a defined size, accounting for 53.5% of all related expenditures in the western area in 2019, while the other nine provinces accounted for less than half of this total. Second, the region’s investment efficiency is relatively low. Since the western region lacks the capacity for independent innovation, its economic growth is based mostly on investment-driven factor input and the scale expansion of old sectors, a strategy that is becoming increasingly unsustainable. From 2017 to 2019, the western region’s fixed asset investment made up 26–27% of the total for the country, with 26.68% in 2017, 26.12% in 2018, and 26.16% in 2019. The western region’s GDP represented 20.0%, 20.47%, and 20.82% of the national total from 2017 to 2019. The proportion of fixed asset investment in the nation is much larger than the proportion of regional GDP in the nation, showing the economy of the west region’s clear reliance on investment. The issue is that the western region’s investment returns are far lower than those in the eastern region. Since capital seeks profit, this circumstance will surely have a detrimental effect on the entrance of social capital to the western region, preventing the development of industries there. The industries in the western region create a lock-in effect at the middle and low ends of the value chain to some

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extent. This issue of heavy dependence on investment must be resolved in order to unlock the medium and low end of this market. Furthermore, it is also necessary to increase investment efficiency, which is also a crucial step in fostering high-quality economic development in the western region. Third, the western region has a relatively low level of openness. The trifecta of investment, consumption, and exports is what propels economic expansion. In terms of exports, the western region’s imports and exports combined only made up 8.56% of the country’s total in 2019, with exports making up 8.95% and imports 8.1%. This is significantly less than the region’s share of the national GDP (21%) for the same year. In contrast, the eastern region accounts for 80.63% of the entire import and export volume of the nation, which is much larger than the region’s share of the national GDP (51.9%). In terms of exploiting external resources and external markets, there is obviously still a lot of potential in the western region. The eastern region’s experience should be taken into consideration as we work to promote institutional opening, deepen international collaboration, scale up exports, and support regional economic growth. Fourth, differentiation within the region is evident. In a 2016 article, I noted that while the western region’s total development rate was quick, there was clear regional differentiation. The southwest region tends to demonstrate generally stronger development than the northwest region, which is influenced by factors including the natural environment, population density, and distance from established coastal areas. Since 2016, this differentiation has persisted. Yunnan, Guizhou, and Tibet have consistently had one of the top three economic growth rates in the nation since 2017. The northwest region is primarily in the bottom rung of growth rates, whereas Chongqing, Sichuan, and Guangxi are consistently among the top 10 in the nation for economic growth rates. This differentiation truly highlights the disparities in the western region’s development strategies, kinetic energy, and potential. The need for high-quality development is especially pressing in the northwest region due to its weak development foundation, limited investment in innovation, low population density, and more vulnerable ecosystem. The majority of industries in the northwest region were founded thanks to the availability of natural resources, and some regions have also introduced industrial projects that have significant energy requirements, high pollution levels, and high emissions. Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia had energy consumption rates per 10,000 yuan of GDP in 2019 that were much higher than the country’s average (0.49 tons of standard coal/10,000 yuan). In 2019, the amount of energy consumed in Inner Mongolia and Ningxia per 10,000 yuan of GDP increased by 4.49% and 1.19%, respectively. For the western area, especially the northwest region, to have high-quality economic growth, it is crucial to adjust and optimize the industrial structure as well as to promote industrial transformation and upgrading. Fifth, gaps remain in ecological construction that must be closed. Upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Pearl River, and other major rivers in China are located in Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Tibet, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, and other western provinces. Qinghai and Tibet are significant water sources for China. Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Guizhou feature incredibly delicate ecologies. In China,

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the Shaanxi-Gansu Loess Plateau should actively control soil erosion, and Inner Mongolia is a significant source for preventing and controlling sandstorms. Environmental protection, energy efficiency, and ecological construction are given top priority by provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in the central and western regions. In western region provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), the average ratio of spending on environmental protection and energy efficiency to GDP in 2019 was 1.01%, which was much higher than the national average (0.75%). The region has undertaken numerous significant ecological conservation and construction initiatives that have been widely distributed. Additionally, the provinces belonging to the western region have poor economies, and the region’s ecological construction presents a steep challenge. Examples of the difficulties the region faces includes the degradation of grasslands and desertification of the land in Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, and other regions; the low rate of forest cover in the northwest, and the lack of surface water and desertification of the rocky landscape in Guizhou and Yunnan. Effective governance of any of these issues demands substantial effort. For the entire nation and the future, the ecological construction of the western region is a matter of great significance. Sixth, there is still room for improvement in the institutional soft environment. The prerequisite and fundamental support for promoting and ensuring high-quality growth is a solid institutional system. In the provinces of the western area, there are still numerous institutional and mechanical barriers with regard to this soft environment. The government performance appraisal system is unjust, and there are barriers to innovation, the resource environment, improvements to people’s livelihood improvement, and structural optimization. For instance, some regions’ economic policies are more likely to encourage production than innovation and are therefore more likely to encourage quantitative expansion than quality improvement, which is not powerful. According to the 2020 Business Environment Report of China’s 296 Cities at the Prefectural Level and Above, there are only 10 cities from China’s western region that ranked top 50 under the “soft environment” category. I learned from media sources that the Western Region (Chongqing) Science City took the lead in introducing the “three-in-one” EIA approval system reform in the nation in November 2020 in order to optimize and improve its business environment. Water and soil conservation plans, evidence of sewage outfalls into rivers (lakes and reservoirs), and three other similar approval items were combined for review and approval at one time, reducing the number of application materials required from businesses by 63 and shortening the approval process by 720 working days. Similar instances abound throughout the western region. Despite the region’s objective and inherent inadequacies, a great institutional environment can be produced with intentional effort. There is a complex web of causes that have led to the aforementioned shortcomings’ preventing the western region from developing in a high-quality manner. From a historical perspective, the industrialization of the western region began much later, had a weak foundation, and took place over a short period of time. Additionally, most of the industries are at the middle and low ends of the value chain. In terms of the region’s development conditions, it has a relatively low population

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density. Many places lack even the most basic means of production and habitation, and there is a severe dearth of skills and resources, as well as a significant strain on the environment and natural resources. In terms of management system development, the western region not only lags behind with regard to overall system construction, but also urgently needs to establish and upgrade specific systems like resource development and ecological compensation. Undoubtedly, there are further ideological issues. These challenges compel us to expand our horizons even further, strengthen our position, and ponder the issues. I’ve noted that the Research Report on High-quality Economic Development in Western China (2021) also has extensive and focused research on this front. In addition to conducting an overall analysis in the section titled “Weaknesses and Reasons for High-quality Development of the Western Economy,” it also examines the shortcomings of 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and 14 major industries in the sections titled “Industry Section” and “Regional Section,” respectively. Although difficult, this is the task before us to complete.

4 Important Steps for High-Quality Economic Growth in the Western Region We need to know where to go and how to get there if we are to promptly and effectively support the high-quality economic growth of the western region. First, advanced regions should be used as benchmarks to further optimize the development of the soft environment. As mentioned earlier, the soft environment is a weakness of the western region in terms of quality development. The disparity is even wider when compared to developed areas like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. It should be noted that while the differences between the western region and the eastern and central regions in terms of the soft and hard environments are quite clear, issues with the soft environment, such as ideologies, management systems, and operating mechanisms, are more pronounced. It should also be noted that the western region has inherent weaknesses such as a poor foundation for development, a poor ecological carrying capacity, a lack of capital, and a lack of technology. As a result, it must establish an edge by fostering a soft environment that can effectively gather and utilize high-quality resources. This suggests that the western region’s main priority should be improving the development environment, particularly the soft environment. The following should be the objectives for improving the soft environment: Internally, we must encourage the entire society to be enthusiastic and take initiative in the realms of innovation and entrepreneurship. Externally, we must work hard to attract various innovation resources from outside regions to accelerate the inflow and efficient aggregation. One way to maximize the receptive environment for development in the western region is by encouraging innovation in important sectors in accordance with international norms and cutting-edge local practices. We must start by creating a system of policies and regulations that is equitable, open,

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and sustainable. Then, we must enhance the structure of the governance and the management strategies based on the delivery of the best services. Second, we must build a strong market credit system, improve social and governmental credit, and uphold justice and fairness in the marketplace. We must focus on making significant progress in a few major areas of concern across the board as well as in challenging areas that will take time to resolve. With this as our foundation, we should gradually resolve pervasive issues within the system and achieve overall optimization of the soft environment. Second, we should broaden the industrial chain and accelerate the growth of distinctive industries. As has already been noted, the creation of a modern industrial system is a crucial undertaking for the superior growth of the western region and is of paramount importance. Fully utilizing its own resources and strengthening its defining industries are key components in the development of a modern industrial system in the western region. Characteristic industries have comparative advantages, are competitive in the market, and are also useful as a starting ground. One of the key factors that has contributed to the western region’s recent rapid development is their decision to take a novel path toward distinctive development. However, we still need to focus on the development of distinctive industries and make this a priority if we are to improve and strengthen the entire economy to advance the Large-scale Development of Western China and establish a new pattern. We can concentrate on two things: The first step is to encourage integrated development and widen the typical industry system. We must increase the integration of characteristic resources and modern technology, as well as promote the clustering and modern growth of characteristic industries. We must also promote the deep integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, as well as the transformation and improvement of the industrial and value chains of agricultural and animal husbandry. We must support Internet+; further develop the benefits of the local ecology, ethnic folklore, and border scenery into new economies and industries; invest in scenic areas, border tourism pilot zones, and the development and opening of cooperation pilot zones; promote travel and leisure, health and wellness, cultural and creative services; and establish significant pillar industries in the area. The second step is to innovate the operation mechanism and enhance the value of special resources. The western region has distinct advantages in terms of the ecology, energy sources, and mineral resources, among other things. It should actively explore the establishment of an inter-regional benefit compensation or balance coordination mechanism and promote the transformation in an efficient way. We may also collectively create distinctive parks and create a “enclave economy” with high standards and high value through regional cooperation. Third, we need to merge new and outdated infrastructure and position ourselves for the advancement of digital technology. Digital technology is quickly becoming an essential symbol and focused embodiment of a new wave of scientific and technological change. Whichever region seizes the helm of the digital economy and technology also seizes the top spot in terms of economic development. It is important to understand that the use of digital technology has lessened the reliance of regions on historical environments and natural conditions. It is able to transcend

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the true regional development drivers and locations to reconstruct their economic systems. Digital technology creates the fundamental conditions for the cross-regional utilization of resource factors, thus further helping regions strengthen their comparative advantages and providing opportunities for lagging regions to develop new economies, enhance new dynamics, and realize synchronous or even superior development when compared with advanced regions. Old infrastructure construction in the western region was delayed for a long time due to factors such as location, environment, and capacity. However, in recent years, construction efforts have been steadily and strategically expanding, and the region’s gap with the eastern region has shrunk significantly. With the advancement of digital technology, the degree to which the old infrastructure restrains economic growth has decreased substantially. The outdated infrastructure has been merged with the new infrastructure so that they support one another. The growth of both the new and old infrastructure should be supported by the western region as a whole. We must work harder to keep up with, or even try to outpace, the advanced eastern region in terms of new infrastructure, such as 5G technology and digital technology. At the same time, we can deploy the old infrastructure to compensate for current shortcomings and help advance the digital economy. Guizhou is an excellent example. Guizhou has recently made the most of its unique advantages by actively developing big data, big health, and big tourism industries and by combining infrastructure development with traditional industry transformation and upgrading. Its economic growth rate has maintained its position as the nation’s highest. The previous economic structure gradually gave way to a new structure as a result of the transition from an underdeveloped province to one that now occupies a commanding height in economic development. This fact demonstrates how underdeveloped regions can outperform developed ones in an era of economic globalization, market integration, and information accessibility by seizing opportunities, utilizing innovation, accumulation, and transplantation, leveraging top-notch public resources and the sharing economy, transcending traditional economic bases, and developing new economies and new dynamic forces. This is a crucial prerequisite for developing nations to function autonomously in the modern world. Fourth, we should closely monitor the requirements for development and encourage the strategic functional platform’s overall effectiveness. The diverse strategic functional platforms embodied in new districts, free trade zones, and open pilot zones are not only innovative bases for early and pilot implementation, but also serve as demonstration windows for leading economic development and major transporters for the high concentration of creative resources and elements. It has been demonstrated that the design and use of large functional platforms are invariably advantageous to regions with a high level of growth. Comparatively speaking, the western region still has weak strategic support, and the platform is not being used to its full potential. To accelerate the formation of a new pattern for the Large-scale Development of Western China, the role of strategic functional platforms must be utilized and displayed. First, we should pay close attention to strategic trends, frontier development, and future development and actively work to construct more strategic platforms in the western region. Second, we should base our actions on resolving

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actual conflicts, conduct significant development and reform tasks, and independently create distinctive and high-quality functional platforms. Third, we need to improve our collaboration with advanced regions, extend existing useful platforms to the western region, or work together to develop new ones. These partnerships will allow us to retain the continuity of innovation while continuously absorbing new experiences produced by developed regions. By using developed regions as a benchmark and avoiding the pitfalls that they have taken, we can accomplish both goals at once. Despite a late entrance, we can take this as an opportunity to catch up to the already advanced characteristics of the eastern region in institutional innovation and other areas. Promoting the western economy’s high-quality development is an enormously significant, yet also challenging, undertaking. We need to focus our efforts and put in the hard work. To achieve higher-quality, more efficient, equitable, sustainable, and safer development in the western region, we must continue to advance quality, efficiency, and power reforms with scientific concepts, potent measures, and adaptable skill.

Fan Hengshan Doctor in Economics, Senior Economist, Professor. Former Deputy Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Innovation: The First Driving Force to Lead Development Guan Chenghua

Abstract The Chinese economy is currently undergoing a transition from a phase of high-speed growth to one of high-quality development, with innovation-driven progress becoming increasingly crucial. In this new historical stage, innovation is viewed as a necessary condition for creating a modern nation and a significant undertaking for putting into practice the new development idea and creating a new development pattern. However, to fully grasp the potential of innovation, it is necessary to define it and explore its essence. Innovation should go beyond the development of new technologies, business models, and cultural systems; it should be value-oriented, addressing social issues brought on by growth. Exploration is a crucial aspect of innovation, involving venturing into uncharted territory with no guide or set of rules to follow. To innovate through exploration, an entrepreneurial and pragmatic mindset is necessary. Entrepreneurship and pragmatism describe individuals who possess an innovative spirit and are willing to take risks to achieve their goals. However, China’s innovation progress has been inadequate, with underlying reasons lying in culture, system, customs, and ecology. To progress from needle points to match heads or little wooden sticks, there is a need to foster a practical culture, practicalism, and entrepreneurial spirit. Keywords China · Innovation · High-quality development · Entrepreneurial spirit · Practical culture · Value-oriented · Uncharted territory

The Chinese economy is currently transitioning from a high-speed growth phase to a high-quality development phase and is at a key juncture in transforming its mode of development, optimizing its economic structure, and switching to new drivers of growth. During the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China has entered a new stage of growth, and both the internal and external development environments are undergoing significant and complex changes. Since relying solely on

G. Chenghua (B) Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_5

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factor-driven growth is unsustainable, future development trends will be innovationdriven. General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear that “China’s economic and social development and improvement of people’s living standards require scientific and technological innovation solutions more than ever, and it is even more crucial to boost innovation, which is the utmost fundamental force driving development and improvement.” In this new historical period, governments at all levels must thoroughly execute the innovation-driven development strategy, insist on taking innovation as the initial driving force to guide development, fully comprehend and understand the new situation and challenges, accelerate the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, and encourage greater achievements in building an innovation country and a powerful country in science and technology. This is a necessary condition for the creation of a modern nation and a significant undertaking to put the new development idea into practice and establish a new development pattern. In light of this, it is necessary to first understand and define innovation in its entirety.

1 Origin of Innovation 1.1 Innovation’s Etymology in Mandarin Chinese In 2014, in his speech at the 17th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the 12th Academicians Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, General Secretary Xi pointed out that “the Chinese nation is a nation full of innovative spirit. As our ancestors have suggested earlier on, ‘Although Zhou was an ancient state, it had a reform mission’; ‘As heaven maintains vigor through constant movement, a gentleman should continually strive for self-perfection’; ‘If you can improve yourself in a day, do so each day, forever building on improvement.’” In “Daxue” of the Book of Rites, it was stated that “On the bathing tub of Tang, words as follows were engraved: ‘If you can improve yourself in a day, do so each day, forever building on improvement.’ In the ‘Announcement to the Prince of Kang’ (of the Book of Documents), it is said, ‘to improve the people’. In the Book of Poetry, it is said, ‘Although Zhou was an ancient state, it had a reform mission.’” Here, ‘improvement’ and ‘new’ can collectively be regarded as a form of innovation, which are among the first records of the concept. ‘Innovation’ is not a word in ancient Chinese writing; rather, it is a phrase composed of the characters chuang (beginning) and xin (new), which means to initiate new things or new acts. Although Chinese had been talking about innovation for some time, the words ‘innovation’ and ‘new’ were often used to denote something negative, hence their uncommon usage in ancient China. For a long time, innovation was considered a pejorative term. Since the Qin Dynasty, the state had prioritized centralization and unification, and inventiveness had been progressively waning. It was especially challenging for new ideas to be realized during the Western

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Han Dynasty, when the “hundreds of schools of philosophies were abolished, and only Confucianism was revered.” Later, ‘innovation’ was occasionally mentioned in a few literary works. For instance, it is said that Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Song Dynasty (453– 464) was deeply saddened by the passing of his beloved concubine Consort Yin, and some ministers capitalized on this by advocating a change in the set of etiquette so that Consort Yin could have her own temple for veneration. According to the History of the Southern Dynasties, “Zhongzi is not Lu Hui’s eldest son but still has to be examined in a separate palace. Today, the imperial concubine should be innovative.” In addition, the Book of Wei (published in 554) recorded to “abolish the inappropriate and innovate”, the Book of Zhou (published in 636) recorded to “innovate and change the old”, and Kang Youwei described in his Book of Great Unity written in 1902 an innovative country, where “those who establish new principles will be considered sage-like and wise, those who establish new methods will be considered clever and ingenious, and those who establish new benefits will be considered intelligent and sagacious”, and its populace “all aim to be an innovator, with no other ambitions and no second thoughts.” China started conducting research on innovation in the 1990s, after progressively embracing the concept of innovation in the 1980s. In fact, I first encountered the term ‘innovation’ in 1998. In his speech commemorating the centennial of Peking University, then-President Jiang Zemin made numerous references to ‘innovation’. Today, innovation is traditionally seen as the cornerstone of the nation’s overall progress.

1.2 Innovation’s Etymology in English In 2010, I moved to the United States, which has been consistently ranked as the most inventive country in the world, to begin a five-year visiting program. When I first arrived in the country, a neighbor who had heard about my research on innovation brought me a biography of John Adams, the country’s second president, along with the phrase “the early innovator founding father” on a sticky note. The author of the biography stated, “I know when one speaks of innovation, they typically refer to technological inventions. But when Americans talk about innovation, they see such folks as the early innovators.” Intriguingly, the ‘founding father’ he referred to in his note was the group of people who signed the Declaration of Independence and founded the country, and not George Washington, whom we may have thought of when we heard the term. In American literature, in Addition to founding fathers, there are also founding mothers. The Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, and the Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, are regarded by Americans to be the three most revolutionary American innovations. The term ‘innovation’ is frequently used in the United States, as its history of wealth is one of innovative individuals. This idea is explained in better detail in

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Harold Evans’ book They Made America, in which he used 53 different examples from the 200 years of American history, from steam engines to search engines, to illustrate the tales of innovation. It is important to note that Evans stated in his introduction that Americans actually pay more attention to innovation in the fields of politics and society than in the field of practical invention, and that “Silicon Valley is covering every corners of America, and Amazon and Facebook are constantly popping up” is not exhaustive. Innovation had long played a negative role in the West, much like it did in ancient China. It was used to express criticism rather than admiration. For instance, the deep divisions and sectarian struggles in European Christianity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to significant theological reforms. Accused of being ‘innovators’, scores of people have been imprisoned during this process, and even had their ears amputated. The term innovation was first used in the nineteenth century in the sphere of science and industry to meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution for development. However, at that time, ‘invention’ was used more frequently, especially in a technical context. Governments’ strong support for the establishment of laboratories and scientific and technological research and development, and the fact that technological inventions came to be the focus of societal attention, were key to the rise of consumer culture during this period. It was not until American-Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter, an indispensable figure in economics and innovation research, that innovation was truly introduced into contemporary academia. In 1910, Schumpeter wrote an essay in the Journal of the University of Vienna entitled On the Nature of Economic Crises, in which he first suggested that “economic changes emerge from innovation”. In 1912, he published The Theory of Economic Development, in which he developed the theory of innovation. In 1939, he published Business Cycles: A Theoretical, Historical, and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process, in which he systematically explored the theory of innovation. As a result, ‘innovation’ started to garner significant attention in the area of economics. The analysis of capitalism, which brings inventions with rich economic consequences, is the fundamental basis of Schumpeter’s theory of innovation. The two that stand out as the most important are innovation and entrepreneurship. His definition of innovation is the introduction of a “new combination” of new production elements and production circumstances into the production system in order to accomplish a ‘new combination’ of production factors or production conditions, such as the adoption of a new product, the adoption of a new production method, the opening of a new market, the appropriation or control of a new source of supply of raw materials or semi-finished products, or the realization of a new organization of any sort. Schumpeter also redefined entrepreneurs. In his opinion, entrepreneurs are the primary source of innovation, which is the fundamental purpose of an enterprise. The primary driver of innovation is the existence of a potential benefit to society, with the goal of achieving the benefit being the main objective of innovation. Consequently, successful entrepreneurs must have the ability to repurpose manufacturing elements, the vision to foresee potential gains, and the confidence to take calculated risks.

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Entrepreneurial innovation is motivated not only by the pursuit of profit, but also by an entrepreneurial spirit. According to Schumpeter, entrepreneurship is fueled by innovation, which not only reduces the value of fixed assets, such as equipment and capital investments, but also creates a substantial amount of new capital to offset these losses and inefficiencies. The death of the innovative spirit is the greatest hidden threat to an enterprise, so entrepreneurs must develop the desire to innovate. As the founder of innovation economics, Schumpeter is credited with introducing innovation into the theoretical framework of conventional economics. At the same time, he drew a distinction between invention and innovation; invention refers to the discovery of new tools and processes, whereas innovation refers to the application of these new tools and methods. Only the successful commercialization of an invention can be referred to as innovation. In the era that followed, most innovations took place in the field of economics. Numerous followers of Schumpeter emerged in the field of economics after World War II. Using the research methodology established by Schumpeter, they supplemented and expanded the theory of innovation and discovered two key findings: one relates to the economics of technological innovation, which studies how technology changes and spreads, and the other relates to the economics of institutional innovation, which studies how institutions evolve and develop. The term ‘innovation’ began to be used more frequently in the fields of science and technology in the 1960s as new scientific and technological advances emerged and took center stage in economic and social development. Academia began to refer to ‘innovation’ in this context as ‘scientific and technological innovation’, encompassing almost the entire spectrum of the term’s meaning. It must be acknowledged that scientific reason enables us to reach a high level of certainty in the world of facts. However, innovation does not exclusively refer to technological and scientific advances based on reason and science. In the 1990s, especially at the turn of the twenty-first century, people began to pay more attention to and pursue comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development. As a result, they began to have a greater impact on education, politics, the environment, and culture, and innovation became a greater priority, which still holds true today.

2 The Essence of Innovation As the idea of innovation becomes more and more well-known and widespread, the pursuit of full comprehension has evolved into a universal trend. In recent years, innovation has primarily been used in the fields of economics and science and technology, which is consistent with this historical era. The innovation process has also undergone significant changes, and has flourished in many different industries. In addition, China has promoted all-around innovation in recent years, encompassing theoretical innovation, institutional innovation, technological innovation, and cultural innovation. However, there is a pressing need to understand what all-around

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innovation for a country or civilization is, and how it is achieved. We must first define innovation to address this issue. To the academic, Schumpeter’s definition of innovation is unquestionably the most significant of the definitions commonly used today. This definition, however, is insufficient for describing the actual state of innovation in practice because it is based solely on economics. Then, there are definitions provided by other academics. For instance, Emidon, a renowned expert in knowledge management, believed that “innovation is turning new ideas into action”. It is broader than Schumpeter’s concept, but excludes the development and breakthrough of thought itself. Innovation should have its own knowledge system as it should extend beyond the development of new technologies, business models, and cultural systems. If we are to fully comprehend innovation, we must examine its general characteristics and laws on a philosophical level, going beyond its narrow and fragmented sectors. Taking into account its past, present, and usage in both China and the West, ‘innovation’ can be broadly defined as “the beneficial exploration of uncharted realms by human beings.”

2.1 Humans: Everyone Is an Innovator Humans are the primary source of innovation and the innovators by nature. On the one hand, everyone must innovate, as this is a shared responsibility and right. Innovation is integral to human reproduction, survival, and development, and the history of human innovation is intertwined with the history of human development. Humans have a magical ability that compels them to constantly seek out novel solutions to problems to improve their quality of life, and the more significant the problem, the more apparent this ability becomes. In my prior work, City Innovators: Human-Oriented Approach and International Lessons on City Innovation I advanced the notion that “everyone is an innovator.” The majority of innovations are created by millions of ordinary people, argued Edmund Phelps in his book Dynamism: The Values That Drive Innovation, Job Satisfaction, and Economic Growth. “If individuals are endowed with such exceptional abilities, society as a whole can, if it chooses, create an economy that allows and supports new ideas to drive innovation and economic success,” Phelps wrote. The ability to innovate, on the other hand, is part of what makes humans human; it is an instinctive purpose or impulse. Possession, power, and creativity are the three elements into which the British philosopher Bertrand Russell categorized. He believed that people’s pursuit of material interests and desire for dominance, along with possessiveness and the desire for power, are the primary drivers of societal conflicts and contradictions. Meanwhile, the drive to create manifests itself in the development of primarily science and technology as well as social culture. These efforts produce shareable spiritual and cultural products, and the more people who share them, the more valuable they become.

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In Russell’s words, “none of these desires can be seen as subservient to anything else, nor are they descended from the others.” In other words, the desires for possession, power, and creation are fundamental, innate, and cannot be explained by a single factor. Because the urge to create is innate in human nature, it is a response to our most basic needs, and it is the spiritual force that motivates individuals to improve their quality of life and advance social progress. For this reason, innovation is seen as a fundamental quality of human beings. The urge to create is reduced to basic human needs through externalization and objectification, inspiring individuals to work hard and develop new tangible and intangible goods. To sum up, innovation is a trait inherent in people and what makes people unique. Humans have a natural and intrinsic right and responsibility to support innovation, participate in innovation, and improve their ability to be creative, and every society should fully exercise this privilege, fulfill this obligation to its members, offer the best possible assurance, and foster favorable conditions.

2.2 Uncharted Territories: No Guidelines, No Set of Rules, No One to Follow Both the subject and the setting of innovation are uncharted territories, which can be described by the three nos, ‘no guidelines, no set of rules, and no one to follow’. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed time and time again the need to expand the sources of scientific and technical innovation while improving original innovation capabilities. The term ‘initial innovation’ used here refers to a manner of describing the uncharted territories. Breakthroughs from zero to one are those that break new ground and are often associated with significant development prospects. Scientists and innovators should have the courage to pursue new research in fields where there is no precedent and no clear path. So, where are the quick victories in the uncharted territories? In practice, it arises above all at the confluence of disciplines. According to Steve Jobs, Apple stands at intersection of technology and humanity. Because he intentionally positioned himself at the confluence of art and technology, Apple’s products would eventually incorporate technology and design, humanities, and even romance, which was undoubtedly connected to Jobs’ own passionate interest in culture. In addition to fully integrating and reforming business and meditation, Jobs also explored cross-cultural interactions between Chinese and Western societies; he had long practiced regular meditation as a dedicated Zen practitioner. According to a statement in his biography, “Zen practice refined Jobs’s capacity to appreciate intuition, showed him how to filter out interruptions or pointless things, and fostered in him a sort of minimalism-based aesthetics of philosophy.” Innovation in the interdisciplinary field has a long history. The confluence of the humanities and sciences served as a source of Da Vinci’s inspiration and originality.

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He prepared well for a future in painting by studying anatomy, perspective, geometry, physics, and chemistry in great detail and depth. “No one who likes my paintings is not a mathematician,” he said, summarizing the idea of his Monographs on Artists. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Professor John Bannister Goodenough, a 97-year-old comparable to Haruki Murakami in the field of science, making him the oldest recipient in the award’s history. He is an example of an interdisciplinary representative figure. At the age of 30, he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in physics before deciding to pursue chemical research. At the age of 54, he began specializing in batteries, and by the time he was 94, he had committed his life to the study and creation of super batteries. The renowned study on lithium-ion batteries is founded on conventional electrochemistry and involves methodological investigations spanning across physics, chemistry, energy, materials, and other fields. As can be observed, interdisciplinary research centers are often places where new ideas emerge from uncharted territories. Finding, penetrating, and resolving issues in uncharted territories with interdisciplinary approaches will be a long-term trend in the future.

2.3 Being Beneficial: Innovation Should Be Value-Oriented ‘Being Beneficial’ is both a definition of the nature of innovation and a value orientation. The outcomes of innovation should benefit human civilization because they are meant to create a more beautiful planet and a happier life. Choices you choose to make beyond the boundaries of human civilization can only lead to loss and calamity; they cannot be viewed as innovative. Now, social innovation is a notion we frequently bring up. As China enters a new phase of development, advancing the attainment of common prosperity has gained importance. It is a challenge to address social issues such as unequal distribution of income and wealth, declining social mobility and stratification, and sustainable development by primarily relying on government, businesses, social organizations, and international organizations. Social innovation’s main purpose is to combine social resources through international collaboration to find answers to pressing societal issues, and it is crucial in creating a society focused on the future and shared prosperity. The connotation of social innovation is to address societal issues instead of just providing benefits. For instance, the Stanford Center for Philanthropy and Social Innovation (PACS) is a dedicated center for social innovation at Stanford University. The Stanford Social Innovation Review, a reputable journal in the field of social innovation, was acquired by the center in 2010 and used to bridge academic research and real-world feedback to establish a communications platform that unites international philanthropic and social innovation practitioners, and producing content that advances social innovation using interdisciplinary methods.

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To encourage students to innovate to address societal issues, Harvard University is awarding a $100,000 Innovation Fellowship. In 2012, this grant was awarded to a student from Italy who had made breakthroughs by proposing to package vaccines with Chinese silk in developing countries to address the problem of maintaining a specific temperature for vaccine storage. An example of a social innovation initiative is GoodLife! Makan project in Singapore, where architects transform unused community spaces into self-service public kitchens where seniors can gather to cook, dine, and socialize. Both diners and volunteers are senior citizens, and they appreciate being able to speak with people, being socially accepted, and experiencing the thrill of sharing. The future of innovation lies in the fulfillment of social obligations. In virtue of the growth of the internet economy, we can benefit from unparalleled convenience and benefits, but there are also concerns that cannot be avoided. In a way, our data, information, and privacy are considered our own private property. Nonetheless, internet service providers often silently take these things from us. Internet corporations will suffer harm similar to a dam collapsing once they fail to uphold their social responsibility. Additionally, P2P online lending of internet finance has been rather popular in recent years, and some operators did not take on corporate social responsibility or protect consumers’ property from loss during the invention and collaboration of internet financial services. For this reason, many businesses today innovate under the guise of financial technology and the internet, and whether it is truly beneficial is what we should have our eyes on. Now, social value takes precedence over economic value in our time, adding to the responsibilities of urban innovation: how innovative businesses become social companies, and how to address social issues brought on by their own growth.

2.4 Exploration: ‘Entrepreneurship’ and ‘Pragmatism’ ‘Exploration’ identifies the processes and outcomes of innovation, and it entails an unknown consequence, but it is the only approach that is effective. To innovate through exploration, we must transcend our current knowledge and experience. In this situation, no one is able to predict the future or provide useful advice, so we need to develop an entrepreneurial and pragmatic mindset. Drucker, the guru of management in the world, mentioned entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship when discussing innovation. Entrepreneurs are sometimes translated as businessmen (those who conduct business) in China, however, this interpretation is questionable. In other countries, entrepreneurship mainly refers to the characteristics of risk-takers who practice boldly and persevere until they succeed. As a result, entrepreneurship is now seen as such in the recently altered Chinese environment. In English, the term ‘entrepreneur’ can be used to describe two different types of business people: one works in the private sector and the other in the public sector. In

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this perspective, one must first develop the qualities of an ‘industrialist’ to succeed in business, politics, or academia, remaining true to an ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ and demonstrating a spirit of perseverance and continuous learning. Entrepreneur does not equal making money. In light of this, I suggest translating entrepreneur into industrialist and entrepreneurship into the spirit of an industrialist in Chinese. After MIT scientists relocated there, Silicon Valley took root on Route 128 in Boston and got its name. Entrepreneurial spirit is also present in the history of Route 128 as well, as the route’s reputation can be traced back to two individuals who played critical roles in its early development. One is Gerald Blakely, a discerning employee in the real estate development business, and the other is William Callahan, the director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Affairs, who completed the road despite obstacles and pressures. They are ‘industrialists’ who encouraged entrepreneurial spirit in the eyes of Americans. I also have a great deal of respect for Thomas Manino, the mayor of the Boston area. After more than 30 years into his tenure as mayor, 70% of Bostonians know him, and they all viewed him as a public entrepreneur. In English, ‘pragmatism’ is also used to characterize an extremely powerful individual. Utilitarianism and pragmatism are two entirely different ideas that are frequently confused. Pragmatism derives from the Greek word πραγμα (action), the essence of which is action. In English, it means to do, to venture, and to try. Entrepreneurship, pragmatism, and innovation are all used to describe individuals with an innovative spirit. For this reason, I suggest translating ‘pragmatism’ into practicalism in Chinese. I would like to share a short story about pragmatism, or hands-on culture. Once, a junior of mine in Chicago asked how I felt when I first arrived in the United States, and I told him that, “I became more stupid, but my hands are busier.” This meant that people here talk in a more straightforward manner, and the hands-on culture has led to an increase in manual labor. Ask anyone from China, and they will tell you that the service sector in the United States is lagging behind. You have to do a lot of things on your own because no one will deliver the lunch box to you. The employment of drivers and babysitters is a relatively uncommon practice. As we like to say in China, “Mental labors govern while manual labors are governed,” and we tend to prefer mental activities to those that place more emphasis on manual dexterity. Everyone is proud to be able to hire someone else because we have cheap labor. However, we should be aware that our capacity for manual dexterity and mental movement is progressively declining. People who engage in science and engineering can better grasp breakthroughs because they often begin with hands-on experimentations. The tale of the garage business is known to everyone. In the garage, Jobs, 21, and Wozniak, 26, founded Apple. Americans prefer to enjoy the satisfaction of their work in their own garage, which serves as their workplace. Most of the time, people do not go to the garage because they do not have money or live in a harsh environment. The garage has all the amenities, including internet, and offers a comfortable environment. They grew up in such an environment and lived in it, which gives birth to a unique cultural background.

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Many schools in China now teach the garage culture, or the culture of doing things by hand. The foundation of ‘exploration’ innovation is a combination of elements including a hands-on culture, practicalism, and entrepreneurial spirit. China has achieved significant progress in innovation, particularly in the areas of paper publication and patent application, although some shortcomings remain. When he was younger, Ren Zhengfei once said that “innovation is a vast ocean, China’s innovation is a needle in the sea, and what Huawei produces is the tip of the needle.” There are many ‘needlepoints’ in certain subdivisions of China, but it is quite challenging to go from ‘needlepoints’ to ‘match heads’ or ‘small wooden sticks’. To understand the underlying reason for this problem, we should look to our culture, system, customs, and ecology.

Guan Chenghua Deputy Director of the School Affairs Committee of Beijing Normal University, Dean of the Institute of Innovation and Development, and Director of Center for Innovation and Development Studies (Zhuhai).

Science & Technology

Chapter 6 China’s Scientific and Technological Innovation Strategies and New Pathways in the Context of Global Changes Chapter 7 Reflections and Prospects: China’s Development of the National Innovation System Chapter 8 Outlook on China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation Towards 2035 Chapter 9 China to Promote International Cooperation in Scientific and Technological Innovation with the Development of Beijing as a Scientific and Technological Innovation Center Chapter 10 Science, Technology, and Health: What Should Be the Focus?

China’s Scientific and Technological Innovation Strategies and New Pathways in the Context of Global Changes Wang Yiming

Abstract Scientific and technological innovation is the key driving factor for economic development and social progress, and it gets more important in the competition for comprehensive national strength, especially in the current world that is undergoing profound changes unseen in centuries. Under such background, how can China build up its own strategies for scientific and technological innovation? To make this clear, we will discuss in this chapter the situations and challenges faced by China for scientific and technological innovation at first, then we will figure out the missions and tasks of China for its scientific and technological innovation in the new era, and on such basis we will go deeper to find out the strategy and path towards high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement. Keywords Scientific and technological innovation · Talents · Strategy · S&T revolution

The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. The latest round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is key for such changes, and scientific and technological innovation is now the battleground of major-country rivalry. In recent years, China’s position in the world domain of innovation has increased rapidly, but its scientific and technological innovation capacity still falls short of answering to the new requirements from this new development stage, with new challenges in building independent and controllable industrial and supply chains. In response to the profound and complex changes in the external environment and the new mission in the new development stage, China needs to explore new pathways for achieving scientific and technological innovation at the strategic level.

W. Yiming (B) China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_6

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1 New Situations and Challenges Facing China’s Scientific and Technological Innovation As a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation characterized by developments in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, etc. With its advancement from emergence to expansion, the global economy and social development are undergoing unprecedented changes as much as industrial and supply chains. It is reshaping the world domain of innovation, with adjustments in the original center-periphery structure of the international division of labor, remolding economic competitive dynamics in countries around the world as well as the global economic landscape.

1.1 The New Round of Scientific and Technological Revolution and Industrial Transformation Evolves in Profound Ways The new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation presents an evolution pattern, or “one core with multiple wings.” “One core” refers to information technology and artificial intelligence, while “multiple wings” refers to development in diverse fields such as advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, biotechnology, aerospace technology, and marine technology. The emergence of disruptive technologies gives birth to a number of new industries, new forms of business and new models, triggering unprecedented and profound changes in traditional ways of production and living. 1. The next-generation information network technology is Developing Towards Digitalization The vertical upgrading and cross integration of sub-fields in information technology promotes the mobile and ubiquitous network interconnection and high-speed and intelligent information processing, and facilitates the intergenerational leap of innovation and industrial chains as well as the intelligent and personalized development of information services. As mobile internet technologies are developing rapidly towards the Internet of Things and computing technologies are advancing towards high-performance and quantum computing, big data technology is taking human activities to be fully digitalized. New technologies, such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data, are building an interconnected system by “humannetwork-things” and ubiquitous intelligent information networks, promoting the development of artificial intelligence in the direction of autonomic learning, humanmachine collaborative enhanced intelligence, and network-based swarm intelligence, bringing profound changes and innovations in many industries.

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2. Manufacturing Technology Moves to Be Network-Based, Intelligent and Green The deep integration of information network technology with manufacturing, and the increasingly extensive application of advanced sensing technology, digital design and manufacturing, robots and intelligent control systems, have strengthened the capabilities of the new generation of robots characterized by human–machine collaboration. The intelligent manufacturing mode based on human–machine integration has significantly improved the flexibility and agility of the manufacturing system. It has facilitated the transformation of industrial production towards a distributed and customized manufacturing mode, and all aspects of manufacturing production processes, R&D design, enterprise management, and even user relationships are becoming more intelligent. The extensive adoption of energy-saving and emission reduction technologies, clean production processes and intelligent control systems has seen the establishment of an industrial ecological chain, leading the green transformation in ways that products are manufactured. 3. Promoting Energy Technology to Be Green, Low-Carbon and Intelligent The integration of information network technology and energy technology brings about a cleaner utilization of fossil fuels, larger-scale clean energy production and more intelligent energy services. Continuous breakthroughs in energy-saving technologies accelerate the transition to a low-carbon energy infrastructure and to an eco-friendly energy production and consumption model. Advancement in the development, storage and transmission technologies of renewable energy, such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro, and ocean energy, has reshaped the existing energy structure. The development of next-generation energy technologies, such as hydrogen energy, natural hydrates and fusion power, is blazing new trails in the effort to meet global energy demands. 4. Biotechnology Supports the Development of Precision and Regenerative Medicine The continuous emergence of novel genetic technologies, coupled with the rapid development of synthetic biology, is triggering profound changes in the field of gene editing and bringing new impetus to the development of technology in the fields of medicine and health. With the rapid development of integrated genome-based R&D, biomarker verification-based clinical technology research, gene database infrastructure construction, precision medicine, stem cell-based regenerative medicine, molecular targeted therapy, and mobile health monitoring, the medical industry has developed from focusing on clinical medicine to overall healthcare management, injecting new momentum into the biomedicine and biotechnology industries. 5. Deepening Vertically Integrated Development of Aerospace and Marine Industries The international aerospace community focuses on the application of space information technology and the development of space exploration capabilities with the aim to establish a systematically integrated, high-performance, low-cost, and widecoverage space information and service system. It also promotes the development

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and commercialization of high-thrust rockets, reusable vehicles and new propulsion technologies to enhance the efficiency of earth-to-space round-trip transportation systems, the development of low-Earth space stations, and the exploration of the Moon and Mars. In terms of marine science and technology, focus has shifted to deep sea development and global expansion, and a three-dimensional marine observation network covering “space, sky, sea” and “sea surface, subsurface, seabed” is being established. Breakthroughs in manned deep submersibles, seabed resource exploration and development, marine biotechnology and marine ecological engineering is bringing about a new marine economy. To sum up, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, which has entered a new stage with breakthroughs taking place in many areas and across numerous industries, has become the dominant factor reshaping the global innovation and industrial landscape, as global competition for cutting-edge science and technology intensifies.

1.2 New Scientific Revolution and Industrial Transformation Reshaping Economic and Social Development The new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is profoundly changing the way of production and life while reshaping the world economy and international competition pattern. 1. Significant Changes in the Relationship of Traditional and New Production Factors Digitalized, networked, intelligent production processes deprioritize traditional production factors such as labor and land, as technological innovation and human capital have become the key factors for industrial competitiveness. The rapid development of new technologies such as mobile internet, Internet of Things, and big data brings about new industries, new patterns, and new models such as intelligent manufacturing, mass customization, internet finance, and online R&D platforms. As the high-end industrial structure undergoes significant change, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure the level of industrial development with the traditional threetier industry classifications. The modernization of the industrial structure mainly improves marginal efficiency and total factor productivity with the investment of information and data elements. Data scale, data infrastructure, data processing capabilities, and data governance systems are becoming the commanding heights of international industrial competition. 2. Rapid Reshaping of the Global Industrial Competition Pattern The ubiquity of digital, networking and intelligent technologies weakens the lowcost competitiveness of developing countries, as developed countries strengthen their advantages with intelligent manufacturing that offsets high labor costs and increases

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their dominance in high-end industrial chains. The new round of industrial transformation has brought about plenty of platform-based businesses, which use selfdeveloped technologies and innovative business models to build a highly integrated network of production, supply, demand, and market resources, reconstructing traditional business models. As the global industrial chain, supply chain, and value chain are shifting from a cost-oriented pattern towards establishing an equilibrium among cost, market and technology and other factors, the global industrial competition pattern will be remolded. 3. Profound Changes in Employment and Social Structures Unlike the previous industrial revolution, which mainly replaced manual labor, the new round of industrial revolution is driven by intelligence and will take over simple mental labor and programmed work, replacing humans with intelligent robots. The emergence of novel service models such as distance education, telemedicine, intelligent transportation, and distributed energy provides new levels of convenience in people’s study, work, and everyday life. However, people engaged in simple mental tasks and routine jobs are experiencing slow income growth.

1.3 Unprecedented, Fierce Race for Global Technological Supremacy The global competition for commanding the heights of scientific and technological innovation, a key component of national power, becomes increasingly fierce. 1. The United States Accelerates “Technological Decoupling” from China The U.S. is besieging and suppressing China as its biggest strategic competitor at all costs, even urging for “technological decoupling” in some areas. The Biden administration introduced a strategy known as “small yard, high fence” to delineate clear strategic boundaries for key core technologies and tighten measures of its technology blockade against China. The “small yard, high fence” approach focuses on three areas: military science and technology, China’s technological weaknesses, and America’s technological edge. It aims to ensure that the United States remains “two generations ahead” of China in strategic technology fields. This aggravates the asymmetric competition between China and the United States and increases the costs and risks of China’s industrial technology development. 2. United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 On June 8, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. Submitted by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as a substitute amendment to the Endless Frontier Act, it incorporates China-related elements of several other bill. The Act has four major legislative goals: (1) Establish a new

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Technology and Innovation Council (DTI) under the National Science Foundation, focusing on basic research, commercialization, and technological innovation in key areas related to U.S. geostrategy. (2) Create regional technology centers. (3) Build a strategic reporting system for economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and employment. (4) Set up a supply chain resilience and crisis response program. The bill proposes an allocation of more than $200 billion, including $52 billion in subsidies for the semiconductor industry and more than $100 billion for DTI over five years. It encourages advances in ten key technological areas, including AI, machine learning and advanced software, high-performance computing, semiconductors and advanced computer hardware, quantum computing and information systems, machine automation and advanced manufacturing, and to rebuild America’s technological advantages. In an increasingly complex international environment, technological innovation is not only a matter of development but also a key factor for survival. Only by fostering self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology can China break up the high-tech monopoly of the West, become technologically independent in core technologies, and establish a scientific and technological innovation system that is compatible with its modernization goals.

2 China’s New Missions of Scientific and Technological Innovation in the New Development Stage China has entered a new development stage to evolve into a modern socialist country in all respects and achieve the Second Centenary Goal. In this context, scientific and technological innovation has never been more important. China’s “14th Five-Year Plan” proposes that “Innovation remains at the heart of China’s modernization drive. We will strengthen our science and technology to provide strategic support for China’s development,” clarifying China’s new missions in scientific and technological innovation.

2.1 China as a Rising Star in the Global Innovation Map After more than 40 years of reform and opening-up, China has caught up with global tech giants and even become a leader in science and technology instead of simply following the lead of developed countries. China is progressing in leaps and bounds and aiming to enhance its overall technological competitiveness instead of merely accumulating experience and making breakthroughs in certain areas. 1. Major Innovation Index Topping the World Rankings China has become the world’s second-largest country in terms of R&D investment and knowledge output. In 2021, its total R&D expenditure reached RMB2.79

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trillion, accounting for 2.44% of GDP, ranking first among developing countries and exceeding the average level of 2.1% of the 15 EU countries. China’s total number of R&D personnel ranks first in the world, the total number of international scientific research publications and citations ranks second in the world, and the number of invention patent applications and authorizations also tops world rankings. The role of business innovations has been significantly enhanced. Chinese enterprises account for more than 70% of R&D investment, researchers and invention patents. China has become an innovation-driven country. According to the Global Innovation Index 2021, a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China’s comprehensive ranking entered the top 12 among the 141 countries for the first time, a huge progress from top 25 in 2016. It is the only middle-income economy in the top 30. 2. Major Breakthroughs Made in Basic Frontier and Strategic High Technologies China has achieved plenty of strategic achievements in the fields of manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, deep-sea exploration, supercomputing, and quantum information. The Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station was launched; the “Chang’e 4” landed on the far side of the moon for the first time; the “Chang’e 5” retrieved samples from extraterrestrial celestial bodies and returned to Earth; the “Tianwen-1” landed on Mars; the BeiDou satellite navigation system was put into full operation; the “Haidou-1” conducted its 10,000-m deep-sea trial; the “Striver” successfully landed on the bottom of 10,000 m of the sea; the “Shenwei TaihuLight” supercomputer realized a calculation simulation using Parallel First-Principles and 10 million cores for the first time; the “Nine Chapters,” a quantum computing prototype of 76 photons, and the “Zu Chongzhi,” a 62-bit programmable superconducting quantum computing prototype, were released; the “Mozi” realized quantum key distribution over thousands of kilometers without a relay. Significant progress has been made in major equipment and strategic products such as high-speed railways, UHV power transmission and transformation, earth observation satellites, electric vehicles, nuclear power, and large aircraft. Some products and technologies have begun to go global. Major breakthroughs in strategic high-tech fields provide a technical foundation for industrial transformation and upgrading. 3. Continuous Improvement of Systems and Mechanisms for Scientific and Technological Innovation China hopes to improve the new system for mobilizing the resources nationwide under the conditions of the socialist market economy, strengthen China’s capabilities in strategic science and technology, establish national laboratories, reorganize existing key national laboratories, and support long-term, high-risk, difficult, yet promising strategic scientific programs and scientific projects. The policy system and the market-oriented mechanism for scientific and technological innovation have been improved. In addition to supportive tax and fiscal policies, policy tools are used to stimulate institutional and mechanism innovations, inclusive policies are used to unleash the potential of market mechanisms. Businesses are playing an increasingly important role in technological innovation. Numerous innovative enterprises

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with global influence have emerged in the fields of intelligent terminals, drones, ecommerce, cloud computing, internet finance, and artificial intelligence. Among the 1,058 unicorn companies on the global list in 2021, 301 of them came from China, ranking second only to the United States (487). Among the 2,500 companies with the highest R&D investment in the world in 2020, 597 of them were based in China, ranking second only to the United States (779). 4. Continuous Optimization of the Innovation Ecology Nearly 40% of large industrial enterprises invest in technological innovation, and more than 80% of R&D projects aim to develop new products or improve on existing product function and quality. Innovation capability has become the core measure of a company’s competitiveness. Business leaders, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), scientific research institutes, universities, makers and other parties all collaborate to create a professional platform for crowd-powered innovation, establishing a full-service ecosystem ranging from product creation to production and facilitating innovative cooperation among various entities.

2.2 Scientific and Technological Innovation Falling Short of Demand in the New Development Stage Although significant progress has been made in scientific and technological innovation, many shortcomings are affecting China’s drive to build itself into a global leader in science and technology. 1. Insufficient Capacity for Original Innovation When it comes to innovation investment, China’s current R&D investment structure is notably characterized by a low proportion of basic research and applied basic research, while seeing a high proportion of experimental development. For example, in 2020, China’s investment in the abovementioned three major areas account for 6.0%, 11.3% and 82.7% respectively, far lower than those of OECD countries (15– 25%). During the same period, the investment figures of the United States in the same areas were 17.0%, 20.3% and 62.5%, respectively. The evaluation of scientific research results emphasizes quantity over quality, short-term benefits over long-term effects. Generally speaking, China’s scientific research output has a relatively low quality, and it has a long way to go before becoming a global leader in cutting-edge technologies. As China has entered a new development stage, where it is following, catching up to, or leading advanced countries in certain areas, there is an urgent need to increase investment in basic research and other front-end links of the innovation chain to gain first-mover advantages in innovation. 2. Key and Core Technologies Controlled by Developed Countries Due to the lack of investment in basic research and applied basic research as well as an insufficiency of source technology reserves, a lack of key elements needed

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for industrial upgrading exists. As there is a shortfall of breakthroughs in cuttingedge technologies in addition to the shortage of key core technologies needed for industrial upgrading, China remains reliant on other developed countries in key and core technologies in certain industries. This is especially true in the areas of highend chips, aviation power, core components for robots, energy storage technology, high-end medical equipment, and biopharmaceuticals. China remains highly dependent on chip imports, especially high-end chips. China’s creative innovation ability is not sufficient to break the monopoly of other developed countries in key and core technologies, especially due to the lack of major breakthroughs and disruptive technological innovations. 3. Low Efficiency of the Innovation System Despite the rapid growth of R&D investment in recent years, innovation performance and output efficiency remain undesirable. China has launched several key projects, but they have not yielded major breakthroughs as expected. With respect to tripartite patents, a key indicator of patent quality, the gap between China and developed countries remains large. Generally, tripartite patents jointly applied for by the United States, Japan and the European Union are considered to have high technological content and economic value, and it reflects the overall level of national technological innovations and competitiveness in the international market. According to the 2021 Technology Focus released by the Institutes of Science and Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the number of Chinese tripartite patents has risen rapidly in recent years, ranking fourth in the world. However, there is still a big gap between China and the top-ranked countries in terms of patent volume, technical direction coverage, and balance in the field. As mentioned in the report, Japan, which ranks first in terms of patent volume, and Germany, which ranks third, spend 33.5%, 25.6% of China’s R&D expenditure, and the United States, which ranks second in patent volume, spends 119%. 4. Unsound Talent Incentive Mechanism Insufficient talent incentives and structural imbalances are prominent constraints of innovation-driven development. Talent acquisition plans are complex and overlapping, and relevant policies and measures are hard to implement. Incentives for scientific researchers and highly skilled talents are not in place. The value created by scientific researchers is insufficiently reflected, especially when innovation fails to yield returns, which dampens the enthusiasm of scientific researchers. Emphasis has been placed on the number of talents introduced, instead of the construction of a favorable environment for them. The scientific research atmosphere is not in line with international standards, and scientific research facilities are not sustainable. Public services in big cities such as household registration, housing, children’s education, and medical care pale in comparison with developed countries. Although China’s total number of scientific and technological personnel ranks among the top in the world, there is a shortage of high-end leading talent and highly skilled talent. In the list of 2020 Highly Cited Researchers released by Clarivate Analytics, the number

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of highly cited scientists from mainland China reached 770, a significant increase from 2019, but still less than 30% of the number from the United States.

2.3 Industrial and Supply Chains Are Far from Independent and Controllable Changes in the global industrial and supply chains can usually be observed from both horizontal and vertical dimensions. The horizontal dimension refers to the concentration of production and supply. The global production of manufactured goods is mainly concentrated in three major manufacturing centers: China, Germany, and the United States. The vertical dimension refers to upstream and downstream relationships. Countries with abundant natural resources and irreplaceable technologies are in the upstream. As the largest downstream manufacturing country, China is not only subject to tariff barriers on product exports, but also technological blockades from upstream countries and “cutoffs” of key components. 1. Enhanced Resilience of China’s Industrial and Supply Chains China has the most complete and largest manufacturing system in the world. In 2021, China’s manufacturing industry accounted for nearly 30% of the world’s total. China has more Fortune 500 companies than the United States and has become the largest trade partner of more than 120 countries. Dependence on the Chinese market has increased significantly. As the China and the World report released by the McKinsey Global Institute in 2019 pointed out, “China’s exposure to the world has fallen in relative terms. Conversely, the world’s exposure to China has increased.” The economic ties between China and the world are subtly changing. China’s domestic market is expanding rapidly, and it has formed long-term relationships with final consumer markets such as the United States and Europe. It is reshaping the existing global market and economic pattern. 2. Intermediate Products Remain the Bottleneck of China’s Industrial and Supply Chains Thanks to reform and opening up, China has mainly acquired and adapted foreign advanced technologies by means of “introduction, digestion, absorption, and reinnovation.” China introduced, adapted, and re-innovated advanced technologies through technology authorization, cooperation, and joint ventures, reverse engineering and other methods, localizing foreign advanced technologies and equipment and promoting industrial technological progress. This model has rapidly narrowed the gap between China and advanced countries in industrial technology. China has gradually built international competitiveness in terminal products such as nuclear power, hydraulic turbines, high-speed rail, construction machinery, and communication equipment. However, intermediate products such as devices, basic materials, and industrial software remain the Achilles’ heel of China. Due to the rapid iterations, huge investment, complex industrial ecology and high dependence on basic research

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and underlying technologies, innovation in intermediate products is far more difficult than that of terminal products. Therefore, China must improve its independent innovation capabilities. 3. Dangerously High Import Concentration of Strategic Products China’s industrial chain as a whole is at the middle and low end of the value chain, and there is a huge gap in comparison with developed countries in terms of accuracy, stability, reliability and service life of core components and high-end equipment. In the past, international imports played a major role. As the international environment changes, risks gradually surface. If resource products are excluded from the list of imported commodities, there are about 8,000 kinds of intermediate and capital goods that are imported into China. We deem “intermediate and capital products that only a few developed economies can produce and China imports in large quantities” as strategic products for China’s manufacturing industry. The screening criteria for identifying strategic products are as follows: the top five suppliers of the product are all developed economies; the top five suppliers of the product have a global market share of more than 60%; and China’s imports of the product in 2018 exceeded 100 million US dollars. According to the above criteria, there are 86 strategic products, of which 68 are intermediate goods and 18 are capital goods. Among these 86 products, the United States, Germany and Japan serve as the top five suppliers for China in 71, 69 and 61 types of strategic products, respectively. The United States is the only country that exports all 86 types of strategic products to China; however, the U.S. is not among the top five suppliers in 15 of the 86 types. It is evident that the United States, Germany and Japan are the main suppliers of China’s strategic products. Therefore, China faces significant risk in terms of the import of strategic products.

3 China’s Strategy and Pathways to Sci-Tech Self-Reliance and Self-Strengthening at Higher Levels Facing the profound and complex changes in the external environment and the demand resulting from the new stage of development, China proposes to quickly build a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay, and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the essential feature of a new development paradigm lies in sci-tech self-reliance and self-strengthening at higher levels. Under the new development paradigm, China will blaze a new trail in scientific and technological innovation. Strategically, it must turn from playing “technological catch-up” to building local advantages. Specifically, it must shift its focus from terminal products to intermediate products. It must roll out policies to encourage original innovation, instead of integrated innovation.

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3.1 Bracing for a Strategic Shift from Focusing on Technological Catch-Up to Building a Leading Edge in Particular Areas In the past, China strove to catch up with developed countries mainly by means of “introduction, digestion, absorption, and re-innovation.” Since the source of technology was controlled by advanced countries, China mainly focused on the integrated innovation of terminal products. Currently, there are shortcomings in basic research, core technologies, and original innovation capabilities. In the future, China must go beyond playing “technological catch-up” to building a “local leading edge” in scientific and technological innovation so that it can form countermeasures to the asymmetric competition amid the increasingly complex and severe international environment and enhance its international scientific and technological competitiveness. 1. Build a Local Leading Edge in Scientific and Technological Innovation While following the lead established by advanced countries can greatly reduce technical costs and narrow the technological gap, it cannot help China gain an upper hand in the competition. As China’s technological ability and level continues to improve, it has become a global leader in some fields of advanced technologies. With the reduction of late-mover advantages, it is difficult to introduce advanced technologies. As the United States continues to suppress China by “technology decoupling,” it becomes increasingly difficult for China to catch up with developed countries. It needs to enhance the ability to realize independent innovation, make key and core technologies independently controllable, and form a local leading edge in scientific and technological innovation. While the U.S. has a comprehensive leadership in technology, China does not have the ability to surpass its competitor systematically. China’s current technological capability determines that it can only realize partial advantages rather than comprehensive leading advantages. To achieve this end, it needs to invest in frontier technologies that have a solid foundation, are in line with future demand, and represent a strong strategic value. 2. Strengthen National Strategic Scientific and Technological Capabilities To form a local leading edge in science and technology, simple substitution for foreign advanced technologies is not enough. It requires that original innovation is fostered and major breakthroughs in scientific and technological innovation are made. China needs to make better use of its institutional advantages, strengthen its national strategic capabilities, and enhance the overall efficiency of the national innovation system. China must channel resources to major technological fields such as quantum information, photonics and micro-nano electronics, network communications, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and modern energy systems. In addition, China must establish a group of national laboratories, reorganize the national key laboratory system, accelerate the construction of an interdisciplinary, large-scale, collaborative, high-intensity innovation platform; and produce strategic scientific and technological achievements. It needs to unleash the potential of national scientific research

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institutions, high-level research universities, and leading scientific and technological enterprises, meet national strategic needs, solve major scientific and technological problems that hinder overall national development and long-term interests, foster original innovation sources, and accelerate breakthroughs in key core technologies. 3. Strengthen Original and Leading Scientific and Technological Research Taking into account the existing problems and both the urgent and long-term needs of the country, China needs to redouble efforts in the research of key and core technologies such as basic raw materials, high-end chips, industrial software, and crop seeds. Major breakthroughs are needed in these areas. It aims to launch a number of strategic R&D projects in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, integrated circuits, advanced manufacturing, life and health, brain science, biological reproduction, aerospace technology, and deep-sea technology. By exploring a new national system under the conditions of a socialist market economy, China is determined to win the battle of key core technologies. It aims to improve the effectiveness of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements by unleashing the potential of enterprises, promoting the coordination of key projects and integration of research and development activities. It also intends to accelerate the construction of an innovation consortium led by leading companies, supported by colleges and universities, and coordinated by various innovation entities.

3.2 Shifting Focus from Terminal Products to Intermediate Products China has built a strong capability for international competitiveness in the manufacture of some terminal products, but it still is greatly reliant upon the import of intermediate products such as parts, components, basic materials, and basic software that involve key and core technologies. It needs to leverage the institutional advantage of concentrating resources, let the market play a decisive role in resource allocation, and strive to achieve more breakthroughs from scratch. 1. Strengthen Technological Innovation of Intermediate Products Unlike terminal products, intermediate products have faster iteration, higher technical content, and a more specialized division of labor. They involve many scientific principles and tacit knowledge, requiring a long-term accumulation of technology and experience. Innovation of intermediate products is more difficult and complicated than terminal products. China must integrate superior scientific and technological resources and continue to make greater efforts to achieve technological breakthroughs. Since buyers of intermediate products are the main players in the market, their market competitiveness lies not only in technological innovation but also in commercial feasibility. China needs to formulate a market-oriented innovation strategy, unleash the potential of commercial enterprise, promote interaction

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between the market, businesses and the government, form an effective innovation incentive mechanism, enhance the innovation capabilities of businesses, and improve the quality in the supply of innovation. 2. Leverage the Leading Role of Business Leaders Enterprises are the mainstay of innovation and a driving force for creation. China needs to give full play to leading businesses, promote the integration and innovation of the upper, middle and lower streams of the industrial chain—especially for large and medium-sized enterprises—and form a strong innovation ecology. It hopes to encourage leading commercial enterprises to jointly build a national industrial innovation center with institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutes, and upstream and downstream enterprises. This will form a cross-domain, large-scale collaboration, a high-intensity innovation base, and a redoubled effort in research and development of common key technologies in various industries. This will transform and industrialize scientific and technological achievements, share scientific and technological resources, promote the integrated allocation of projects, bases, talents, and funds in key areas, improve basic industrial capabilities, and accelerate the modernization of the industrial value chain. 3. Implement Basic Industrial Reengineering Projects To promote the innovation of intermediate products, China needs to overcome difficulties in the development of basic parts and components, basic materials, basic processes, and basic software. Leveraging its industrial scale, supporting facilities and first-mover advantages in some fields, China aims to strengthen the technical research and engineering application of “four basic technologies” and important products. It aims to facilitate the application of independent innovation products, make major breakthroughs in the engineering and industrialization of important products and key and core technologies, and promote the application of the first production prototype of equipment, the first batch of secondary materials, and the first version of the software.

3.3 Emphasizing Original Innovation Over Integrated Innovation The transition from integrated innovation to original innovation requires improvement in basic research, applied basic research, and original innovation capabilities. China needs to drive leading original achievements in strategic products with major breakthroughs in basic research to rank among international leaders in more fields. 1. Strengthen Basic Research and Applied Basic Research Whether it is to create local advantages or to promote the innovation of intermediate products, original innovation capability is of vital importance. Since original innovation begins with source technology, it is important to strengthen pioneering

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basic research and applied basic research by expanding investment and R&D funds. The 14th Five-Year Plan clearly stated that China should increase its investment in basic research to 8% of total R&D expenditure. China encourages all sectors of society to invest in basic research through multiple channels such as donations and the establishment of funds, and China offers tax incentives for corporate basic research investments, forming a sustainable and stable investment mechanism. The aim is to optimize the structure of scientific research expenditures, increase demandoriented basic research expenditures, and promote basic research-driven innovation. Improvement is needed in the decision-making mechanism of scientific research projects by combining the mechanisms of “top-down” and “bottom-up,” methods of free exploration and demand orientation. China hopes to improve the evaluation mechanism of scientific research, implement classified evaluation and management, emphasize peer review for research projects based on free exploration, and focus on target evaluation for research projects that meet national strategic needs. 2. Vigorously Foster the Pool of Scientific and Technological Expertise The key to major breakthroughs in basic research is talent. There is still a shortage of high-level scientific and technological talent in China, especially leading talent. It needs to foster talent for basic research, world-class scientific and technological leaders, and innovative teams. China must implement a more open talent policy and build a scientific research and innovation highland to gather outstanding talent at home and abroad. China hopes to adapt research-oriented universities to pursue national strategic goals and cultivate more outstanding talent. China must innovate the talent evaluation mechanism, change unreasonable, bureaucratic talent evaluation systems, and foster the retention of basic research talent, world-class scientific and technological leaders and innovative teams. 3. Reform the Intellectual Property Right Incentive System for Scientific and Technological Achievements Innovating intellectual property rights incentive systems and mechanisms for scientific and technological achievements will ensure that innovative talent can enjoy the benefits of their achievements. It is an effective way to stimulate the vitality of scientific and technological personnel and promote breakthroughs in key and core technologies. China needs to reform the intellectual property rights incentive system for scientific and technological achievements. In the beginning, or even before, the establishment of a scientific research project, an agreement should be signed between the scientific research team and the units within the scientific research team to clarify the method of intellectual property rights disposal and equity distribution. Income distribution should fully reflect the value of knowledge and innovation, and scientific and technological achievements should be associated with the benefits of scientific and technological personnel. Based on pilot projects, China needs to gradually expand the scope of equity and dividend incentive policies, improve the legal system for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and service inventions, unleash the innovation potential of scientific and technological personnel, and improve the quality and efficiency of scientific and technological innovation supply.

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Wang Yiming Vice Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), Former Vice Minister of the Development Research Center of the State Council. He took the posts as the Executive Vice President of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research (AMR) of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Deputy Secretary General of NDRC.

Reflections and Prospects: China’s Development of the National Innovation System Liu Dongmei

Abstract As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is gaining momentum. Against this backdrop, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has made a call to implement the innovation-driven development strategy, and stresses that innovation is the primary driving force for development. Since the key to developing innovation in China is to build up a sound national innovation system, in this chapter, we will discuss the theoretical foundations of the national innovation systems, make clear the new circumstances facing China’s national innovation system, and give an overview of China’s national innovation system. And after analysis, we find that it is imperative for China to promote the opening-up and cooperation of the national innovation system with other countries in the world. Keywords National innovation system · Opening-up · Cooperation · Innovation-driven development

Against the backdrop of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, scientific and technological innovation has been identified as a top priority for development by many countries around the world. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has made a series of important observations, calling for an implementation of an innovation-driven development strategy and stressing that innovation is the primary driving force for development. China will uphold the central role of innovation in its modernization drive, as scientific and technical self-reliance and self-strengthening should always be considered strategic support for national development. The key to reinforcing the capacity for independent innovation and to building China into an innovative country and a scientific and technological power is a sound national innovation system. The best practices of technologically advanced countries have L. Dongmei (B) Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_7

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proven this, as they all have established national innovation systems with customized characteristics.

1 Theoretical Foundations of a National Innovation System 1.1 The Concept of “SoS” In the 1990s, the concept of a series of systems composed of complicated components called a System of Systems (SoS) received increased attention. The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics once again recognized the research value of the study of complex systems. The concept of “SoS,” a way of interpreting the interaction of independent systems from a hierarchical perspective, is still under development. Very simply, an SoS is a collection of multiple independent systems that work together to achieve a common goal. For example, the human body is an SoS made up of subsystems like the nervous system, the digestive system, the endocrine system, and so on. These subsystems make joint efforts to maintain the health of the entire body.

1.2 Theoretical Background The concept of national innovation systems was formally proposed by British economist Christopher Freeman in 1987, and afterward it became the mainstream method in circles of theoretical study to observe the comprehensive innovation capacity of an economy. The theoretical study has long been dominated by two theories: One is the theory represented by the Danish scholar Lundvall, focusing on the characteristics of innovation entities and their relationship with knowledge and technology, and the other is the theory represented by American scholar Nelson, centering on the institutional factors in innovation. In addition to these two schools of thought, there are also specific topics, new theories, and new concepts about innovation systems being generated through real practices such as global innovation systems, regional innovation systems, and sectoral innovation systems, just to name a few.

1.3 Connotation and Characteristics of China’s National Innovation System China’s national innovation system is an ecosystem that features free-flow innovation factors and a highly efficient allocation of resources in which all innovation entities cooperate and interact to pursue the common goal of building China into an innovative

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country and a great power in science and technology. In this ecosystem, the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation while the government plays its role to improve development, unleashing innovative vitality to the maximum extent. This system is the institutional guarantee for China to embark upon a new development path, building from a world power in talent and technology to an industrial and economic powerhouse as a strong and powerful nation. China’s national innovation system has three basic characteristics. First, it is holistic. This requires the further reinforcement of a national, top-level design, strengthening the nation’s overall innovation capacity and policy system in a bid to make a major leap in system performance. Second, it is collaborative. The system promotes the collaboration and interaction of innovation entities and demand-based gathering and allocation of talent, funds, data and other factors, thus ensuring the efficient and sustainable development of its innovation programs. Third, it is an open system. It urges the creation of an open, efficient and interconnected innovation network under which innovation will be given full play. China’s national innovation system is based on the structural design and technology of SoS with the goal of building capability. It is mainly composed of innovation entities, innovation resources, innovation mechanisms and innovation environment. Innovation entities—featuring specified functional positions, sufficient cooperation channels, and a competitive environment—are key participants in the pursuit of innovation and the main holders of innovation factors. These entities mainly include enterprises, scientific research institutions and universities, financial institutions, and innovation service providers. Innovation resources, which mainly include talent, capital, data, and scientific research facilities, are the basic requirements for innovation output. A free and smooth flow of innovation resources can give full play to the potential and value of innovation. An innovation mechanism refers to the way or method in which innovation entities connect with innovation resources. This mainly includes models of market-driven self-organization, academic self-organization, and government hetero-organization as well as instances involving a mix of all the aforementioned models. Innovation mechanisms with efficient and agile management as its core can strengthen overall coordination and improve the efficiency and adaptability of the system. The innovation environment—which mainly refers to laws, policies and cultures that promote the production, flow and application of knowledge—is the cornerstone for realizing the modernization of China’s governance system, its capacity for innovation and an important guarantee for fair play. China’s national innovation system is of great significance. It is the backbone of the modern economic system, as it embodies the complex production and allocation of scientific and technological knowledge required in a modern economy and closely reflects the effects of that system on economic activities. Only with a strong national innovation system can we develop a strong, competitive economy and with a powerful capacity for innovation. Only then can we build a solid modern economic system. Therefore, China’s improvement of its national innovation system is a vital task in building an innovative country as a scientific and technological powerhouse.

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2 New Circumstances Facing China’s National Innovation System “Presently, China is in its best period of development in modern times while the world is undergoing the most profound and unprecedented changes in a century. These two realities are intertwined and mutually influential,” said General Secretary Xi Jinping. The “most profound and unprecedented changes in a century” cover a wide range of sectors including politics, economy, science, technology and culture.

2.1 New Technological Revolution and Industrial Transformation Reflect In-Depth Development First, the development of basic research is continuously expanding. The exploration of basic science has expanded in scope and in depth, and research results have been made across major scientific frontiers through interdisciplinary efforts. Basic research plays an increasingly important role in technological progress and industrial transformation. It becomes so fundamental that some significant results often rely on the support of major scientific installations. Second, cutting-edge technological achievements continue to emerge. These cutting-edge technological achievements, featuring group breakthroughs, have created results across a variety of sectors. Information technology becomes a regular tool for scientific research and technological development. Biotechnology is developing to be more intelligent and ubiquitous. New material technology has gone through continuous updates. Advanced manufacturing technology has embarked on a road of optimization, digitization and intelligence. Major breakthroughs have occurred in energy technology. Modern agricultural technology is transforming towards a multi-functional modern agricultural industry at an accelerated pace. New technological breakthroughs are expected to be made in deep-sea, deep-space and deep-earth exploration. Third, disruptive technology will trigger revolutionary changes in traditional industries. Disruptive technology refers to cutting-edge technology that can “change the game.” In effect, these are mutant technologies that can generate other new technologies and new markets, and it also refers to an innovative technology that can replace the present dominant ones in an unexpected way. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, stem cells, brain science, synthetic biotechnology, and nextgeneration genome technology are all disruptive technologies. The year of 2020 witnessed the release of a workable brain-computer interface by Elon Musk. At the end of August 2020, his brain-computer interface company, Neuralink, held a press conference to present a practical demonstration of their brain-computer interface chip and automatic surgical equipment for its implantation using the “three little pigs.” Among them, one pig had been implanted with a brain-computer interface device for two months but stayed alive and well. Another pig had electrodes implanted

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and removed, and the last had no device implanted at all. The conference attracted a significant amount of attention because the pig with the implanted chip showed the world how neural signals could be written and read in real-time. Researchers can now see the pig’s EEG through signals monitored by the chip. Both Musk and Neuralink have claimed that this new technology can offer significant help in cases of memory loss, cervical spinal cord injuries, and neurological diseases like epilepsy and depression. This will bring real benefits to people, should scientists, doctors, and patients prove that brain-computer interfaces are safe and reliable. Fourth, scientific and technological innovation will help us reach our goals of carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality as well as nurture new economic opportunities. The reduction of carbon emissions is not only an environmental issue but also a matter of fundamental development that involves many fields, such as energy, economy, society, the environment and more. This requires an overall consideration of energy security, economic growth, people’s livelihood, cost input and many other factors. It sets an even higher demand for energy transition and high-quality economic development of China. The main challenges for China to achieve “carbon peaking” by 2030 include the following: First, the ever-increasing demand for energy. China’s economy will continue to grow over the long run. Reducing carbon emissions while maintaining economic growth will be a huge challenge for China. Second, the challenge brought by the (reshaped) structure of the heavy industry. Due to the rapid industrialization and urbanization of China, energy-intensive industries still account for a relatively large share of the economy. The traditional industrial growth pattern produces a large number of carbon emissions and is challenged by a series of adverse factors such as an unchangeable development path. Third, the challenge brought by the high carbon energy structure. Fossil fuels account for 85% of China’s primary energy consumption. Of this consumption, the coal-based share is about 58%, suggesting a “coal-dominated” energy structure. This structure is faced with a series of problems and challenges, including a large accumulation of high-carbon assets and related difficulties in energy transformation. In response to these challenges, there are two approaches to future development: one is to develop “clean” energy on the production side, and the other is “electrification,” that is, increasing the share of electricity (and reducing fossil fuel use) on the consumption side. The challenges faced by China to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2060 are even greater. First, the current energy system, which features high carbon emissions (including greenhouse emissions), is hardly changeable in the short term. Second, the conventional and traditional development model is unsustainable. Third, the energy structure dominated by fossil fuels must be completely transformed. All these calls for “four integrations”: coordination of carbon emission reduction and safe development, coordination of short-term goals with medium and long-term planning, coordination of overall direction with development in key areas, and the coordination of market forces with the guiding role of government.

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2.2 The Global Economic Landscape and Development Trends Are Undergoing New Changes First, China has seen a significant increase in its economic strength. Over the past decade or so, the economy in Asia has maintained rapid growth, and its share in the global economy has been rising. As a result, the center of the world economy is shifting eastwards. In 2010, China became the world’s second-largest economy. Second, China has evolved from a moderately prosperous society to a country that has basically realized socialist modernization. The next ten-plus years will be a crucial time to build China into a modern socialist country and transform the Chinese nation from growing rich to becoming a strong global leader. Third, China is transitioning from an industrial society to a post-industrial society. Predictions indicate that the share of China’s service industry in the national economy will exceed 60% by 2035, which will require powerful support from higher-quality, modern industries.

2.3 The Demand for Comprehensive and Sustainable Economic, Social and Environmental Development Is Increasing First, along with a sluggish global economy and the widening digital divide, issues concerning poverty, the environment, energy, health, and education are becoming more prominent. As the concept of sustainable development takes root in people’s minds, their awareness of rights and risks has increased as has their urgent demand for green, safe and inclusive sci-tech innovation. China must fulfill its commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, ramping up efforts to achieve its climate goals and satisfy the demand for cleaner water and air, healthier lifestyles, safer communities, a more respectful working environment, and higher-quality education. This has placed new requirements on scientific and technological innovations and global governance. Second, society’s demands keep transforming due to population aging, urbanization, and the emergence of new consumer groups. As the aging population segment continues to grow in size, society will see increasingly strong demand for intelligent elderly care and intelligent medical care. As the population continues to urbanize, cities and towns will see an increase in their permanent population, which will be followed by strong demand for the construction of smart city agglomerations or large smart cities. Additionally, China will become the world’s largest single-consumer market. The diversity, personalization and quality of consumption will impose a huge impact on the application of technologically innovative products, the supply of diversified products and services, and the reformation of consumption patterns.

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2.4 The Innovative Organization Model Brings About New Challenges First, the organization model based on networking and virtualization is driving the formation and development of a new mode of technological innovation which is open-source and mass-oriented. Since emerging technologies centering on information and communication technology are connected and integrated, centralized R&D organizations have been prompted to transform into a more distributed model. The research paradigm now tends toward being digital, platform-based and networked. Second, in terms of the allocation of innovation resources, since the subjects and methods of allocation are diversified, a more diverse and collaborative innovation governance structure is needed. Changing to a techno-economic paradigm calls for the participation and cooperation of multiple subjects. Only in this way can all quarters of society be mobilized to significantly participate in the governance of science and technology. Third, the acceleration of digital transformation requires a more robust system and the capability to seize opportunities and respond to risks. This includes a more efficient and interactive innovation network, a new mechanism for timely and fair resource allocation, convenient and high-quality innovation services, and more inclusive policies that support innovation. In this context, the international competition represents the competition of innovation systems of different countries. The national innovation system must be adjusted and adapted to the profound changes mentioned above. Only then can we gain the initiative in future competition. To achieve this, it is necessary to deploy strategies and policies affecting scientific and technological innovation in a forward-looking manner, strengthen the supply of innovation resources, and optimize the national innovation system to be more efficient. Through these means, new driving forces for economic growth will be created and new competitive strength will be developed.

3 Overview of China’s National Innovation System China has completed its top-level design for scientific and technological innovation, and obtaining innovation-driven development has received broad agreement among the Chinese people. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, scientific and technological innovation has become the topic of several CPC meetings in which systematic and scientific plans for scientific and technological innovation have been rolled out. The 18th CPC National Congress proposed a historic strategy of innovationdriven development; the 19th CPC National Congress stressed that innovation is the primary driving force for development; the Fifth Plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee suggested the acceleration of the construction of a strong country in science and technology; and the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee once again stressed that self-reliance in science and technology is

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a strategic path for national development. This is an indication that the strategic principles and plans for scientific and technological innovation made by the CPC Central Committee are consistent and in accordance with the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping has created an overarching and long-term systematic plan for the implementation of China’s innovation-driven development strategy, pointing out the direction for progress. The Outline of the National Innovation-Driven Development Strategy issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council specifies the top-level design for the country’s innovation-driven development, and it urges the systematic reform of the science and technology innovation system. In addition, it confirms that the plan of “four beams and eight pillars” (the structure of the main framework) for reform has been established and that reform measures are ready to be implemented. The principal position of and the significant plan for scientific and technological innovation are made clear by the CPC Central Committee. The principle of seeking truth from facts forms the basis of the long-term theoretical innovation and practice of the party. This position is in line with the general trend of scientific and technological development around the world, conforms to the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics, and corresponds to the characteristics and the main task of China’s scientific and technological innovation in the new era. Chinese innovation entities are taking the initiative, especially in the R&D sector. In 2020, there were 536 Chinese companies on the list of the world’s top 2,500 companies, ranked by total R&D investment. Several innovative companies with international influence have arisen in the fields of UAV, e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, mobile communication, etc. Driven by the overwhelming initiative of innovative business startups, 2020 saw an average of 22,000 new businesses registered per day and a total of 140 million market entities of all types entered the Chinese market. The service system for scientific and technological innovation and entrepreneurship has been greatly improved. By the end of 2019, a total of 1,177 national scientific and technological business incubators had been established, and 1,888 national maker spaces were registered. Universities and research institutes have both had their scientific research capacities improved, and a large number of new R&D institutions have sprung up. Remarkable gains have been made in the reform of the science and technology system. To fully implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and make the reform of the science and technology system more integrated, systematic and coordinated, the Central Commission for Deepening Overall Reform had asked for the formulation of the Implementation Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Science and Technology System. The plan, officially issued in 2015, contains 10 parts including commercial enterprise innovation, research institution construction, talent incentive, commercialization of achievements, scientific and technological finance, military-civilian integration, innovation in governance, open innovation, innovation ecology, regional innovation, 32 reform measures, 143 policies, and involves more than 40 departments including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Development and Reform Commission. The reform of the science and technology system has been extended from scientific research to include the economic and social sectors as well as government management. Its focus

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has shifted from R&D management to innovation services, which will benefit the general public instead of just scientific and technical personnel. Therefore, the reform has become more relevant, complex and influential. In respect of macro-management systems and mechanisms, a national consultation system for scientific and technological policy-making has been established to make policy decisions more scientific, democratic and based on the rule of law. Reform of the management of science and technology programs has been successfully completed, which has better optimized the layout of science programs. With respect to fundamental institutions, the national science and technology reporting system and the national innovation survey system have been fully implemented, and the system of openly sharing scientific and technological resources has been further strengthened. In terms of the evaluation system, solid strides have been made in reforming the science and technology evaluation system, the technical title system, and the science and technology reward system. A system that classifies evaluations based on quality, performance and contribution has also been established. This not only significantly improves the environment for scientific research but also greatly reduces the burden on researchers. Moreover, a credibility system for scientific research that offers both constraints and incentives has been established to accelerate the fundamental construction of scientific ethics and a fair academic environment. Several incentive policies have been adopted in succession to promote innovation, and more advances in innovation have been applied and commercialized. It is well established that a good market and a supportive policy environment are indispensable for efficient and sustainable science and technology innovation. Therefore, China has promulgated policies and regulations to safeguard its operation. New taxation policies have been introduced to support the R&D activities of small and mediumsized enterprises, while China has also toughened the punishment for IPR infringements with an improved IPR protection system. In addition, steady progress has been made in the construction of a system for the commercialization and application of advances in science and technology. Ever since the “three-step” process—which includes the revision of laws, formulation of supporting policies and deployment of specific initiatives—was completed successfully, the commercialization and application of achievements have been greatly accelerated. By the end of 2021, 671,000 contracts have been signed in the national technology market with a total transaction value of 3.7 trillion yuan.

3.1 Comprehensive Strength in Science and Technology Has Experienced Increased Enhancement Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the innovation-driven development strategy has been fully implemented. Scientific and technological innovation is going through a profound change. Its role in fostering new growth and promoting high-quality development has become more important than

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ever. According to the National Innovation Index Report 2021, China currently ranks 13th, up one place from the previous year, becoming the only developing country to be listed in the top 15 nations on the index. Spending on science and technology has seen rapid growth, and the team of scientific and technological talent keeps expanding. The continuous growth of investment in R&D resources has laid a solid foundation for the development of China’s scientific and technological innovation. From 2012 to 2021, China’s R&D expenditures increased from 1.03 trillion yuan to 2.80 trillion yuan with an average annual growth rate of 11.8%, making China the second largest R&D investor in the world. During the same period, the proportion of such expenditures to GDP has grown from 1.91% to 2.44%, higher than the EU average. The pool of innovative scientific and technological talent keeps expanding, and projects like the Innovation Talent Promotion Program have cultivated numerous top innovators and leaders. From 2012 to 2020, the number of R&D researchers increased from 1.404 million per year to 2.281 million per year, ranking No. 1 in the world.

3.2 Capacity for Scientific Research Has Been Significantly Upgraded, and Major Scientific Achievements Have Been Made China has continued to extend its support for scientific research, especially for basic research, by promoting key areas of scientific research and strengthening the capability for original innovation. With the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key Basic Research Program of China, scientists are capable of engaging at the frontiers of science, scaling the peaks of the scientific world, and scoring a number of major scientific achievements: The quantum anomalous Hall effect was observed experimentally for the first time; the Majorana bound state was discovered in an iron-based superconductor for the first time, and eukaryotic cells for a single chromosome were created artificially for the first time. All of these achievements have contributed to the development of science’s frontiers. The capabilities of research institutions have also been growing. According to the China Statistical Yearbook on Science and Technology 2021, there were 3,109 scientific research institutions in China in 2020, and their combined spending on R&D amounted to 340.88 billion yuan, taking up 14.0% of the national total. Members of Chinese research institutions have published 194,000 scientific and technical papers and applied for 52,477 invention patents, 29,205 of which were licensed. Research institutions have been more capable of making good use of resources, and producing new knowledge. Though their capability for cooperation in innovation may vary, their ability to provide innovation services has been constantly enhanced. Colleges and universities are becoming more capable of scientific research and talent training. First, the cultivation of new talent has been strengthened. There

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were 18.257 million regular undergraduate students and 3.140 million postgraduate students in China in 2020. Second, the capacity for basic research has been enhanced. The full-time equivalent of China’s R&D personnel was 615,000 people per year, accounting for 11.7% of the whole country. Among the research personnel, 285,000 people were engaged in basic research, accounting for 66.7% of the national total. The spending on R&D was 188.25 billion yuan, taking up 7.7% of the national total. Of those funds, 72.48 billion yuan was spent on basic research, accounting for 49.4% of the national total. Third, the output and commercialization of achievements have been promoted. Applications for invention patents in colleges and universities reached 195,000, accounting for 57.2% of the total patent applications from colleges and universities. Among them, 15,288 patents were transferred and licensed, bringing in a revenue of 2.48 billion yuan. Fourth, international cooperation has intensified. Overseas R&D projects and R&D projects that engaged in cooperation with overseas institutions numbered 2,636 and 12,688, respectively.

3.3 Capacity for Technical Innovation Has Increased Enormously, and Key Cutting-Edge Technologies Have Produced Sustaining Effects From 2012 to 2020, the number of domestic invention patent applications and authorized patents in China increased from 535,000 and 144,000 to 1.345 million and 441,000, respectively, both achievements ranking first in the world. As more of China’s patents are going international, its overseas layout has been increasingly optimized. According to the statistics of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the number of PCT patent applications in China increased from 19,000 to 69,000, also occupying first place in the world. Major breakthroughs were seen in cutting-edge technologies and core technologies in key areas, such as the “Chang’e 4” spacecraft that successfully landed on the far side of the moon for the first time, the new record established by the number of top supercomputers in China, a new breakthrough in advanced laser manufacturing technology, new progress achieved in the manufacturing technology and operation of high-speed rails, and the successful completion and constellation deployment of the BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3). The enterprise-led innovation system has also been improved. A market-oriented technical innovation system with enterprises as the main player has been established that features deeply integrated aspects of industry, education and research. The innovation capacity of enterprises has steadily increased, which is mainly reflected by the following aspects: First, spending on innovation has increased at a steady rate, and the manpower involved in R&D institutions displays an obvious momentum in growth. Second, the capability created by leveraging innovation policies has been enhanced significantly; however, the capacity for innovation cooperation and resource integration remains underdeveloped. This issue can be resolved through the optimization

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and integration of industry-university-research cooperation. Third, there has been an obvious improvement in the capability of using and protecting intellectual property rights, and the creation of intellectual property has been growing steadily in recent years. Fourth, the driving force of innovation in economic and social development, as well as its power to lead by example, has been greatly enhanced.

3.4 Scientific and Technological Innovation Boosts Industrial Development, and More Regional Innovation Hubs Are Set Up Scientific and technological innovation has effectively driven an upgrading of the industrial structure and the development of factors resulting in new growth. The hightech industry is flourishing. In 2020, it saw operating revenues reach 175,000 yuan and revenue from new product sales reach 6.9 trillion yuan. The national high-tech zones are expanding and bringing about huge economic benefits. In 2020, the gross product (GDP) created by 169 national high-tech zones reached 13.56 trillion yuan, equivalent to 13.3% of the national GDP. New products, new business formats and new business models have sprung up, and industries like artificial intelligence, nextgeneration information technology, new energy, high-end equipment manufacturing and new materials have advanced at a faster pace. In 2020, the value added by the “Three new” economy (“Three new” economy is a collection of economic activities with new industry, new business format and new business model as the core content) contributed to 17.1% of GDP. Regional innovation has led the transformation and upgrading of local economies, and major strides have been made in scientific and technological work in key regions such as the coordinated development project in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the construction of a regional innovation community in the Yangtze River Delta. Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have accelerated their efforts to foster globally influential science and technology innovation centers, and initial success has been made in the building of provinces and cities that foster innovation. A framework that supports fundamental regional innovation has been founded on the western, northeastern, central and eastern regions and guided by major strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

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3.5 China Has Actively Joined the Global Innovation Network and Opened up New Opportunities for International Cooperation in Science and Technology China has strengthened bilateral and multilateral inter-governmental exchange and cooperation in science and technology. It has established dialogue mechanisms in innovation with many other countries, and it has extensively participated in and promoted both consultation and practical cooperation on scientific and technological innovation under multilateral mechanisms. It has contributed through active participation and taken the lead in the organization and implementation of international scientific programs and projects. For example, in projects and programs such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope, and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), China has actively undertaken its duties and attentively participated in project implementation and management. It has executed a profound plan of action for science and technology innovation under the “Belt and Road Initiative,” assisting more than 8,300 young scientists from all over the world to work in China, cultivating 180,000 trainees, starting the construction of 33 “Belt and Road” joint laboratories, and cooperating with eight countries to build official science and technology parks. An initial technology transfer network under the Belt and Road Initiative has been established. More Chinese scientific and technical workers have become active participants in international science and technology efforts, devoting themselves to tackling major global problems and challenges. For example, in COVID-19 prevention and control, China has earnestly fulfilled its international obligations, actively promoted the sharing of scientific data and information, and built an open science-sharing service platform accessible to people around the world. While China has made important progress and achievements, we should also note that there are still deficiencies in China’s innovation system due to a late start and technological leapfrogging, and its overall performance needs to be improved. In particular, it is necessary to elevate the leading role of enterprises in innovation, to nurture leading and high-level science and technology enterprises by supporting their capability for original innovation, to cultivate high-end talent, to optimize the allocation of science and technology resources, to create an enabling environment for innovation, to expand international cooperation, and to make greater contributions to the global economic recovery and sustainable development.

4 Jointly Promoting the Comprehensive Opening-Up and Cooperation of the National Innovation System China’s national innovation system must be built based on the new development pattern of “dual circulation” (a development pattern that takes domestic development as the mainstay, with domestic and international development reinforcing each

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other), to address the common challenges facing the world. It must be in support of meeting the practical needs that result from building a community with a shared future for mankind. To promote sustainable and inclusive development both at home and abroad, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation in science and technology through the establishment of a more open national innovation system.

4.1 Strengthening Opening-Up and Cooperation Between Innovation Entities This can be achieved by creating innovation entities that operate with a high degree of transparency to the outside world, by attracting more foreign-funded, innovative enterprises to run businesses in China or set up R&D institutions, by actively participating in open, global science activities, and by encouraging more research institutions to join the European Science Cloud and other new research organization models. In addition, we can also establish a new mechanism to encourage scientists and entrepreneurs to go overseas for innovative research and commercial exploration. We can explore the establishment of a global open research platform and a transnational digital platform based on Chinese research resources.

4.2 Promoting the Free and Smooth Flow of Factors Encouraging Innovation We can establish a global scientific research fund that centers on key issues concerning global sustainable development, allowing joint research by scientists from different countries. We can break the institutional barriers to the cross-border flow of factors that foster innovation, especially talent. We can open up channels that will introduce leading talent in basic scientific research, economics and cutting-edge technology research as well as entrepreneurs who take the lead in new technologies, and we can employ overseas elites in key technological posts. We can build scientific research and innovation hubs to gather outstanding global talent together. At the same time, we can improve the international talent development system and scientific research environment to foster a talent training and introduction system that is internationally competitive. We can set up large international science programs and projects, establish international joint research centers, and share research infrastructure and scientific data. We can also strengthen the allocation of science and technology resources in areas such as carbon peaking, carbon neutrality, public health, agriculture, and science and technology, which are all closely linked to everyone’s livelihood.

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4.3 Improving Institutions and Mechanisms for International Scientific and Technological Cooperation We can be active contributors to the construction of a system that sets out rules of behavior for future global scientific and technological innovation. In addition, we can be major promoters for the construction of new models of global scientific and technological cooperation, new norms of technical ethics, new rules of intellectual property rights and international standards for new technologies. We can establish and improve a management mechanism that encourages international scientific and technological organizations and research institutions to conduct business in China, and we can also establish a mechanism for the launch and evaluation of joint scientific and technological projects with foreign entities in regard to financial allocation and project life cycle. We can further loosen and facilitate the mobility mechanism, pilot study, and work-life systems for foreign researchers, and we can initiate a temporary green card system on a trial basis for researchers engaged in major research projects. We can strengthen multi-level and wide-ranging scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with Israel and other major innovative countries around the world and actively participate in the establishment of multilateral mechanisms for scientific and technological cooperation. We can also implement an action plan for scientific and technological innovation under the Belt and Road Initiative to tap the potential for non-governmental scientific and technological cooperation. We can accelerate the construction of a professional association that supports and serves international scientific and technological cooperation as well as set up substantive, professional institutions and platforms facilitating service and management.

4.4 Fostering an Innovative Environment for Open, Inclusive, and Sustainable Development We can vigorously support and advocate green and inclusive innovation and adopt functional procurement and other methods to support innovation activities. We can select specific areas for less restrictive network supervision and set up special network zones for international scientific research exchanges. We can establish special zones for opening up in science and technology, and we can explore trials in market access, the opening up of science and technology plans, technology trading, and talent introduction for the purpose of establishing an environment that is globally competitive in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. We can optimize an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship that is centered in metropolitan areas and provide more comprehensive policy support. We can push toward global scientific and technological cooperation in areas of public healthcare and epidemic prevention and control, and we can promote the establishment of a global sharing mechanism for major public goods featuring scientific and technological innovation (such as virus

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sequences and vaccines), in order to strengthen China’s supply of relevant goods to the world.

Liu Dongmei Ph.D. in Management, Ph.D. supervisor, an expert who enjoys special allowances from the State Council, and winner of the “May 1st Labor Medal” among the Central government departments. She is currently the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, and she has long been engaged in research on strategies and policies for scientific and technological development; her research interests cover strategies and policies for scientific and technological innovation, regional innovation and development, scientific and technological innovation for rural development, etc.

Outlook on China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation Towards 2035 Fujun Ren

Abstract Innovation culture and innovation ecosystem, referring to a soft environment for scientific and technological innovation that can support the healthy and efficient operation of the national innovation system, are of profound significance to the scientific and technological development of an institution, a region and even a state. The building of innovation culture and innovation ecosystem actually means establishing the value concept and behavior mode to promote innovation, or creating an enabling environment and social atmosphere for innovation. The construction of China’s innovation culture and innovation ecosystem is the call of the time. It has achieved remarkable results though, it still faces multiple problems. However, by learning from international experience, we can always find out the task and methods of how China can construct own innovation culture and innovation ecosystem. Keywords Innovation culture · Innovation ecosystem · Scientific and technological development · Style of study · Science and technology ethics

The National Academy of Innovation Strategy, which is affiliated with the China Association for Science and Technology, has led in researching the “Outlook on China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation by 2035,” thanks to the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The research group has designed a questionnaire and conducted said questionnaire through a survey site for individuals working in science and technology who are part of the China Association for Science and Technology to solicit their suggestions on the construction of a culture and ecosystem of innovation culture. It also held several meetings among experts to discuss and improve the research report. We have compiled the Selected Observations of China’s State Leaders on Innovation Culture and the Innovation Ecosystem after summarizing the observations of General Secretary Xi Jinping on innovation culture and innovation ecosystem. Additionally, we have produced a document entitled Summary

F. Ren (B) University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_8

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and References: Innovation Culture and the Innovation Ecosystem in Representative Countries and completed a research report of more than 100,000 words after reviewing papers on innovation culture and its ecosystem and sorting out the development process and main experience of certain representative countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea, with regard to the culture and ecosystem of innovation. This chapter summarizes a portion of the report, which can be used as a reference for ministries and commissions, scientific communities as well as scientific and technological workers, both nation-wide and region-wide, to promote the construction of a culture and ecosystem that support innovation.

1 Theoretical Framework of an Innovation Culture and Ecosystem 1.1 Definitions of an Innovation Culture and Ecosystem Innovation culture can be defined as an innovation-based cultural system that is characterized by inclusiveness and openness, consultation based on mutual trust and cooperation, pioneering creativity, and tolerance for failure. The term “innovation ecosystem” refers to an environment that functions much like an ecosystem, which is composed of a series of innovation-related elements at the enterprise, industrial, regional and national levels. An innovation ecosystem is complex, diverse, open, dynamic, self-organize and functions as a habitation. As a kind of value orientation, a culture of innovation focuses on the cultural construction of both innovative entities and society. The concept of an innovation ecosystem stresses how to form an innovative environment with vibrant innovationbased activities, optimal allocation of resources for innovation and deeply integrated innovation systems via effective institutions. From the perspective of innovative entities, this ecosystem requires the establishment of an innovation-based value orientation, a sound academic ecosystem, and active and efficient collaboration between innovative entities. In terms of social innovation, the main task of fostering a culture and ecosystem of innovation is to create an inclusive and rational environment of public opinion and an innovation-friendly society. We defined the terms innovation culture and innovation ecosystem based on certain goals, issues and needs, as well as in terms of the strategic research on national mid- and long-term scientific and technological development plans. Thus, we collectively defined these terms as an environment geared toward scientific and technological innovation that can support the national innovation system’s sound and efficient operation. This was done after analyzing existing concepts and their explanations. The core of innovation culture is the scientific spirit that inspires exploration, embraces individuality, encourages innovation, and tolerates failure. It is the value orientation and cultural foundation of innovation activities. An innovation ecosystem

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can achieve the diversification of innovation entities, stimulate the vitality of innovation entities, and promote the flow and organic allocation of innovation factors through effective institutional parameters. This kind of ecosystem determines the spontaneity, adaptability, activeness, and efficiency of innovation activities. A culture and ecosystem of innovation are built upon understanding these terms and pushing the development of science and technology. An understanding of that culture and ecosystem is also a strategic support for the progress of science and technology. Modern Chinese intellectual circles have never ceased their explorations of science and technology, both in terms of theory and practice. Their understanding began from the scientific and technological level and then shifted to the institutional level. Intellectuals’ understanding then dug deeper, the cultural and ecological level. It is believed that this will delve even deeper still in near future. As research digs deeper, our knowledge of the supporting systems and the objective laws behind the development of science and technology will undergo constant updating and enhancement. The knowledge of innovation’s culture and ecosystem will also be put into practice to drive scientific and technological development. Along with the fast development in these broad areas, there has also been development in specific technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, which have brought about new forms of social organization and modes of innovation modes. These new forms in turn result in changes to the culture and ecosystem of innovation, as well as people’s understanding of science, technology, and innovation. China’s science and technology industry has stepped onto the global stage and contributed to the prosperity of all humanity in conjunction with the rest of the world. This effort requires the support of an innovation culture, thus equipping China’s science and technology to stand at the forefront of the world and allowing it to engage in more frequent exchanges with other nations around the world as a universal culture or even civilization. Therefore, it is necessary for us to possess a profound understanding of this culture and ecosystem and develop China’s own culture and ecosystem of innovation.

1.2 Significance of Building an Innovation Culture and an Innovation Ecosystem This kind of culture and ecosystem is of profound significance to the scientific and technological development of an institution, a region, and even a nation. Compared with what could be considered hardware, such as capital and facilities, innovation culture, as a form of software, plays a leading role in the development of science and technology, yet at the same time, its function is imperceptible. Only institutions and cultures that fully utilize human creativity can drive the development of the science and technology industry. An innovation ecosystem, as an environmental system formed by the interaction of various factors related to innovation activities, is an important fertile environment for innovation. A solid innovation ecosystem significantly contributes to the construction of a national or regional innovation system

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as it aids the growth of innovation vitality and enhances the innovation capacity of the state or the region. By fostering such an ecosystem, it is possible to improve the innovation environment, and build a new pattern of innovation, while also dredging the channels for industry-university-research cooperation and leveraging the driving role of innovation in economic development.

1.3 Targets of Building a Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation The purpose of building this culture and ecosystem is to establish the value concept and mode of behavior to promote innovation activities, as well as supporting systems, thus creating an enabling environment and social atmosphere for innovation. A culture and ecosystem of innovation are meant to establish an innovation-based value orientation, a sound academic ecosystem, and an active and efficient collaboration between various innovation entities. In terms of social innovation, they foster an inclusive and rational public opinion environment and an innovation-friendly society. To achieve these goals, there must be supporting measures at the level of government, enterprises and individuals. It is also necessary to coordinate all departments and institutions to jointly build and develop an innovation culture and an innovation ecosystem. They must also drive the healthy development of science and technology and accelerate social prosperity.

2 Main Results of China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation 2.1 The Construction of China’s Innovation Culture and Ecosystem Answer the Call of Our Moment From the perspective of the international landscape, the world is undergoing profound changes the likes of which have not been seen in a century. In this context, China needs to create an innovation culture that complements its image as a responsible power. It must also be an active participant in the formulation of international scientific research rules and accelerate the construction of a culture of innovation with Chinese characteristics in this new era by means of cooperation and opening itself up. Furthermore, China needs to align with international market rules and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. China is in the midst of a transformation to become an innovative country and is building itself up as the world’s science and technology power. This moment calls for the guidance of advanced innovation culture and the safeguards of an optimized innovation ecosystem. In light of this, we need to improve China’s academic style

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and ethics and establish a common understanding and value orientation for society as a whole. This is a value orientation that respects knowledge, advocates innovation, protects property rights, and embraces diversity. We must build a market-oriented innovation system in which enterprises are the main players, and industry, education, and research are deeply integrated. Judging from the development momentum of science and technology, the world is undergoing yet another industrial transformation and scientific as well as the technological revolution, which poses a revolutionary challenge to the organizational model of innovation, our education models, and human cognitive tradition. In view of this, corresponding adjustments must be made to the culture and ecosystem of innovation. We should promote the development of open and network-based scientific research organizations, and encourage and guide the establishment of new research and development institutions to realize the common development of diversified innovation entities. In addition, we should spread the scientific spirit, cultivate the ethics of science and technology, and advocate for a positive innovation culture for the purpose of creating an education environment that is free, relaxed, and innovative.

2.2 Main Results and Problems of China’s Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation 1. The important course of China’s innovation culture and ecosystem of innovation China’s innovation culture as well as its innovation ecosystem has gone through five major stages. In the first stage (1949–1978), also known as the initial stage, China launched what was referred to as a “big science” system that is had planned. This marked the formation of an early form of culture and ecosystem of innovation. In the second stage (1978–1992), this initial culture and ecosystem were developed to a certain extent and scale. Following the National Science Conference held in March 1978, China’s innovation culture and ecosystem gradually began to recover. In the third stage (1993–2005), the nation’s culture and ecosystem of innovation garnered increasing attention, and a strategic plan was gradually formed. China had rolled out a series of scientific and technological innovation strategies, formally proposed the concept of innovation culture, and included it in the country’s national science and technology plan. It also made a clear proposal for the establishment of a national innovation system. Thus, in this stage, the overall strategy for China’s innovation culture and innovation ecosystem at the state level was basically complete. In the fourth stage (2006–2011), China’s culture and ecosystem of innovation went through a period of constant improvement. China at that time comprehensively promoted the construction of a national innovation system with Chinese characteristics with the aim of building an innovation system in which enterprises were to be the main players, and industry, education, and research were integrated. As a result, there was a consolidation of China’s innovation culture and its innovation ecosystem.

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In the fifth and present stage (since 2012), the construction of China’s innovation culture and ecosystem has been further promoted and accelerated as a national strategic goal. In order to fulfill the main goal and mission of improving China’s national innovation system, the nation has systematically put forward a path of development for innovation culture and accelerated the construction of an innovation ecosystem. 2. The main results of the culture and ecosystem of innovation in China Systems and mechanisms have been improved, as well as the manner study in which they are studied. First, the reform of macromanagement institutions has been deepened, and more efforts have been invested in enhancing research. For example, in 2018, the Ministry of Science and Technology established a department for science and technology supervision and credit construction, given the existing issues in China’s science and technology industry, such as project approval mattering more than the process in management, the lack of effective supervision on the progress and quality of scientific research projects, and low input and output efficiency. This was China’s first institution that was established to undertake the work of building a supervision and evaluation system for science and technology as well as handling scientific and technological evaluation and management. Second, the institutional system has been gradually improved to provide safeguards for the creation of a certain style of research in academia. For example, the “13th Five-Year Plan for National Science and Technology Innovation” was issued in 2016 to drive the construction of the overall academic environment through government functions and an evaluation mechanism. The “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity” was issued by the General Office of the CPC and General Office of the State Council in 2018 to specify the guiding ideology, basic principles, main objectives, construction tasks and the management subjects for the construction of scientific research integrity in the new era, which calls for integrity supervision and management covering the whole process of scientific research and related scientific research activities. The “Opinions on Further Promoting the Spirit of Scientists, Strengthening the Work Style and the Style of Study Construction” was issued by the General Office of the CPC and General Office of the State Council in 2019 to inspire and guide people working in science and technology to pursue the truth and scale new heights. It also encouraged them to foster values widely recognized and followed by the scientific and technological community and to accelerate the cultivation of a strong spirit that would drive the sound development of science and technology as means of creating a society that respects science and research talent. This proves that the CPC and the government have always placed a high value on the way in which scientific research is conducted as well as the approach used for scientific studies. The science and technology community has shown more confidence in innovation, and the environment for scientific research and innovation has witnessed gradual improvement. First, we have greater confidence in innovation and national development goals. According to one of our surveys, 58.3% of workers in science and technology believe that the scientific research environment in China has improved significantly compared with five years ago. Second, the policy environment

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for innovation and the environment for scientific research have been optimized. The government has introduced a wide range of policies and measures to create an environment for innovation. The same survey shows that 51.9% of individuals working in science and technology think China has a good policy environment for innovation, but there is still much improvement to be done, such as creating an environment with more tolerance for failure (31.4%), academic independence (29.3%), and challenges to academic authority (28.8%). Third, there have been improvements in the area of scientific research integrity has been improved, and people in the science and technology field have shown a higher degree of self-discipline. China has established a distribution principle targeted at increasing the value of knowledge and gradually optimized an evaluation mechanism for incentives. The implementation of this distribution policy can stir up enthusiasm for innovation among those working in science and technology. For example, in terms of scientific research evaluation, the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity” issued in 2018 proposes to deepen the reform of the scientific research evaluation system and adhere to classified evaluation that highlights character, capability, and performance with priority given to the character. The industrialization of scientific and technological achievements has been accelerated, and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship has formed. Over the past 30 years, business incubators nationwide have carried out 193,800 incubationrelated activities, giving rise to an incubator culture that respects and looks up to entrepreneurs. This culture encourages innovation and tolerates failure. Furthermore, it values important contributions to founding small- and medium-sized scientific and technological enterprises, the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and regional economic development. It has also effectively stimulated and driven the formation of innovation and entrepreneurship culture in local areas. There is now a tighter bound between science and society, with the formation of an innovation-friendly society. First, citizens hold a positive attitude towards science, and the public has gradually come to pay attention to and support the development of science and technology. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), innovation has been built on the foundation of the scientific spirit and geared toward the pursuit of practical innovation. There has also been a rational scientific outlook that has been established in Chinese society as a whole. People’s attitude toward science has changed gradually, and they tend to hold diverse attitudes toward scientific and technological innovation. According to a scientific quality survey conducted by the China Association for Science and Technology, Chinese people pay close attention to the progress of the science and technology sectors, including specific issues such as life and health, environmental pollution and treatment, agricultural development, and the universe and space exploration, as well as new scientific discoveries, inventions, technologies, and medical advances. They also have high expectations for occupations in the sciences and technology. Such occupations have become one of the three kinds of occupations that people in China have the highest expectations for, in addition to teachers and doctors. Second, there has been a steady increase in resources for promoting popular science through

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mass media, and popular science has grown in the level of information conveyed. According to statistics from the Ministry of Science and Technology, in 2019, China published 12,468 popular science books, up 294% from 2006, and distributed 135 million copies, up 174% over 2006. It has published 1,468 popular science journals, an increase of 158% over 2006, and issued 171 million copies of science and technology newspapers, an increase of 323% over 2006. Third, the scientific spirit has been carried forward to expedite innovation-driven development. According to statistics related to the state of science popularization in 2020 released by the Ministry of Science and Technology on November 23, 2021, 8,328 national laboratories, engineering centers, analysis, and testing centers, scientific data centers and other scientific research facilities were open to the public in 2020. That is 28.19% less than in 2019. However, since some of these institutions accepted online reception and visits, the number of visitors reached 11.5552 million, up 21.89% over 2019. Fourth, brand events for innovation and entrepreneurship competitions have been held to promote an innovation culture. For example, the annual “National Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week” has given a strong boost to fostering both a culture and ecosystem of innovation. 3. The outstanding problems and causes of China’s culture and ecosystem of innovation Problem 1: Approaches to studies need to be optimized, as they restrict the quality and driving force of innovation output. This issue can be clearly seen in how the academic community is dominated by an impetuous working attitude and an eagerness for instant success and quick profits. According to the survey, 53.0% of people working in science and technology think that “there’s only one single evaluation standard and no classified evaluation system for different positions.” A total of 43.4% of respondents believe that the “evaluation results do not conform to actual performance competencies,” and 47.4% think the “evaluation results are unfavorable to stimulate people’s enthusiasm for work.” Causes of Problem 1: First, the deviation of the value guidance resulted from the lack of understanding with regard to the connotation, requirements, and importance of innovation culture. On one hand, due to the dearth of knowledge of innovation culture, a mode of administrative management has been applied to science and technology management, which leads to excessive governmental interference in academic institutions and the substitution of administrative power for academic power. This has limited researchers’ academic freedom and the autonomy of research institutions. There has also been a deviation in the value orientation of the current academic evaluation method. Issues have arisen, such as scientific value being replaced by the number of papers one produces, influence factors and citation indicators, unitary evaluation indicators, quantified evaluation standards, simplified evaluation methods, and utilitarian evaluation results. Second, there is a lack of academic democracy, and the scientific and technological resources are not all allocated based on quality, contribution and performance. Appraisal group members and the leadership of academic institutions have an enormous influence or power over important links of interests considered vital to scientific researchers because the group of “academic leaders”

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includes discipline leaders. These links include project declaration, the distribution of students, capital allocation, publishing and appraisal of research results, and academic title evaluation. Some researchers may resort to inappropriate tactics in an attempt to secure academic resources via interpersonal relationships. At present, the allocation of academic resources in China is not entirely based on academic contribution and innovation performance; the academic committee and peer review have not performed their due roles, and there is no fair academic environment. Third, there is no sufficient and stable investment in science and technology from the government. A mechanism and environment that are failure-tolerant have yet to be cultivated. Some regulatory mechanisms for science and technology management still lag behind the development and demands of scientific and technological innovation, and fault-tolerant mechanisms to encourage innovation and tolerate failure has yet to be established and await further exploration. The lack of these elements has curbed the enthusiasm of researchers to boldly explore and challenge the unknown. An innovation environment that encourages free exploration and the embracing of failure should be developed. Problem 2: There is a lack of consciousness with regard to scientific research integrity, and academic misconduct is common. This issue can be clearly seen in how people demonstrate a low aware of scientific research integrity. According to the survey, only 13.5% of workers in the fields of science and technology say they have a “very good understanding” of scientific research ethics and academic norms; 15.1% have a “basic understanding,” and 23.3% have “little understanding.” Additionally, academic misconduct is hardly a new issue. Papers suspected of plagiarism and fraud are frequently reported by the press. The Causes of Problem 2: First, a lack of education in scientific research integrity leads to dishonesty in scientific research. The survey indicates that more than onethird of workers in science and technology do not know the relevant regulations that inform scientific research ethics and the nature of a study, which suggests that a sizeable gap remains in the education of scientific research integrity for individuals who work in the fields of science and technology. Second, punishments in response to academic misconduct are lacking. Such responses to major incidents or mistakes make them less serious and eventually reduce misconduct to a non-issue. The law is not applied to common problems, which has resulted in lower “unlawful” costs for scientific research dishonesty. Third, the existing supervision on scientific research integrity is mainly conducted after the event, without preventative measures put in place beforehand. A review of 102 policies related to scientific research integrity issued by China’s central government and the ministries and commissions from 1980 to 2017 shows that most of the existing policies focus on the management of an issue after the fact, while only 24 policies refer to prevention. Problem 3: Ethical governance of science and technology needs to be improved, and there must be an enhanced sense of responsible innovation. This issue is reflected in three areas. First, there are scientific and technological events that occasionally run counter to ethical practices. In recent years, serious adverse events that violate science and technology ethics in China, including transparency in the resulting investigation and the punishment of individuals responsible for the issue, have attracted intense

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attention domestically and internationally. For example, negative public opinion triggered by He Jiankui’s gene-edited babies tarnished the image of China’s science and technology community. Second, there is a vacuum and offside risk in the ethical management of science and technology. The review and supervision mechanism over science and technology ethics is not well-organized, and the review of science and technology ethics is not strictly implemented or even absent from some major projects. Additionally, certain ethical risks exist in scientific research activities that possess solid scientific research value and social significance in the fields of medicine and life science. These risks may cause scientific and technological ethical disputes. Third, the scientific community has insufficient awareness and sensitivity to science and technology ethics. In terms of individuals, researchers demonstrate insufficient understanding and sensitivity. In terms of institutions, they usually have a delayed response that only comes in the wake of a major controversy, due to the lack of measures designed to prevent violations of science and technology ethics. In terms of society, the public has little knowledge of science and technology ethics, and they are often misled by the media, so-called “we-media,” and other news sources. Causes of Problem 3: First, there are gaps in the supervision of ethical practices in science and technology. Second, there is a lack of timely governance that demonstrates high ethical sensitivity. Third, indispensable scientific research information is insufficiently open and transparent. Fourth, there is insufficient education and publicity related to science and technology ethics. In colleges and universities, indispensable humanity courses such as science and technology ethics, the history of science and technology, and the philosophy of science and technology are not being popularized, and there is a lack of relevant principles, norms, and declarations of science and technology ethics that are widely accepted and known by the public. Ethical issues of science and technology also attract less attention, discussions, responses, and scientific defenses from Chinese media. Problem 4: The concept of innovation culture is not well-publicized, and its importance and leading role in social culture have yet to be fully understood. There are a number of issues related to this problem. First, the proportion of media science reports needs to be expanded. According to the survey on Chinese citizens’ scientific quality by the China Association for Science and Technology, the main channel for Chinese citizens to obtain scientific and technological information is television (93.4%), and a relevant survey shows that scientific and technological programs account for less than 1% of China’s TV programs. Second, science reports in the media need to be more scientific and accurate. Third, the guiding role media science reports can play and the attraction it generates must be fully leveraged. Causes of Problem 4: First, the public has limited interest in news reports on science and technology, and the media similarly demonstrates less passion for science reports. Second, the scientific quality of individuals operating within scientific media requires further improvement. Third, the construction of media platforms for science and technology needs to be strengthened. Fourth, there is a lack of a sound cooperation mechanism between media and scientific and technological circles. As scientists rarely appear in public, the media have few opportunities to connect with them, and

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a lack of professional knowledge creates difficulties in sharing in-depth communication with them. The absence of a good cooperation mechanism to serve as a bridge with the scientific and technological community has impacted the media’s ability to disseminate the spirit of scientists. Problem 5: There is an insufficient supply source for innovation, and the vitality of innovation requires further enhancement. First, the construction of new innovation entities is lagging, which results in entities that are less diversified. Second, innovation resources are not flowing smoothly, and resource allocation must be optimized. Causes of Problem 5: First, the role of innovation entities is unclear and has overlapping functions. Second, the systems related to scientific and technological innovation should be improved, and the policies of different departments are not well-coordinated. Third, innovation entities fail to establish close cooperative relationships, and they have a weak capability for self-organization. In conclusion, innovation culture should serve as the superstructure of an innovation ecosystem, as well as an important basis for its maintenance. Furthermore, it should play a guiding and decisive role in the construction of an innovation ecosystem. However, China’s current culture of innovation has not been integrated with scientific and technological innovation. Thus, it requires further development. China’s culture and ecosystem of innovation still face limitations and systemic deficiencies. The nature of these two elements is still inconsistent to some extent, which restricts their rich development.

3 International Experiences and Suggestions for Constructing a Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation 3.1 Review of International Experiences Related to the Construction of a Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation Having analyzed the practices and strategic plans of the world’s leading scientific and technological powers, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea, with regard to the construction of a culture and ecosystem of innovation, we provide a summary of their key experiences below. (1) These countries cultivated institutional environments to encourage innovation by building a national innovation policy system. First, they promoted the construction and development of a culture and ecosystem of innovation through national strategies. Second, they established funds for scientific research and an incentive system for science and technology to jointly stimulate the growth of scientific research and innovation. Education, science, research and development have always enjoyed the highest priority in Germany in terms of funds for scientific research; research funds in the US come from a variety of institutions,

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and an abundance of capital provide sufficient impetus for innovation. The UK government has put forward an incredibly long-term commitment to invest in scientific research over a period of decades, with a plan to spend 5.9 billion pounds on scientific research from 2016 to 2021. As the world’s leading countries in science and technology, Japan and South Korea highly value investments in science and technology. In 2017, Japan’s total R&D expenditure accounted for 3.48% of its GDP. South Korea’s total R&D expenditure accounted for more than 4% of its GDP in 2012. Third, they implemented tax reduction and exemption policies to stimulate the vitality of innovation entities. Fourth, they strengthened their respective patent systems to better maintain innovators’ enthusiasm. They focused on the internal governance of the scientific community and the establishment of a good academic ecosystem. First, they improved the scientific research integrity and ethics system, then conducted integrity supervision and ethical regulation on entities related to scientific and technological innovation. Second, they improved the governance structure for scientific research and severely punished academic misconduct. They fostered innovation-friendly societies that are based on scientific culture. First, they strengthened education and cultivated the public’s scientific thinking. Second, they convey developments in science and technology to the greater society to promote public understanding and participation. There is smooth cooperation between innovation entities and full stimulation of innovation vitality. First, these countries strengthened cooperation between institutions by establishing a cooperative system. Second, they incentivized the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. They invested heavily in the construction of scientific research facilities and gathered innovation factors. National laboratories, advanced and largescale scientific facilities, resource-sharing platforms for cutting-edge research equipment, and global large-scale research infrastructure have made great contributions to international scientific research activities.

3.2 The Future Target of China’s Innovation Culture and Ecosystem We have studied and subsequently proposed a target for fostering an overall culture and ecosystem of innovation. By 2035, the systems and mechanisms for China’s innovation culture and ecosystem will be optimized and improved. The value of the scientific spirit will play a leading role, with a culture of innovation culture being deeply rooted in people’s hearts and innovation entities that are active and efficient. This broad target can be divided into the following five specific objectives. (1) The scientific spirit is to be well-publicized. First, any form of malpractice will be abolished within the scientific and technological circles. Second, academic self-discipline will become common, and third, the core values of patriotism,

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innovation, truth seeking, dedication, coordination, and education will play a guiding role. The academic ecosystem will remain solid and healthy. First, scientific and technological innovation activities will be carried out on the basis of integrity and established norms. Second, there will be a sound and complete governance system for ethics in science and technology. Third, China will be the world’s leading power in the creation of academic ethics. Fourth, the concepts of morality in academia, scientific research integrity and scientific and technological ethics will be deeply rooted in people’s hearts. Fifth, scientific and technological workers will take the initiative to assume social responsibilities and possess an awareness of practicing self-restraint and mutual supervision that is formed both consciously and spontaneously. The environment of public opinion will be inclusive and rational. First, all manner of media will play a positive role in guiding public opinion on scientific and technological innovation. Second, there will be an abundance and diversity of platforms for promoting innovation; Third, a balanced and orderly cultural infrastructure for innovation will be established. Fourth, innovation culture will play a leading role in the country’s socialist culture with Chinese characteristics. Society will be innovation-friendly. First, a sound education system for science and technology innovation will be established. Second, the public’s interest, understanding, participation, and value recognition of scientific and technological innovation will be significantly improved. Third, scientific and technological occupations will be more attractive. Fourth, a positive environment will be created that respects knowledge, advocates innovation, loves and dedicates itself to science for all of society. Innovation entities will be coordinated for high efficiency. First, the world’s leading science and technology evaluation and reward mechanism will be established, which will instill a great sense of gain among individuals working in science and technology. Second, innovation entities will be more diversified. Third, there will be an innovation network that runs smoothly. Fourth, the vitality of innovation will keep growing. Fifth, the sharing of innovation resources will become open and efficient, which will attract international innovation factors to assemble. Sixth, China will be an active participant in the global governance of the innovation ecosystem and a player on the world stage of innovation.

3.3 Key Tasks in the Construction of a Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation (1) Vigorously promoting the spirit of scientists and establishing a positive learning style and sound ethical governance system. We should engage in a form of soul searching that is guided by the spirit of scientists. First, we should engage in in-depth research and analysis to form an

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innovation-based value system with Chinese characteristics. Second, we should carefully summarize the scientific spirit and patriotism that are so valuable and have been embodied by scientists in previous generations. Additionally, we must prioritize publicizing scientists’ achievements so that the public can have an intuitive understanding of the scientific spirit, and scientists can respect scientific research even more and love innovation. We should take practical actions to build a responsible governance system for science and technology ethics. First, we must foster an awareness of scientific research ethics, while also establishing and developing systems of scientific and technological ethics and scientific research integrity. We should carry out research domestically and internationally, reach a consensus on scientific and technological ethics, and strengthen the discipline construction of scientific research integrity and ethics for science and technology. It is necessary for us to raise ethical awareness among individuals working in the field of science and technology. We should improve policies and regulations for scientific and technological ethics and scientific research integrity, while at the same time establishing and improving relevant systems and norms for scientific research credit management through laws and regulations, departmental rules, institutional systems, industry guidelines, standards, norms, etc. Second, the ethics system for science and technology as well as the governance system should be consolidated. We should promote the establishment of a hierarchical national governance system for science and technology ethics, accelerate the construction of institutions that handle review for science and technology ethics at all levels, and advance the drafting and promulgation of laws and regulations, such as national guidelines of science and technology ethics, and relevant rules for management and implementation. We should improve the way in which studies and work are approached. First, we can take advantage of the guiding role evaluation can play. We can improve the systems of classified assessments, multiple evaluations, and medium- and long-term performance evaluations for institutions such as universities and research institutes and leverage the guiding role played by the spirit of innovation. We can also establish an evaluation system based on the quality, contribution, and performance of scientific and technological innovation. Second, we should enhance academic democracy and reduce administrative interference. Scientific research institutions should have autonomy in how they use and evaluate talent, as well as the use of funds and academic research. Additionally, the authority to examine and approve professional titles should be delegated to lower levels. We should encourage academic contention, stimulate critical thinking, advocate academic freedom, and respect the individuality of scientists. There is also a need to formulate fault-tolerant management measures for scientific and technological innovation. Third, we can establish a sound monitoring and evaluation mechanism for academic style. We can improve the policy system for monitoring and the governance of scientific and technological innovation throughout the whole network, set up academic supervision institutions at the national level, and continue to promote a positive academic atmosphere and work style. Fourth, we can optimize a reward system to stimulate the enthusiasm of scientific and technological innovators. By encouraging social institutions and organizations to actively set

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up international science and technology awards, we can draw society’s attention to science and enhance China’s influence in the world. We can improve the basic system to guarantee the credibility and influence of science and technology awards, establish a fair and standardized operating mechanism, highlight the role of the scientific community, and constantly explore a model of sustainable development for science and technology awards. (2) Stressing the importance of innovation culture and consolidating the platform for said culture. We can implement a project to foster a culture of innovation in this new era. First, we can consolidate the construction of diversified infrastructure for innovation culture. In particular, we can strengthen the construction of a balanced education infrastructure for a nationwide innovation culture, establish and improve innovation centers, experience centers or other new institutions tied to an innovation culture. We can add elements of scientific and technological innovation to existing public cultural infrastructure such as museums, libraries and cultural centers. We can exhibit the history of science and technology, local scientific and technological achievements, and famous individuals in science and technology more frequently. Moreover, we can attach greater importance to launching paper media, new media about scientific and technological innovation, and other multi-channels and training talent to disseminate innovation culture. Second, we should improve the system of innovative education and increase the proportion of scientific and technological innovation in formal, social and family education. In this regard, courses about the scientific spirit and innovation culture can be listed as compulsory general courses in colleges and universities, and there can be wide propagation of education focused on science and innovation for all ages. Third, we can add special projects for fostering innovation culture in major R&D plans, strengthen theoretical research on innovation culture, and accurately grasp the needs for innovation culture at a given time. Moreover, we can implement a plan to improve our ability to publicize scientific and technological innovation. To be more specific, we can take the following actions: First, we can strengthen the publicity of the innovation culture and expand its social influence. This involves several actions that can be taken. We can shape the image of Chinese scientists in the new era by encouraging mainstream media, social organizations, colleges and universities, and scientific research institutions to provide media coverage for scientific and technological innovation in a comprehensive and multi-faceted way through multi-channels with the theme of “Carrying Forward the Spirit of Chinese scientists in the New Era.” We can also hold regular lecture tours to promote the scientific spirit and build an innovation culture. We can encourage all kinds of media to report more on scientific and technological innovation and ensure the quantity and quality of these media reports, while also adopting communication methods that are widely accepted by the public, as well as tracking and following up on hot scientific and technological issues. We should not only publicize positive examples in the circles of science and technology, but also expose negative cases in a timely manner to reinforce national confidence and the cultural environment of a society

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that takes innovation as its own responsibility, thus creating a healthy cultural environment for innovation. Second, we can monitor reports on science and technology throughout entire networks, ensuring the authenticity, objectivity and accuracy of the reports. We can establish an effective content correction mechanism to detect and correct misleading reports without delay. Thirdly, we can create a society that respects talented individuals and innovation. We should promote public participation in scientific and technological innovation so that the public will have a keen interest in, a correct understanding of, and a proper attitude toward scientific and technological innovation and related work. By doing so, occupations in science and technology will be more attractive. (2) Building a market for fair competition and enhancing the intrinsic vitality of the innovation ecosystem. We can optimize the innovation environment. First, we can deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system, leverage the role of the market, create a market for fair competition, and stimulate enthusiasm among all types of enterprises in technological research and development. Second, we can improve the management system for scientific research and grant scientific research institutions autonomy to make innovations. Third, we can remove administrative barriers, encourage the flow and sharing of factors, improve the links between innovation systems, and promote innovation ecosystems that can co-exist and are mutually beneficial. Fourth, we can make full use of modern information technology and establish an efficient information dissemination mechanism. Fifth, we can formulate measures for sharing of scientific and technological resources to increase the enthusiasm of scientific research institutions to combine their resources, and accelerate the dispersion of said resources. Sixth, we can participate in the global governance of the innovation ecosystem, build an open and shared platform for innovation, actively promote international cooperation and exchanges for innovation, and cultivate various forms of international cooperation in the area of science and technology. Seventh, we can optimize and effectively implement an incentive system, improve the national mechanism for income distribution, increase the proportion of innovation factors in income distribution, and increase enthusiasm among scientific and technological innovators. We should implement projects that enhance the vitality of innovation. First, we can explore establishing a market-oriented scientific research system, increase the diversity of innovation entities, foster new types of institutions for the commercialization of R&D and scientific and technological achievements, and enhance the intrinsic vitality of the innovation ecosystem. Second, we can cultivate several interdisciplinary service personnel for technology transfer, encourage high-end personnel to enter the innovation field, and achieve the optimal allocation of capital, human resources and scientific and technological resources. Third, we can mobilize enthusiasm from private enterprises for innovation, leverage the guiding role government

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funds play, set up innovation funds for private enterprises, increase support for scientific and technological innovation of private enterprises, and encourage private universities and enterprises to establish research institutions. Fourth, we can improve policies for innovation and entrepreneurship and support the development of innovative start-ups.

3.4 Reform and Safeguard Measures for the Construction of a Culture and Ecosystem of Innovation 1. Vigorously promoting the spirit of scientists throughout society First, we can steadily promote the collection of data on the academic growth of senior scientists and draw attention to examples of excellent scientists. We can study the spirit of excellent scientists extensively and deeply to create a proper mental outlook for the academic community. We can establish a long-term effective mechanism for publicizing the spirit of scientists, under which science and technology, as well as education and publicity departments that will work with scientific and technological associations. Mass media can be used to propagate the moving work of scientists in a timely and comprehensive way. We can also publicize the winners of meritorious awards, such as the award of “people’s scientists.” This would honor national heroes and major figures in scientific and technological circles; it also encourages people working in science and technology to inherit and carry on the glorious tradition of scientists from past generations. Second, we can put forward values that are widely recognized and followed by scientific and technological circles. Through the establishment of columns and specialized journals, the organizing of symposia and seminars, and the issuing of proposals and open letters, we can continuously strengthen the publicity of value orientation based on patriotism, innovation, truthseeking, dedication, collaboration, and education in the scientific and technological circles. We can create a solid scientific and cultural environment with institutions such as academic societies, research institutes and universities as the key player to strengthen the guiding role of the spirit of scientists in the academic community. Third, we can stabilize special funding support for innovation and culture. In the national plan for science and technology projects, it is specified that 3%-5% of funding will be used to cultivate innovation culture, support its theoretical research and social dissemination, the development of curriculums about scientific and technological ethics and scientific research integrity, and public participation in activities to promote the construction of innovation culture. We can pay attention to the construction of an innovation culture in scientific research institutions and carry forward the spirit of scientists in the new era. 2. Establishing a sound system for ethical governance of science and technology First, we can improve the operating mechanism of the National Science and Technology Ethics Committee and gradually establish a system for ethical governance of

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science and technology that is interconnected and hierarchical. We can strengthen the responsibilities of the main players in ethical governance of science and technology such as institutions of higher learning, research institutes, medical institutions and other related units; we can intensify the collaborative governance of scientific and technological associations, academic publishing and research funding institutions. We can study and establish a system for ethical governance of science and technology. Additionally, China can build up a nationwide platform for the registration of scientific and technological ethical reviews to track scientific and technological ethical research activities and their ethical review results to promote the standardization and transparency of ethical reviews. Second, we can set up several research centers for scientific and technological ethics. By cultivating research teams, we can strengthen research on the theory of scientific and technological ethics and the frontier trends of international governance, and receive timely advice and suggestions for governance over scientific and technological ethics. We can enhance the publicity and education of scientific and technological ethics, cultivate the ethical consciousness of scientific and technological personnel, and promote responsible innovation. We can promote the history of science and technology, philosophy of science and technology, ethics of science and technology and other humanity courses in science, industry, agriculture, medicine and other majors in scientific research institutions and colleges, to shape ethical awareness in the educational field. We should encourage societies, institutions and industries to raise awareness of primary responsibility, and establish and improve the construction of internal science and technology ethics based on the virtue of self-discipline. 3. Strengthening the governance on the source of scientific research integrity and the joint governance of science and technology supervision First, we should implement the Central Committee’s reform on the construction of scientific research integrity in a comprehensive way. We should continue to do well in the overall coordination and macro guidance on scientific research integrity in the natural sciences and the philosophy of the social sciences, while also improving the working mechanism, system construction, and responsibility system. We should strive more to enhance prevention, increase funding and incentives for research related to the construction of scientific research integrity, and support the compilation, recording and dissemination of research integrity textbooks, cases, videos and other relevant materials. Research integrity should be included in compulsory courses for college students and be part of training for scientific researchers and teachers. We should take further practical actions to fulfill the primary responsibility of the scientific research units for credit construction. The commitment and review of scientific research integrity will be fully adopted to the scientific research projects funded by the government. We should conduct strict investigation and management on scientific research integrity cases, ascertain where the accountability lies, expose more instances of scientific research dishonesty, and strengthen joint punishment. We should establish and improve a mechanism for early warnings, discovery, and correction of dishonesty in scientific research. We should continue to promote the application of information technology to scientific research integrity and excel at

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the collection and sharing of integrity information. We should continue to monitor ghostwriting of papers and clear such works out of the network, regularly publish an early warning list of academic journals, reinforce the integrity and ethics of domestic academic journals, and intensify the long-term mechanism for maintaining scientific research integrity. Second, we should implement overall planning and coordination to promote cooperative governance between different departments and perform front-line supervision and management duties of professional project management institutions and the daily internal management and supervision responsibilities of project units in earnest. We should establish and improve a major supervision mechanism that is integrated, coordinated, all-inclusive, standardized, and orderly with well-defined responsibilities, then consolidate the coordination of work, institutional regulation and accountability mechanism. Whole-process supervision with prior commitment and contract, random check during the process, and post-performance appraisal and integrity record should be done for personnel and institutions participating in the management, implementation and evaluation of planned science and technology projects, including policies, planning, planned projects of science and technology, scientific research base, scientific and technological personnel, scientific research institutions, and science and technology awards. We should make full use of big data and other modern information technology and rely on the national science and technology management information system to establish a risk warning mechanism to detect small risks earlier and prevent them. We should establish an accountability mechanism for evaluation experts and third-party institutions, as well as a feedback mechanism for supervision and evaluation results to create closed-loop management. 4. Deepening the reform of the science and technology evaluation system and building a good academic environment First, we should deepen the reform of the science and technology evaluation system. To fulfill the main task of stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of researchers and the target of building a scientific, standardized, efficient and honest science and technology evaluation system, we should further optimize the evaluation mechanism of scientific research projects and improve evaluation methods and standards of scientific and technological personnel. It is also necessary to optimize the evaluation system of scientific research institutions. We should have an overall plan for science and technology evaluation and optimize the evaluation mechanism to form a classified evaluation system that meets the requirements of innovation-driven development and the principles of scientific and technological innovation. It should be an evaluation mechanism that stresses quality contributions and performance. We should utilize the guiding role of evaluation and reduce the burden on researchers and institutions to create an honest scientific research environment that is favorable to research and the pursuit of excellence. Second, we should ensure that scientific research institutions have autonomy in terms of how they use and evaluate talent, the use of funds, and academic research. A three-in-one management system that combines decision-making, implementation, and supervision will be established to reduce administrative intervention in scientific research. We should actively promote

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the reform of the assessment of professional titles and access to vocational qualifications, and delegate the power of examination and approval of professional titles to lower levels in a reasonable way, especially for senior professional titles. Third, we should establish a complete research and monitoring platform that accommodates various styles of study and work. By relying on the survey network of workers in science and technology and other survey platforms to form an effective detection mechanism for the style of their work and study, we can gain a timely understanding of the cultural atmosphere of the science and technology community. Relevant regulatory agencies will also formulate supporting policies and measures based on relevant information. Fourth, we should encourage academic contention, stimulate critical thinking, advocate academic freedom, and respect the personality of scientists in academic research. We should value free exploration and establish a fault-tolerant and error-correcting mechanism that encourages innovation and tolerates failure. 5. Improving the science and technology reward system and leveraging the guiding role of innovation value First, we should encourage social institutions and organizations to set up international science and technology awards that are globally influential. We should actively invite and absorb overseas experts to ensure the international recognition of the winners and their achievements, improve and strengthen the status of scientific and technological personnel in society, the scientific community in China and even around the world. We should also stimulate young people’s love and pursuit of science so as to stress the importance of science throughout society. Second, we should emphasize the role of the scientific community and encourage social forces to set up rewards. We should tap into the potential of institutes, science and technology societies in establishing rewards while maintaining the key role of scientific community, and improve the quality of awards, expand the academic and social influence of awards, and constantly explore a mode of sustainable development for science and technology awards. Third, we should establish a fair and standardized operating mechanism. We should ensure the diversified sources of the incentive funds and the independence of the reward process. Administrative units and awarding institutions shall not interfere in the review and decision of the awards. The selection and composition of the award referees and the review committee shall comply with established norms, and the information of the judges shall be strictly confidential. We should expand the sources for and numbers of review experts. More stress should be laid on peer review as the core link of award review. We should ensure that the award candidates will be fully recognized by peers and guarantee the authority of the peer review process. We should improve the recommendation and nomination system, adopt a back-to-back peer recommendation mechanism to prevent the manipulation of rewards, and ensure the fairness and justice of reward evaluation. In order to prevent the temptation of benefits and guarantee an award’s credibility, there should be a supervisory committee that is independent of, parallel to, or higher than the selection committee. Finally, a mechanism for supervision and handling objections should be established to fulfill the duty of supervision.

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6. Deeply rooted innovation culture First, we should improve society’s understanding of innovation activities, making scientific and technical occupations more attractive and helping people understand more about innovation, admire innovation, and tolerate failure. We should support all types of media in creating high-quality science and technology columns, seek out and widely publicize examples of local-level scientists and innovation teams, and create an atmosphere of public opinion that respects talent and innovation. We should encourage workers in science and technology to cooperate with the media and communicate with the public to facilitate the public’s participation in and understanding of science. Second, research into innovation culture should be embedded in funding research projects in the natural sciences to enhance cultural factors in scientific and technological innovation. We should increase support for research on innovation culture from the Natural Science Foundation and the Social Science Foundation, with a focus on theoretical and practical research in interdisciplinary fields between scientific and technological innovation as well as the humanities and social sciences. We should build a theoretical system and establish scientific methods for a spirit that emphasizes science and craftsmanship. We should also support the supervision and evaluation of innovation culture. Additionally, we should pay close attention to the development of the world’s science and technology and keep in step with the times and the development momentum by researching artificial intelligence, big data, and new ethical issues brought by genetic engineering technology. There should be prospective studies on issues related to innovation culture as well. With the progress of scientific and technological innovation, we will guide the public to understand the development momentum of science and technology and establish an outlook of scientific development and the right values. Third, we should strengthen the innovative education system. We should encourage and support the media, universities, scientific research institutions, enterprises and institutions, and national institutes and associations to build research bases for education in innovation culture and scientific culture that covers all of society. We should promote a scientific spirit on campuses and in classrooms, guide students to have a correct understanding of the relationship between traditional Chinese culture and scientific culture and accelerate the natural development of innovation culture. We should enhance the free opening of public cultural infrastructure which will be evaluated by the key indicator of whether this infrastructure is carrying and exporting innovation culture. We should rely on science and technology museums, state key laboratories and large scientific installations to carry out content mining and the public dissemination of innovation culture, develop new channels of innovation culture such as innovation centers and experience centers, and build numerous education bases that foster the spirit of scientists. The construction of a culture and ecosystem of innovation should be implemented under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and be based on the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s observations and instructions on the construction of this culture and ecosystem. It requires

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comprehensively implementing what is referred to as the five-sphere integrated plan and the four-pronged comprehensive strategy. It means adhering to innovation as the first driving force for development and vigorously promoting comprehensive innovation with scientific and technological innovation as the core of that effort. The construction of a culture and ecosystem of innovation should be seen as the strategic priority of scientific and technological development in the new era. The system and mechanism of an innovation culture and its ecosystem will be further optimized and improved through society’s long-term unremitting efforts. The result of that optimization will allow innovation culture to become deeply rooted in people’s hearts, produce innovation entities that are active and efficient, strongly promote the scientific spirit, cultivate a sound academic ecosystem, create an inclusive and rational environment, and give rise to an innovation-friendly social atmosphere.

Fujun Ren Second-level professor of the National Academy of Innovation Strategy and adjunct professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. He took posts as the director of the China Research Institute for Science Popularization, director of the General Office, director of the Research and Publicity Department, and president of the National Academy of Innovation Strategy of the China Association for Science and Technology.

China to Promote International Cooperation in Scientific and Technological Innovation with the Development of Beijing as a Scientific and Technological Innovation Center Fang Li Abstract China adheres to an innovation-driven development policy, and has vowed to become self-reliant in science and technology, strengthen basic research, achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, promote innovation, better protect intellectual property rights, and make greater efforts to transform the country into a science and technology powerhouse. To achieve those goals, China has established a project of building the capital Beijing into a national sci-tech innovation center with global influence which will act as global leaders in cutting-edge technology, lead the trend of industrial development, gather high-end innovation platforms, and maintain an open environment. In this chapter, we mainly discuss about the reason why and how we build Beijing into an international scientific and technological innovation center, including the focus and initiatives of the project. Keywords Beijing · International sci-tech innovation center · Self-reliant in science and technology · Pilot free trade zone · Talents

While delivering an important speech at the ceremony for the Communist Party of China’s centenary, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping stated, “As we put conscious effort into learning from history to create a bright future, we must uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics.” He also stressed that, “On the journey ahead, we must adhere to the Party’s basic theory, line, and policy and implement the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy. We must deepen reform and opening up across the board, ground our work in this new stage of development, fully and faithfully apply our new development philosophy, and foster a new pattern of development. We must promote high-quality development and build up our country’s strength in science and technology.” Self-reliance in science and technology is not only the fundamental driving force for national progress and social development, but F. Li (B) Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_9

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also the prerequisite for advancing economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress in the new era. As China accelerates the formation of a new development pattern in which the domestic economic cycle plays a leading role and the domestic and international economic cycles complement each other, the development of an international scientific and technological innovation center is a sure path for the country to achieve both high-level self-reliance in science and technology and socialist modernization. It is also conducive to China’s efforts in building a community with a shared future for mankind that is based on peaceful coexistence, as well as mutual learning, benefit, and cooperation. It is also conducive to contributing to global economic recovery and growth through “Chinese philosophy,” “Chinese opportunities,” “Chinese solutions,” and “Chinese actions.” In his speech at the 20th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 15th Academician Conference of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 10th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear that, “We need to build an open innovation ecosystem and participate in global science and technology governance.” This requires us to promote innovation to catch up with advancements happening globally. The international scientific and technological innovation center area will allow breakthroughs in important technologies and be a place for making original and leading scientific and technological gains. The center’s development is a key step in promoting innovation to catch up with global advances. It is an important strategic plan made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council based on a new development stage, concept, and pattern that will help China to achieve a high level of self-reliance in science and technology, cultivate national strategic science and technology strength, and build up a high-quality scientific and technological power. It is the historical mission and responsibility of Beijing to accelerate its establishment as an international innovation center; enhance its innovation strength, competitiveness, driving force, and cohesiveness worldwide; create a new platform for scientific and technological talents around the world; and facilitate China’s becoming a strong science and technology power. The acceleration of international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation requires us not only to build popular platforms for international public goods and services that are open to all countries and regions, but also to contribute China’s wisdom and efforts to scientific and technological progress and global economic development. The “Plan for Building Beijing into an International Scientific and Technological Innovation Center during the 14th Five-year Plan Period” officially released by the Beijing Municipal People’s Government on November 24, 2021, provides a blueprint for developing Beijing into an international scientific and technological innovation center. It also outlines the development goals and visions and specifies Beijing’s supportive role as China becomes a strong power in science and technology and better demonstrates China’s contributions in scientific and technological innovation to the world. Additionally, it provides an impetus for Beijing to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation and exchanges with other countries in a comprehensive way and rise up as an important global innovation hub.

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1 Strategic Significance of Establishing Beijing as an International Scientific and Technological Innovation Center During the opening ceremony of the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “The world today is fast-evolving, with many significant changes that have not been seen in a century. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching impact and the global economic recovery is facing serious challenges. Now, more than ever, there is a need for countries to intensify open cooperation and innovation in science and technology and to work together to explore pathways and solutions to important global issues, meet the challenges of our times, and advance humanity’s lofty cause of peace and development.” Science and technology are the primary productive and driving forces for the continuous development and progress of human society. In today’s world, the interests and futures of all countries are so closely inter-connected that they respond to global challenges via cooperation and solidarity. We need science and technology more than ever before because it is only with advanced scientific and technological innovation and their results that we can build a community with a shared future. This is also the only way we can jointly address the prominent issues facing the world: instability and uncertainty, a lack of driving forces for world economic growth, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and surging regional conflicts. We can also tackle non-traditional security threats such as cyber security, major infectious diseases, and climate change. China’s advancements in science and technology drive global progress. According to the “Global Innovation Index 2021” released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China ranked 12th in the world, up 2 places from the previous year. The report speaks highly of China’s progress in innovation, as it has continued to grow and become more resilient at a time when global innovation is slowing down. According to the “Statistics of the World Intellectual Property Organization,” the innovation of Western developed countries like the United States has been impacted negatively since the 2008 financial crisis, while China has seen a significant increase in the number of international PCT patent applications since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, from 6,119 to 59,050 during the period from 2008 to 2019, overtaking the United States for the world’s No. 1 slot in 2019. During the same period, the average annual growth rate of China’s PCT patent applications reached more than 10%, which is much higher than that of other countries, demonstrating China’s strong innovation dynamic and the gradual Eastward shift of the world’s innovation core. It also highlights the leading, contributing, and driving roles of China’s innovation in the broader scope of global innovation. China has consistently worked with other countries to promote economic development by eliminating poverty and to maintain a harmonious and stable society by eradicating differences. It has also facilitated exchanges and cooperation by bridging gaps. It will continue to promote the construction of new international relations and the development of the Belt and Road. Furthermore, it will take practical steps to build mutually beneficial partnerships and remain committed to bolstering global collaboration in

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scientific and technological innovation. Through these efforts, we will guarantee global scientific and technological progress. According to the “Patent Database of the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO),” Beijing ranks first in China in terms of the number and proportion of patent authorizations. Specifically, from 2006 to 2019, the number of patent authorizations in Beijing increased from 4,019 to 26,030. Beijing has become the backbone of China’s technological innovation, playing a major role in national innovation. In recent years, Beijing has made continuous efforts in identifying new technological products (or services), building application scenarios, assisting enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, and developing an international scientific and technological innovation center. Its comprehensive strength in innovation has been significantly enhanced. According to the “2022 Beijing Municipal Government Work Report,” Beijing’s R&D expenditure comprised more than 6% of the GDP in 2021, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 people reached 183.1, ranking first in China. By the end of 2021, there were 29,000 high-tech enterprises in Beijing, accounting for 10.3% of the country’s total. The supporting role of scientific and technological innovation has been sufficiently demonstrated in Beijing’s highquality development. In addition, the city has also secured major achievements in the building of national laboratories, comprehensive national science centers, new R&D institutions, and the innovation consortium. It has also made its own contributions to consolidating the national strategic scientific and technological strength. Going forward, Beijing will develop high-quality precision and advanced industries driven by the new generation of information technology and healthcare technology to inject new impetus into the development of its digital economy. Therefore, as the capital of China, Beijing will endeavor to establish an international scientific and technological innovation center that features a solid scientific and technological foundation, concentrated innovation resources, and dynamic innovation entities that are based on the principles of openness, inclusiveness, cooperation, and sharing. First, we are currently going through a new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation in which Beijing will play a leading role in international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation. The world today is undergoing unprecedented changes that have not been seen in a century, resulting in more complicated global issues. COVID-19 has spread around the world, international relations and order are confronted with deconstruction and reconstruction, and the problems and contradictions facing the international community have become more prominent. Since instability and uncertainty are mounting on the international landscape, the world’s economy still faces numerous challenges. Economic downward pressure, fierce contest to shape global governance, and mounting unilateralism and reverse globalization make it harder to achieve multilateral governance in the international community. Additionally, world peace and development are greatly challenged by intensifying disputes and conflicts over trade, science and technology, finance, culture, and ideology that have been stirred up by the US and other Western countries. A new wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has given rise to a new international landscape in which competition in science and technology, especially among major powers, has become fiercer. In the

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face of such a complex international situation dominated by a growing “technological cold war,” we must strengthen international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation to respond to the risks and challenges. The development of Beijing as an international scientific and technological innovation center and the pursuit of original and leading breakthroughs in science and technology are not only sure ways to build China into a high-level science and technology power, but also an important embodiment of Beijing’s pioneering role in international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation. Second, the entry into a new development stage is conducive to Beijing’s contribution to international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation. A correct understanding of the historical position of social and economic development and the stage of development is of great significance to the scientific analysis of the primary stage of socialism and to the profound understanding of the domestic and international development momentum. It also proves the unity between historical inevitability and the stage-specific nature of development in Marxism, the theoretical basis for the scientific analysis of the dynamic development of the primary stage of socialism. This lesson was learned through the exploration of paths leading to modernization and national rejuvenation, as well as the important foundation for rapid economic development and long-term social stability. The new stage of development brings about a new environment for development. The establishment of Beijing as an international scientific and technological innovation center stands as a firm recognition of the importance of the capital city in international cooperation in terms of innovation, and it will effectively respond to the changes occurring in the world throughout time and history. The new stage of development gives rise to a new principal social contradiction. The development of an international innovation center will resolve the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life from the perspective of capital construction. This new development stage leads to new goals. Transforming Beijing into an international innovation center is a great opportunity for China to embark on a new journey of socialist modernization in terms of capital construction. It is a prerequisite for China to deeply understand, acquire, follow, and apply the law of development to create greater miracles in this new development stage. Against the backdrop of the Chinese nation’s strategic goal of great rejuvenation, and amid a world undergoing changes that have not been seen in a century, we must stay true to the mission of building Beijing into an international scientific and technological innovation center, utilize the city’s role in international innovation cooperation, leverage the new national system, and release more extensive innovation, creativity, and motility to make greater contributions to advancing economic and social development in a comprehensive way and enhance the well-being of the people. Third, the formation of a new development pattern is conducive to highlighting Beijing’s role as a capital to promote international cooperation in innovation. Beijing’s development as an international scientific and technological innovation center will highlight the city’s role in international innovation cooperation. This is an

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important means for the capital city to respond to the new development stage, historical mission, environment, and comparative advantages. Furthermore, such development is a vital key for the capital to better adapt to the demand structure, industrial structure, technical system, and interconnected economy. It also provides an important guarantee for the capital to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed, “Never has science and technology had such a profound impact on the future and destiny of a country or on people’s lives and wellbeing as it does today. China needs scientific and technological solutions and more effort to strengthen innovation as the primary driving force, more than ever, to boost economic and social development.” Positioning the innovation center in the capital city will effectively respond to the new features, requirements, and tasks brought about by the development of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society, effectively tackle the new problems, challenges, and risks that have risen due to the complex international landscape, and reshape China’s advantages in international economic cooperation and competition. In addition, it will empower the capital city to generate new advantages for development and accelerate the removal of institutional obstacles that restrict economic circulation. In this way, it will provide a strategic guarantee for systematic, comprehensive, in-depth reforms; supply a basic guarantee for a smooth domestic economic cycle; and provide a practical guarantee for the mutual promotion of domestic and international dual circulation. Fourth, the new journey of modernization will help the capital city to demonstrate its standard of excellence in scientific and technological innovation cooperation internationally. At present, our scientific and technological strength is taking a qualitative leap forward, from single breakthroughs to the systematic improvement of capabilities with fruitful and remarkable results. In China today, innovation-driven development has become even more important and significant. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed, “We need to build an open innovation ecosystem and be an active participant in global science and technology governance.” He also said, “We need to stimulate the innovation vitality of the talents and build a highland for global talents.” On this journey toward modernization, we need to not only seize favorable opportunities, but also to be keenly aware of instability and uncertainties. When embarking on the journey toward modernization, we need to confirm the original innovation capacity, overall efficiency of the innovation system, integration of innovation resources, distribution of innovation strength, input and output efficiency, talent structure, evaluation system, etc., and stay true to the strategy of innovation-driven development. While focusing on building Beijing into an international innovation center to highlight its standard of excellence, we need to work harder to tackle key issues, difficulties, sticking points, and obstacles; upgrade the national innovation system; speed up the construction of a scientific and technological power; and achieve high-level self-reliance in science and technology.

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2 Focus of Establishing Beijing as an International Scientific and Technological Innovation Center The establishment of Beijing as an international scientific and technological innovation center was a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council based on what is needed at this time in accordance with a comprehensive assessment of domestic and international situations and changes. It is of profound strategic significance. We need to study and understand this deeply to ensure that we are marching forward toward self-reliance in science and technology under the guidance of Beijing’s strategic positioning and development goals in science and technology specified by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We must also earnestly implement the spirit of the speech made by General Secretary Xi Jinping during the opening ceremony of the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum and take solid steps to “strengthen international scientific and technological exchanges with a more open attitude and actively participate in global innovation networks to jointly promote basic research and promote the application of scientific and technological achievements to foster new growth momentum for economic development. In addition, we will strengthen intellectual property rights protection and create a first-class innovation ecosystem. We will also shape the concept of developing science and technology for good purposes, improve global science and technology governance, and enhance the well-being of mankind.” First, we need to prioritize the function of the international innovation center in international exchanges and cooperation in science and technology. This is a requirement for better serving China’s overall diplomatic strategy and for deepening international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation. We must build Beijing into a center for international exchange that is more open to the world and features dynamic international exchanges to provide international services and promote prominent international influence. To this end, we will drive the creation of Beijing’s international market system, international product system, and international science and technology system to decrease the costs of international capital flow, cross-border trade settlement, overseas financing services, and international exchanges in science and technology and to speed up the exchanges between the capital city and the rest of the world in the areas of funds, information, technology, and talent, as well as accelerate the construction of the international scientific and technological innovation center. As has been set out in the “Outline of the 14th FiveYear Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of Beijing,” “we need to meet the new requirements of the new situation as China moves closer to being the center stage of the world, strengthens its critical role in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics, optimizes the environment for international communication, and advances opening-up and cooperation at a higher standard, higher quality, and deeper level.” This requires that we fully deploy a foreign exchange strategy; create new channels, methods, and platforms for foreign exchanges; and uplift foreign exchanges and cooperation to a higher level to establish a global partnership of connectivity and create a new prospect for deepened

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foreign exchanges and cooperation. We must also continue to optimize the infrastructure for international exchanges, increase the construction of important facilities and capabilities for international exchange, and create a comprehensive international service environment to enhance China’s capability of hosting both major national and international events. Second, we need to engage in the global innovation network by relying on the pilot free trade zone. An open platform is vital to the creation of special economic function zones and engagement in the global innovation network. Beijing must leverage this open platform to utilize the advantages of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, better fulfill its role as a pilot field, and deeply engage in the global scientific and technological innovation network. Relying on the open platform, we will explore the experiences of pilot open systems, seek innovative supervision models, actively promote the construction of the international innovation center, and enhance investment facilitation, overall competitiveness, and influence. As the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of Beijing” proposes, “We must continue to strengthen international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, deeply engage in the global innovation network, attract high-quality innovation resources around the world, and create a more open innovation system.” We need to accelerate the construction of innovation bases and build international innovation industrial clusters. Relying on the innovation base, we will produce core components that are in line with international standards, high-end products that meet international requirements, and innovation standards that follow the international development trends to intensify the collaboration of international industrial clusters and develop new strategic partnerships in international science and technology. We will also remain committed to a two-way strategy for Beijing to both attract foreign investment and enter the international market to promote open innovation and innovative cooperation. We will conduct international scientific and technological exchanges, encourage the establishment of international associations of academic freedom, and set up a scientific and technological cooperation platform and non-profit R&D institutions. Additionally, we will jointly build an overseas scientific and technological center and create service platforms for the international development of innovative enterprises. Third, we must consolidate the main platform for scientific and technological innovation and jointly advance basic research. Consolidating the main platform for innovation is the foundation for the development of independent innovation, and independent innovation is the basic foundation for building the international scientific and technological innovation center. We will accelerate the development of state-level international science centers and laboratories to firmly consolidate the main platform for innovation. This will help congregate global talents, technology, and capital and promote the free flow and optimal allocation of such factors to carry out global collaborative innovation in science and technology in an orderly manner. Moreover, it will assist in advancing cooperation in international scientific research and the construction of a discipline system, innovation system, and innovation governance system and speed up the R&D of key technologies and basic research. As the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and

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Social Development and Vision 2035 of Beijing” states, “We need to implement the blueprint of ‘three cities and one district,’ hold high the banner of innovation and reform of Zhongguancun, and build up the main platform for high-quality scientific and technological innovation.” Going forward, we will focus on the construction of new R&D platforms and the layout of basic frontiers. We will also accelerate the construction of functional zones for scientific and technological innovation to improve the ecological efficiency of innovation. We will set up first-class platform clusters for major science and technology facilities to pool innovation factors, and we will work with innovation entities to conduct research on cutting-edge technologies and boost technological breakthroughs in key areas. Fourth, we must coordinate strategic cooperation in science and technology to foster a first-class innovation ecosystem. The government is a key player in coordinating strategic cooperation in science and technology. We need to transform government functions to strengthen the innovation of major scientific and technological institutions and to promote seamless policy integration for innovation cooperation. In addition, we need to find new ways to manage government services to optimize the mechanisms for the construction, investment, operation, and transformation of major science and technology forms; create a first-class innovation ecosystem; and promote the continuous development of new mechanisms for international innovation cooperation. As the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of Beijing” shows, “We need to accelerate the establishment of systems and mechanisms that meet the requirements for the development of scientific and technological innovation and strive to remove barriers and institutional obstacles that restrict innovation.” We must strengthen medium- and long-term strategic planning and policy systems for scientific and technological innovation, unclog channels for the commercialization and application of advances in science and technology, and create scenarios for the application of science and technology. We must also improve the space-time linkage mechanism of the international science and technology innovation center, bring forth new operation mechanism ideas for the capital’s science and technology platforms, and consolidate the coordination mechanism for the construction of the international innovation centers. In addition, we must optimize the mechanisms for project approval, organization, application, evaluation, and decision-making; refine the evaluation mechanism for scientific and technological innovation; and form a more flexible and efficient management mechanism for scientific research projects. Fifth, we must enhance our strategic strength in innovation and improve China’s capacity for global science and technology governance. Innovative talent is the primary resource for international cooperation in scientific and technological innovation and the basic guarantee for the development of global science and technology governance. The best way to increase the international competitiveness and advantages of the talents and tap their full potential is by refining the innovative talent system and mechanism, improving the supporting system, and optimizing the institutional environment. By building up a multi-layer echelon of innovative talent, we can provide intellectual and financial support for the development of science and technology, the construction of the world’s scientific and technological power, and

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the modernization of global capacity for science and technology governance. As the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of Beijing” says, “We need to strengthen supporting policies to create a talent highland to stimulate innovation’s vitality.” This requires us to improve the discovery mechanism of talent, refine the supporting policies, and gather top research talents from around the world. It also requires us to build a young talent reserve and support mechanism to vigorously attract and cultivate young talent, update the evaluation system for scientific and technological talents to stimulate their innovation vitality, and improve the service system for innovation talent and optimize service management.

3 Major Initiatives for Establishing Beijing as an International Scientific and Technological Innovation Center We need to study and implement thoroughly the spirit of the speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the celebration for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. We also need to follow the major instructions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, work together to continuously promote self-reliance in science and technology, and build a new inclusive development pattern to achieve comprehensive, high-quality development. According to the “Plan for Building Beijing into an International Scientific and Technological Innovation Center during the 14th Five-year Plan Period,” the establishment of Beijing as an international scientific and technological innovation center is “an affair of the state” and a key step for Beijing to complete the “five key projects” in the new development pattern. To this end, we need to earnestly implement the “five key projects” development plan, take the lead in establishing the international innovation center, and encourage Beijing to be a pioneer in innovative development. We should also put effort into developing the national comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up in the service industry and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. We should also set up a new highland for Beijing’s reform and opening up. We should spare no effort in building up Beijing into a benchmark city in the global digital economy and work to foster new growth drivers for its economy. We must stimulate and create new demand through supply-side structural reform and build Beijing into an international consumption center. We also need to make greater headway with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development and build Beijing into an internationally competitive economic growth hub. First, we need to build a Beijing center for global venture capital to open up a new stage for the establishment of an international innovation center and highlight Beijing’s role in the development of self-reliance in high-quality science and technology. We need to unswervingly promote the high-quality development of the “Belt

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and Road,” continue to consolidate the bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanism for the initiative, and unclog the Belt and Road economic corridor in a bid to create a new situation of open, inclusive people-to-people exchanges. This should be done to speed up investment liberalization and facilitation and to deepen project cooperation through extensive industrial investment. By making these efforts, we will foster a global venture capital center and continuously prompt enterprises to be more engaged in the Belt and Road. We also need to have more frequent exchanges with countries along the Belt and Road in terms of financial, scientific and technological, trade, monetary, cultural, and industrial cooperation. In addition, we should constantly enhance the connection between the Belt and Road and the dual circulation development pattern and create favorable conditions for the establishment of the international scientific and technological innovation center to provide new opportunities and an innovation ecosystem for international cooperation in science and technology. Going forward, as the capital of China, Beijing needs to fully utilize its role as the political, economic, and cultural center for the Belt and Road. It will work as the “home base” for the initiative and participate in the development of the initiative as one of the four central cities, relying on its important position as the capital city to build an international innovation center in the new era. Second, we need to build Beijing into a benchmark city in the global digital economy by setting up digital economic pilot zones to demonstrate Beijing’s key role in the development of self-reliance in science and technology. The digital economic pilot zones will focus on the new generation of information technologies such as cloud computing, big data, blockchain, the Internet of Things, smart devices, mobile payment, etc. The equipment manufacturing industry involving integrated circuits, chips, biological medicines, engines, precision instruments, artificial intelligence, aerospace, high-end equipment, precision machine tools, new materials, and other important industries such as financial investment, risk management, and sci-tech services will also be covered. In this way, we will create key functional areas for digital trade, digital culture, digital commerce, digital healthcare, digital logistics, and digital finance. We will also build up the demonstration zone for economic innovation, thus improving the integration of industries, driving the development of advantageous industry chain clusters, and achieving a high level of self-reliance in science and technology. Going forward, with the guidance of such documents as the “Action Plan of Beijing to Promote Digital Economy Innovative Development (20202022),” the “Action Plan of Beijing on Building a Pilot Digital Trade Zone,” and the “Action Plan on the Establishment of the Beijing International Big Data Exchange,” and while relying on the Zhongguancun Software Park, the national digital service export base, Jinzhan International Cooperation Zone in Chaoyang District, and the Daxing Airport area in the free trade zone, Beijing will become a national or even global forerunner and demonstration area for the digital economy by setting up a “digital trade port” and functional areas for the emerging digital economy industry cluster and for international exchanges in digital economy and trade, as well as the digital economy integrated service platform. This will accelerate Beijing’s integration into the global innovation network.

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Third, we will leverage what is referred to as the “two districts” to foster an international innovation base, highlighting Beijing’s key role in the development of self-reliance in science and technology. We will rely on the construction of the two districts to build the international innovation base, which will work toward Beijing becoming an international scientific and technological innovation center. We will focus on the construction of national laboratories; make interdisciplinary, collaborative, and whole-chain innovation breakthroughs that center on basic frontier technology, key generic technology, and social welfare and strategic technologies; and strengthen the leading role of the national laboratories in innovation to forge a key force for original innovation breakthroughs. We will develop first-class and major scientific and technological infrastructure clusters, establish key scientific and technological infrastructure alliances, build a network of international scientific and technological exchanges, and implement a strategy to build a comprehensive national science center. We will continue to intensify reforms in intellectual property rights and the use of funds and set up new world-class R&D institutions. We will improve the co-construction and sharing mechanism and the normalized linkage mechanism of innovation platforms for research institutions, universities, enterprises, and governments to promote the output and commercialization of major scientific and technological achievements, comprehensively enhance the innovation capacity of research institutions and universities, increase the level of scientific and technological innovation of universities, and increase the availability of innovation resources to raise basic research to a new level. We will also establish a global scientific and technological innovation laboratory and launch a global innovation think tank in the pilot free trade zones. We will accelerate the construction of the national comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up in the service industry and scientific and technological innovation laboratory in the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone; integrate the scientific and technological innovation intellectual factors; and provide consulting services, research reports, and feedback services for the construction of the global innovation chain in a bid to expand the influence of the global innovation chain at home and abroad. Fourth, we will build up the pilot demonstration zone for the innovation and reform of science and technology systems and mechanisms, take the lead in supplyside structural reform, and highlight Beijing’s key role in the development of highly efficient self-reliance in science and technology. We will promote pilot innovation and the reform of science and technology systems and mechanisms. We will strengthen the top-level reform design of such systems and mechanisms and set up a coordination group for effective interdepartmental and intra-departmental interaction during the reform process. We will promote major cross-level, cross-domain, and cross-department issues such as strategic planning, key task layout, organizational structure, operation and management mechanisms, and risk prevention and response in the development of the international scientific and technological innovation center. For example, we will make solid progress in the innovation of Beijing’s management system and mechanism for the “three cities and one district” with the Huairou Comprehensive National Science Center as the core. Following the principle of unified power, responsibility, and profit, we will promote examination and

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approval authority and delegate administrative power to the lower levels by region, step, and in batches in accordance with the law. A new credit-based supervision mechanism will also be established to gradually promote the transformation of scientific and technological innovation products and factors to the scientific and technological innovation system. With the support of new technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, we will promote the innovative application of Internet + government affairs and provide government services to guide enterprises to participate in international innovation cooperation and the construction of a global innovation chain. In addition, Beijing will also continue to strengthen the construction of the digital government, take the lead in pilot cities that apply new concepts and methods of governance and create a new pattern of digital governance, and constantly provide high-efficiency, high-quality government services for the establishment of Beijing as a scientific and technological innovation center. Fifth, we must accelerate the construction of a multi-tiered team of innovative talents to enhance the strategic strength of scientific and technological innovation, highlighting Beijing’s key role in the development of self-reliance in science and technology. At present, in a world facing profound changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, China has an urgent demand for scientific and technological innovation, innovation talents, and strategic innovation as it takes on the tasks of COVID-19 prevention and control and economic and social development. Going forward, we must adhere to the concept that talented personnel are the primary resource and speed up the training of a great number of innovative personnel who love the Party as well as the country, and are committed to serving the country through scientific research. We must embrace a global vision and rely on universities and scientific research institutions to develop mechanisms for introducing talents and science and technology management and improve the performance evaluation and income distribution incentive mechanism to support and encourage an increase in scientific and technological talents and leaders, excellent engineers, young talents, and high-level innovation teams. First, we will gather the world’s top talents to construct the talent team for the Beijing Scientific and Technological Innovation Center. We will establish a highlevel information system comprised of top scientific and technological experts as a way to recruit top innovative talents around the world who are urgently needed and in short supply. In addition, we will set up research funds for innovative disciplines to attract high-quality and skilled professionals to engage in research for the development of scientific and technological innovation. We will also launch innovation practice bases. The practical application base for industry-college-institute cooperation will be constructed jointly. We will open specialty-orientated courses and strengthen on-the-job training. We will also establish an innovative talent pool for the development of the national comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up in the service industry and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Second, we will refine the evaluation system and institution for scientific and technological talents and establish and improve the income distribution mechanism of innovative talents to promote the selection and training of young outstanding innovative talents, fully stimulate the innovation vitality of the talents, and enhance their

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initiative and enthusiasm. We will also refine the monitoring and evaluation index system for the development of innovative talents to provide a service guarantee for the formation of a multi-level innovative talent system. Finally, we will take advantage of Beijing’s status as an international central city to support international cooperation and exchanges in science and technology with state leaders, top think tanks, international scientific and technological innovation organizations, and international academic research organizations, as well as people who come to Beijing to attend special activities. We will attract foreign personnel in mainstream academic research and social practice in China and in Beijing; leverage the advantages of foreign scientific and technological innovation workers in Beijing according to their number, capability, and influence; enhance the strategic power of building Beijing into an international scientific and technological innovation center; and make the city one of the most important players in international scientific and technological innovation cooperation.

Fang Li Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and researcher at the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology.

Science, Technology, and Health: What Should Be the Focus? Han Qide

Abstract Human health is closely related to economic and social development, while economic and social development is strongly associated with the development of science and technology. In this regard, human health is affected by science and technology to some extent. For example, medical technology can help improve human health and alleviate human suffering from diseases. However, its contribution to national health is limited. We believe we must rely less on the development of medical technology and the provision of medical services to improve the national health, than on the economic and social development, living environment and personal lifestyle. In this chapter, we will mainly discuss how medical technology impacts human health, what the focus of medical technology is and what the right direction of its future development is. Keywords Human health · Medical technology · Medication · Life expectancy · Lifestyle

Current medical technology has made limited contributions to national health. Figure 1 shows the trends of life expectancy of the world population and GDP per capita. The bottom line shows GDP per capita from 1870 to 2019, while the top shows the average life expectancy from 1770 to 2019. It can be seen that the trends of the two curves are quite similar, suggesting that human health is closely related to economic and social development. There has been a consensus, especially since the Industrial Revolution, that economic and social development is strongly associated with the development of science and technology. Figure 2 indicates the development of science and technology and the change of global population since the beginning of human civilization, that is, from the time of mankind’s agricultural and nomadic civilization to the present day. It shows a dramatic increase in global population after the Second Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. H. Qide (B) Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_10

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H. Qide Average life expectancy

GDP per capita (USD)

Average life expectancy (Years Old)

GDP per capita

Year Year

Fig. 1 World population life expectancy and GDP per capita (1770–2019)

Fig. 2 Diagram of scientific and technological development and the global population change from the First Agricultural Revolution to 2000

This diagram provided by Fogel, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, demonstrates the major scientific and technological events in human history, particularly critical technological developments. The accelerated population growth reflects the health condition of the global populace to a large extent. Fogel uses the term “technophysio evolution” to describe this phenomenon. This term specifically applies to the idea that due to the Second Agricultural and Industrial revolutions, the average body size of human beings (including height and weight) has increased by 50%, the average life span has doubled since 1880, and the population has quadrupled since 1800 compared with the numbers before 1800. Science and technology, including medical technology and medical treatment, have made explosive advancements after the 1870s and have

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Table 1 A selection of vaccines successfully developed since 1796 Year

Vaccine

Year

Vaccine

Year

Vaccine

1796

Smallpox (cowpox)

1926

Pertussis

1962

Polio (oral)

1879

Cholera

1932

Yellow fever

1964

Rubella

1881

Anthrax

1937

Typhoid

1967

Mumps

1882

Rabies

1945

Influenza

1970

Pityriasis rosea

1890

Tetanus and diphtheria

1952

Poliomyelitis

1974

Varicella

1896

Typhoid fever

1954

Japanese encephalitis

1977

Pneumonia (pneumococci)

1897

Plague

1957

Adenovirus

1978

Meningitis (meningococcal)

1921

BCG

1960

Measles

1981

Hepatitis B

played a major role in the improvement of human health and the alleviation of human suffering from diseases. The successful research and development of numerous vaccines has reduced the incidence of infectious diseases since the invention of the first smallpox vaccine in 1796 (see Table 1). In addition, advances can be seen in diagnostic techniques thanks to the development of imaging technology. We are now able to see the body’s internal organ structures and its changes through the body surface as a result of the discovery and development of the X-ray, CT, PET, PET-CT, magnetic resonance. Meanwhile, surgical techniques have also progressed. The popularization of anesthesia and disinfection measures produced clear and on-going advancements in surgery. We discovered that diseased areas in the body could be surgically removed, replaced, or even transplanted. From microsurgery, organ transplantation, minimally invasive surgery, to robotic surgery, a recent development, science and technology continue to advance the progress of medical treatment technology. Progress with regard to internal medicine has mainly been made through drug advancements. Humans have been able to make drugs through chemical means since the invention of salicylic acid and aspirin, that is, from the end of the nineteenth century. Penicillin was successfully manufactured and widely used during World War II, thus ushering in the biopharmaceutical phase. At the present time, new and effective drugs are being produced constantly. Bioengineering technologies, including prosthetic valves and dialysis technologies, are also undergoing rapid development. Issues related to human reproduction can also be treated. For example, IVF technology can be used to assist fertility. The use of stem cell technology can produce whatever tissues, organs, or cells we need. It can even change human genes—and not just the sequencing. It can also eliminate, transfer, and even program genes. All of these methods are used in the medical field. Genetic diagnosis, targeted cancer therapy, and immunotherapy are all in full swing. Over the past century, these medical advances have played an important role in reducing the pain caused by disease and in saving lives. This is something we can

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Fig. 3 Life expectancy and GDP per capita of different countries in 2019

all feel. But how much difference has this medical progress made? Let’s elaborate on this question. Consider 2019 as an example, with the average life expectancy of each country representing the health condition and the GDP per capita representing economic and social development (see Fig. 3). When we use the information from major countries, the curve looks promising. The curve can be divided into two parts. The first part shows that the health condition increases sharply as GDP per capita stays below $10,000, while the other part, with GDP per capita above $10,000, flattens out. Many articles and documents have detailed explanations for this phenomenon. At a certain level of economic development, due to the decline of infant and child mortality rates and the control of infectious diseases during the early years of one’s life, the mortality rate of the population will be greatly reduced. Thus, average life expectancy will rise. The administration of vaccines and antibiotics has played a considerable role in the process of controlling infectious diseases. However, when the economy develops to a certain stage, the infant mortality rate reaches 3%–5%. At that point, medical technology makes little difference, and the factor for improving the average life expectancy shifts to the treatment of chronic diseases in the elderly. Current medical technology has recorded gains in the control of chronic diseases in the elderly, but they are quite limited. Therefore, technology, especially medical technology, has far less impact on the health condition of the population in countries with a GDP per capita exceeding $10,000. As you can see, this is a fitted curve, with a number of exceptions after the GDP per capita reaches a considerably high level. If you look at Japan and the United

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States, for example, per capita GDP in the United States is twice as high as in Japan, but the average life expectancy in Japan is significantly higher than in the United States. This indicates that there are other factors at play, that is to say, social factors, the medical system, and the medical service system play a considerable role here. Looking at the United States, it has made heavy investment in biomedical research, and the funding for the NIH (National Institutes of Health) has increased rapidly and remained at a very high level. In the United States, the medical expenditure per capita is $9,536 (data for 2018), and total medical spending accounts for 19.8% of its GDP. However, the health condition of its populace, including the average life expectancy, maternal mortality rate, child mortality rate, and neonatal mortality rate, are below the OECD average. Why are the health gains so low when the investment is so high? If we only consider the relationship between per capita medical spending and average life expectancy, the United States runs counter to the general rule. However, health is not solely dependent on medical and health services. It also depends on lifestyle, living environment, social environment, and economic environment. What are the deficiencies in the United States? First, obesity. A large percentage, 34.9%, of its population is suffering from obesity, and this will put their health at risk. Second, adolescent sex. The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world, at 3.5 times higher than other countries. This not only affects the health of the teenagers, but also the health status of society as a whole. Third, overuse of opioid analgesics. Deaths and health problems due to drug dependence are typical in the United States. Below is the average life expectancy of people living in different neighborhoods in Philadelphia in the United States (see Fig. 4). A rich neighborhood and a poor one are just five miles apart, a distance of a few subway stations, yet the average life expectancies of residents in the two areas differ by 20 years. The large gap between the rich and the poor can be clearly seen as it relates to how one’s social life affects one’s health. Figure 5 is a comparison of the impact of some medical practices and social factors on health. The frequency of cervical smear tests has the least influence on life expectancy, while the screening for breast cancer has a slightly greater effect. Normal blood lipids, blood pressure, and blood glucose are even more influential. However, in consideration of the absolute effect, these factors mean very little. The largest influence factor is the social dimension, namely employment, smoking habits, education, and the gap between the rich and the poor. As you can see from the following figure, social factors have a far greater impact on health than biomedical factors. While the discovery of streptomycin and the application of the BCG vaccine seem to have been effective in the prevention and control of tuberculosis, in fact, before the invention of these key technologies, the death rate from tuberculosis had declined significantly. In this regard, it is possible that nutrition or other factors played a greater role. In 2007, the British Medical Journal made a detailed survey on the impact of all technological medical inventions on human health over the past century. They found that the most important effective factor was hygiene, including nutrition, drinking

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Fig. 4 Average life expectancy of residents in different neighborhoods in Philadelphia

Pap smear: once a year vs. once every 3 years Mammography: annual screening vs. no screening Total cholesterol: normal vs. high Systolic blood pressure: 111-120 vs. 160 Blood glucose: normal vs. diabetes diagnosis Employment: high salary vs. low salary Smoking history: none vs. 30 years Education: higher education vs. high school education and below Address (Philadelphia ZIP code): 1906 vs. 19132

Difference in life expectancy (years)

Fig. 5 Comparison of the impact of medical practices and social factors on health

water, fecal sewage treatment, housing conditions, the eradication of mosquitoes, etc. Personal hygiene and living habits far outweighed other technological medical improvements. In conclusion, in today’s world, we cannot rely only on the development of medical technology and the provision of medical services to improve the national health. Instead, we must rely more on economic and social development, living environment, and personal lifestyle.

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In terms of medical treatment and medical technology, we must give greater consideration to where we should place our focus so that we can move in the right direction to progress medical technology. Imagine life as a journey on a bus. We get on the bus at birth and spend our whole life on it until we die. Every minute, many people are born and board the bus. They will go through life’s stages and experience being a baby, child, teenager, young adult, adult in their prime, senior, and then they will die. This journey is quite normal. However, since the bus is moving along a picturesque road, some people may be tempted to get off halfway. These people are like those who get off the “bus of life” due to an unhealthy lifestyle. In addition, some people may fall into the river, that is, they become ill and die early. Of course, this image may not fit perfectly with our lives. This example simply suggests that the current focus of medical treatment is placed on the river to save dying patients. My proposition is that we must first put our focus on the safety of the bus and the people in it. Then we can focus on those by the river to prevent them from falling in. Thus, in my opinion, the focus of medical treatment should be to ensure in-vehicle service, or basic medical care. What does this basic medical care include? First, it includes maternal health, particularly in the perinatal period. It is extremely difficult to document pregnancies in good hospitals in Beijing. Why? Because there are differences in the protection of the fetus and puerperae between those hospitals and general hospitals, including the supplementation of folic acid and iron to pregnant women. The utilization rate of labor analgesia in China is less than 20%, and it is even lower in rural areas. Labor pain is rated as a 10 on a scale of 0–10, yet the alleviation of this pain has not been widely popularized, despite the medical advancements. Second, it includes infertility and birth defects. In 2021, 5% of children under age 5 had recorded birth defects. This has not changed over for several years, though we have seen some advances in other aspects. Third, it includes health care for infants and children, including proper nutrition, food allergy prevention, and eye health. Fourth, it includes the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and mental disorders. Currently, China has invested little into the study of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, autism, and Parkinson’s disease. In addition, disaster rescue, prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, and care for the elderly are also included. These should all be on our list of basic medical care. However, these are the areas in which we have invested the least. One of the main reasons for this is the backwardness of grass-roots medical institutions. China’s medical service system is not well-developed, and people often go to GradeIII Class-A hospitals for medical treatment. As a result, basic medical care and in-vehicle service are not well-developed. There is also the optional “onshore service”. With more and more people getting off the bus halfway (getting sick), we are unable to look after them all, so we have to persuade those who fall into the river or are on the edge to return to the bus on their own. What does this mean? For example, people with high blood pressure are those who are about to fall into the river. Even though they are not in the river, they are in danger because of the disease. Does this mean that everyone with high

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blood pressure is at risk? Currently, all people with high blood pressure are given treatments to lower their blood pressure, which are not only costly, but also difficult to administer to everyone. The ten-year risk of coronary heart disease and stroke for people with high blood pressure is three times higher than that of people with normal blood pressure, and blood-pressure-lowering treatments can reduce this risk by 30%. Therefore, we must consider the lowering of blood pressure as a comprehensive therapy. In fact, the ten-year risk of coronary heart disease and stroke is 5.6% in the hypertensive population in China (1.4% in the non-hypertensive population), and that number goes down to 3.9% if the blood pressure is lowered. To show this with absolute numbers, only 1.7 patients out of 100 hypertensive patients who take antihypertensive drugs can control their blood pressure over a 10-year period. The other patients do not receive any benefits but instead possibly suffer from side effects of the drugs. This may also increase their economic burden. Considering this, is it feasible not to use this treatment? It turns out there is no better way, despite the inefficiency. However, when a larger population is considered, a reduction of 1.7% may amount to a large number of people, so this treatment is still in use for now. China is home to 290 million people who suffer from hypertension and 430 million people who suffer from hyperlipidemia. With limited funds for medical treatment, work efficiency is low. I believe that one way to solve this is to raise the threshold for diagnosis. In the United States, the threshold for diagnosis has been lowered. In the past, hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) above 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) less than 90 mmHg. Now, those numbers have dropped to 130 mmHg and 80 mmHg, respectively, which means people with SBP above 130 mmHg should be treated. After investigation, I believe we cannot follow the United States. Is it possible to raise the threshold for diagnosis? This is difficult, as the population at large will not agree. Another solution is to identify the degree of risk using scientific and technological methods. If we can select 90 people out of 100 with raised blood pressure who are not at high risk, then those 90 people do not need to take medication. Actually, the risks from smoking are much higher than those from high blood pressure, but how much effort do we put into persuading people to not smoke? In conclusion, my suggestion is that we do not necessarily look after everyone who is along the shore of the river. Instead, we must protect the people who are at the highest risk considering their current economic and social conditions. There is also cancer screening. We are all afraid of cancer, so we now call for early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment. How can we detect it early? Through screenings—screenings of healthy people. However, this is a huge waste of resources and can be harmful. There are many types of cancer, but only the type indicated by the top line (see Fig. 6) develops rapidly and kills people. The bottom line represents cancers that will eventually go away on their own without treatment. Of the two lines that remain, one represents cancers that will stop developing when they reach a certain point and will co-exist with other organs in the human body. The other line represents cancers that develop so slowly that the symptoms may not manifest before a person dies of other diseases. In other words, it is only the first type of cancer that must be detected early. However, for certain cancers, such as pancreatic cancer or malignant brain cancer, early detection may still be too late.

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Fig. 6 Schematic illustration of the availability of cancer screening for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment

Table 2 Possibility of accidental detection of a lump as a fatal cancer in a 50-year-old male Organ

The possibility of unexpected lumps detected by CT scan (a) (%)

10-year risk of death from cancer (b) (%)

Possibility of accidental detection of a lump as a fatal cancer (c = b/a) (%)

Possibility of accidental detection of a lump not as a fatal cancer (d = 1−c) (%)

Lungs (smoker) 50

1.8

3.6

96.4

Lungs (non-smoker)

15

0.1

0.7

99.3

Kidneys

23

0.05

0.2

99.8

Liver

15

0.08

0.5

99.5

Thyroid gland (by means of ultrasound)

67

0.005

99.9

Table 2 is a statistical table. Pulmonary lumps detected through CT screening are nonfatal in 96% of smokers and 99% of nonsmokers. About 99% of the lumps found in the kidneys, liver, and thyroid gland will not develop in the body. Between 1993 and 2011, when ultrasound screening was introduced in South Korea, the number of thyroid cancer cases increased 15-fold, but the number of deaths from thyroid cancer remained the same. At the same time, surgeries used to treat this cancer caused more damage to human health. Cervical cancer, for example, is on the decline according to data from the UK. However, the decline is not attributed to screening, but to the declining number of births and better reproductive health conditions. Therefore, based on some of the evidence above, I do not encourage cancer screenings in healthy people. Cancer screenings can be conducted in an appropriate population with supporting evidence from population studies. For example, women over 40 or 50 can be regularly screened for breast cancer. At this time, the best treatment

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for colon cancer is early detection and early surgery, though the efficiency of such treatment is quite low. Thus, it is better to conduct screening for people who are at risk, such as those above a certain age or those who have a family history of colon cancer. Of course, I have no objection to clinically directed diagnostic tests. What does that mean? It means, when you notice something wrong with your body and visit a doctor, the diagnostic test should absolutely be done. How should we treat a sick person? This should be done through early diagnosis, early treatment, and the promotion of appropriate technology. When it is not possible to save a patient, it is better to let him or her die with dignity and with as little pain as possible. Thus, we must develop better hospice care. It is also important that we must distinguish between scientific research and the application of technology. At present, a large number of gene diagnoses, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, gene therapies, and the like are still in the research stage. We should not impose restrictions on them, but instead vigorously develop scientific research. However, when technology is applied to a group of people, we must make assessments from multiple aspects, including health economics and ethics, and then promote it after thorough study. The most fundamental aspect is a proper understanding of the origin of life and medicine. We must know that all people are going to die or are “born to die.” The phrase “never give up” is quite different from the expression “crossing the end of your life in a graceful manner”. We must discern disease from aging. For example, some of my physical functions will gradually be lost when I reach the age of 75. This is not a disease, but aging, which is unavoidable and can only be treated with an optimistic attitude. The elderly in our country rely so highly on medication that some of them take seven or eight or even dozens of pills a day. All drugs have possible side effects and must be used with caution. We also need to distinguish between disease and pain. Not all diseases are painful, and not all pain is caused by disease. The development of medical technology gives rise to an enormous number of ethical dilemmas to be dealt with. Both human lives and the lives of other organisms must be treated in the right way. Therefore, we proposed the term “one health” (an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems). Human lives, as well as the lives of viruses and wild animals, should be treated properly. We should also pay more attention to how the environment impacts human health. In conclusion, we must stay true to the original aspirations of medical science. Medicine is a response to human suffering, an expression of emotion and humanity, and its fundamental task is to maintain human values and protect their productive capacity. Science and technology play an essential role in the progress of medical technology, but medicine is more than science and technology. In the application of medical technology, we must take into account the worth of the person and social equity. At present, medical technology is only making limited contributions to the national health. We should set the correct direction to allow medical technology to move forward. In fact, the “Guideline to Implement the Country’s Healthy China Initiative” released by the State Council has provided a clear principle for us. According to

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the guideline, we must act from the effective factors of health, focus on the popularization of a healthy lifestyle, optimize health services, improve health care, construct a healthy environment and healthy development of the health care industry, and integrate health care in all policies. This will ensure the comprehensive health of the people throughout the life cycle, improve health standards, and facilitate equity in health care. This forward-looking guideline is the right decision for us and should be comprehensively understood and integrated into all of our views and policies concerning health care.

Han Qide Honorary President of the China Association for Science and Technology, President of the China Association for Science and Technology – Peking University Culture of Science Institute, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He once served as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Chairman of the Central Committee of China Jiusan Society (September Third Society).

High-Tech Industry

Chapter 11 Science and Technology Innovation and International Biomedical Development Chapter 12 Innovative Practices in High-Tech Industry Development Chapter 13 Future Development of Industries in the Intelligent World Riding the New Wave of Technologies

Science and Technology Innovation and International Biomedical Development Zhan Qimin

Abstract Artificial Intelligence has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, transforming the way we interact, work, and live. One of the most significant contributions of AI is in the healthcare sector, where it has enabled doctors and healthcare professionals to diagnose diseases, monitor patient health, and develop personalized treatment plans. Additionally, AI-powered robots are being utilized in surgical procedures, reducing the chances of human error and improving patient outcomes. In the finance industry, AI-powered algorithms are being used to analyze financial data and identify patterns that help investors make informed investment decisions. Furthermore, AI-powered chatbots are being employed to provide customer support and address customer queries in real-time, improving customer satisfaction and reducing the workload of support staff. In agriculture, AI-powered tools are being used to monitor crop health and predict crop yields. By analyzing environmental data such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture levels, AI algorithms can determine the optimal conditions for crop growth. Finally, AI is transforming the transportation industry by enabling the development of self-driving cars and improving traffic management. Keywords Chronic illnesses · Vaccines · Antibodies · Innovation · Interdisciplinary collaboration · Data · Artificial intelligence

1 Background of China’s Medical Development Early in 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 posed grave threats to the public safety of more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. From a health and medical standpoint, this global public health issue is a test of the overall strength and national governance systems of all countries, as well as the ability of health governance, the level of medical advancement, and the caliber of medical education in all countries. Z. Qimin (B) Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_11

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Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the Chinese government has implemented a series of social emergency and public health intervention measures, which have effectively contained it. This has not only provided other countries with valuable anti-pandemic countermeasures experience and a model, but it has also bolstered the Chinese people’s confidence in the anti-pandemic efforts. Since the pandemic, the Chinese government’s public health measures have yielded positive results due in part to the social emergency system’s ability to make science-based decisions and the social emergency system’s vital organic synergy with the social governance system. The medical treatment system, the public health emergency system, and the medical education system of developed western countries have all served as models for learning for a considerable length of time. Many of the mechanisms for medical education and talent development in China are influenced by western medical knowledge. Why, then, have some anti-pandemic measures in western countries taken so long to produce the desired results? We believe the cause is a disconnect between the public health emergency system and the public governance system; the efficient integration of these two systems in China has resulted in extraordinary achievements that reflect the country’s political, institutional, and cultural advantages. This pandemic also, to a large extent, enables people to multidimensionally and comprehensively recognize and view health. In the past, people believed that health was only about people’s livelihood, but we now recognize that health is intrinsically linked to economic development, social stability, international politics, and international relations. First, we must look at health from the perspective of a community with a shared future for mankind. The community with a shared future for mankind entails not only the globalization of the economy but also that of health. Over the course of more than a century, the world has endured numerous major plagues, including smallpox, black death, Spanish flu, cholera, SARS, H7N9 flu, MERS, Zika virus, and Ebola. The global population’s health has been deeply affected. Even though China has made significant strategic advances in the war against COVID-19 and socioeconomic development has recovered in an orderly manner, preventing the coronavirus from entering and spreading within the city/region remains our primary concern and should not be taken lightly. Second, the health and safety of the world are fraught with dangers. In 2019, numerous international organizations surveyed the capacity of different countries to prevent and treat communicable diseases, ultimately concluding that no country is adequately prepared for pandemics and epidemics. People are frequently confronted with novel, unexpected pandemic diseases, such as the recent COVID-19 outbreak, or emergencies triggered by novel, unexpected causes at particular times or places. Once this occurs, it resembles a meeting engagement. The ability to function effectively in the absence of an epidemic enables us to react quickly and develop countermeasures in the event of an outbreak, thereby allowing us to determine whether we can take the initiative to turn the meeting engagement into a defensive battle and win. Third, aging populations and noncommunicable chronic diseases continue to be significant issues. When focusing on the current corona pandemic, we also must not overlook the prevalent and noncommunicable chronic diseases. These diseases

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are common, impact a broad range of individuals, and have long-lasting, ongoing effects on people’s health. COVID-19 is most likely to cause a critical illness or even death in patients with underlying or chronic illnesses. As many countries, including China, have steadily transitioned to an aging society, the prevalence of major chronic diseases has generally increased. Fourth, more than 70% of emerging communicable diseases are transmitted by other species and affect both humans and animals, which is one of the aspects of our current research. The international concept known as ‘One Health’, interpreted in Chinese as ‘human health’ or ‘holistic health’, emphasizes the welfare of animals as well as the health of the environment that sustains human life. The Chinese government has always emphasized respect for nature and other forms of life, which is essential to comprehend the paradigm and concept underlying this coordinated development. Fifth, COVID-19 retards and hinders human development. International relations have also undergone significant changes as a result of COVID-19, which has affected the economies of countries to varying degrees. Due to the general decline in international trade, international exchanges, and conflicts over sensitive issues such as the traceability of viruses, global development faces formidable challenges. The Healthy China Initiative has been a national development strategy in China since the outbreak of COVID-19, and the country’s healthcare sector is currently experiencing the greatest historical opportunity for development. General Secretary Xi Jinping stated in 2014 in Jiangsu that “Prosperity for all is impossible without health for all.” In August 2016, he gave an important speech at the National Health Conference, and in October of the same year, the State Council and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China released the outline of the ‘Healthy China 2030’ plan. At a symposium attended by scientists on September 11, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated that the development of science and technology should “target the global science frontiers, serve the main economic battlefield, strive to fulfill the significant needs of the country, and benefit people’s lives and health.” The contemporary definition of “healthy” differs from earlier definitions. Historically, health has been used as the focus and center of efforts to diagnose and treat diseases; however, health in modern times is designed to comprehensively protect people’s health throughout their entire life cycle and chain. Not only should we prioritize the sick, but also the healthy, subhealth, and high-risk clusters, we should also focus on the early diagnosis and treatment of diseases, recovery from treatment, the management of chronic diseases, and the health of the elderly, which is an advanced idea of ‘comprehensive health’ in modern times. The vision of ‘Healthy China 2030’ is laudable, but achieving it will not be easy. First, malignant tumors, heart and brain diseases, diabetes, rheumatic diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, congenital anomalies, and other serious illnesses. In general, China has a large population and is still developing in all areas, so there are a significant number of people suffering from diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders, respiratory diseases, and metabolic diseases. Since these diseases account for more than 80% of all deaths in China, the government is contemplating funding scientific and technological research on them to alleviate some of the

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burdens on the daily lives of the Chinese people. The five-year survival rate for cancer therapy is 40% in China; comparatively, it is 67% in the United States and 70% to 80% in developed countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. It is clear that China still lags behind developed countries in a number of areas, and to close these gaps, scientific and technological advancements must be made to improve the efficacy of treatment for various diseases. Second, in terms of medical demand, the majority of clinical drug patents are controlled by foreign countries. Although China is currently capable of producing these medications, it has to wait until the patent protection period expires, and the public’s health cannot afford to wait that long. In addition, many large pieces of medical equipment, particularly those used in large medical projects in large hospitals, such as surgical robots, color Doppler ultrasound, CTSCT accelerators, and minimally invasive instruments, have to be imported, and numerous clinical standards, norms, and guidelines are derived from foreign experience. Given how far China has come, it is essential that it maintains its technological independence and takes the lead in advancing global medical technology. Therefore, we must find innovative solutions for clinical medicines, large medical equipment, clinical standards, norms, guidelines, and clinical pathways. Third, despite China’s biopharmaceutical industry’s rapid expansion, there are still substantial gaps between its current state and government and public demands. To attract more social capital to the biomedical sector, it is imperative to increase innovation capacity, adapt industrial scale, advance key industrialization technologies, and connect technological innovation with commercial and social impact. This is also the focus of our current efforts, and there is still a lot of room for progress in the fields of domestic creative biology and medical technology, which have not yet established themselves as key economic and social growth drivers. The development of biomedicine also has its own distinct characteristics. Because biomedical research and development take time, important technologies are difficult to create, and the field as a whole is fraught with complexities in areas such as law, ethics, and humanities, the biomedical application is a slow and laborious process. Successful research, on the other hand, will have far-reaching impacts on the public and society in general, resulting in high demand and the potential to significantly contribute to the sustainable prosperity of humanity. For this reason, China is actively promoting biomedicine and health as key strategic areas. The introduction of novel technologies is a crucial aspect of biomedical advances. China must pursue the implementation of an innovation-oriented development strategy. Xi once stressed, “Innovation is the heart of national advancement, and science and technology are the foundation of national strength and prosperity. We should employ the strategy of innovation as an impetus for national development.” We must have a firm grasp on the core technologies of scientific and technological advancement. Key technologies must be attained through self-reliance, as he urged the scientist to “strive to make important breakthroughs in key technologies, and master crucial technologies into our own hands.” At the same time, the central government requires that science and technology be utilized for the improvement of people’s life and health. This demonstrates unequivocally that technological innovations are required to address health issues and challenges.

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There are five attributes to technological innovation in biomedicine: 1) People’s livelihood, which should be oriented toward people’s health; 2) Social, which plays a significant role in fostering the sustainable development of society; 3) Economy, which is an important engine of economic growth; 4) Cutting-edge fields, such as life sciences, which allow us to understand and even transform life; 5) Safety and security, including biosafety, to which China attaches great importance. Biotechnology is the culmination of the scientific revolution and, following information technology, a new driving force of industrial transformation. It can even transform the world by contributing to population, resource, and environmental issues. The government has always accorded biomedical innovation a high priority and has enacted a number of measures to guide and encourage it. As evidenced by the country’s explicit national strategies, the growth of biotechnology in recent years is directly tied to China’s ongoing long-term support and a number of significant actions at a strategic level. China’s biomedical advances are also notable for the interdisciplinary aspect of the evolution of biomedicine. The intersection of the disciplines, which we refer to as the combination of medicine and engineering and the combination of medicine and natural sciences, is evident in every phase of care, from diagnostics (e.g. X-ray diagnostics, nuclear magnetic resonance diagnostics, ultrasound diagnostics, computed tomography diagnostics, etc.) to treatment (e.g. accelerator therapy, treatment with medical equipment, etc.). Integration of optics, electronics, nanotechnology, and big data has accelerated medical progress. It is evident that every advancement in cutting-edge technology supports and aids the advancement of medical science, encourages the development of new medical tools, technologies, and medications, and enhances our capacity to save lives and provide world-class healthcare. In the past, it was a reasonable expectation of individuals and a widely held belief in the field of drug research that a drug could cure every disease in the world. However, due to individual differences, the use of big data and computer simulations to assess the clinical outcomes of drug activity, efficacy, targeting, safety, and side effects during the research and development process, contemporary drug research is shifting towards a more individualized and precise perspective. Similarly, this is interdisciplinary. When even fewer clinical technical tools were available, it was much easier for physicians to see patients a century ago. Today, with advancements in areas such as controlled therapy, accelerator therapy, proton heavy ion therapy, minimally invasive surgery, organ transplantation, cardiac surgery, and biological therapies including gene therapy, cell therapy, and targeted therapy, clinical technology has evolved to better serve the needs of patients and physicians. Interdisciplinarity can be utilized to enhance medical procedures. Before the advent of modern diagnostic tools, medical practitioners frequently made treatment decisions based solely on their own clinical expertise. In modern times, however, tests involving immunology, physiology, serology, pathology, molecular aspects, and imaging can provide invaluable assistance. Electronic medical records also generate a significant amount of clinical big

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data, which can be used to improve clinical decision-making, develop treatment plans that address specific clinical needs, and reduce the likelihood of adverse outcomes. Health management, in addition to clinical care, is a crucial preventive measure. It emphasizes two levels, one of which is the risk identification for diseases. Even within the same environment, people live in a world with varying health risks. For instance, not everyone who smokes develops lung cancer; a small percentage of women infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) develop cervical cancer; a similar percentage of people infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) develop liver cancer; some residents of the same city exposed to the same air and environmental pollutants develop the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma, while other residents experience less severe symptoms. This is due to the fact that each individual’s different neurological and endocrine systems, as well as their genetic makeup, influence the likelihood of developing a disease. From the perspective of preventative measures, we expect that individuals will not become ill, will become ill less often, or will experience minimal or late sickness, which is also the goal of health management. Another is health management in illness. After receiving proper medical treatment for a condition, we must also engage in proper health maintenance, which includes the management of chronic conditions. Interdisciplinarity can also improve our understanding of the relationship between humans and medicine. In the long history of the evolution of medicine, physicians and medical efforts have focused primarily on external causes of illness, such as microorganisms, viruses, parasites, unhygienic living conditions, and poor nutrition. Today, we understand that external factors are not the only causes of many diseases. From a dialectical viewpoint, the onset and progression of any disease can be attributed to the interaction of internal and external forces. In addition to understanding the external factors and effects of these pathogenic sources, biological research must be conducted on the inside of the human body through fields such as bio-omics, molecular biology, big data, and artificial intelligence. Medical advancements are inextricably linked to advancements in science, technology, and interdisciplinary cooperation. In the past, physicians were only equipped with a stethoscope, a scalpel, some hemostatic forceps, and a few simple medications. It was not until 1928 that penicillin was discovered, and it was not until the early 1930s that x-ray diagnostics, which allow us to see changes in the body, were introduced. CT was developed in the 1970s, followed by NMR, SCT, and other innovations. As a result of this research, we are able to diagnose many diseases earlier, more precisely, and more clearly, which has significantly advanced medicine and, among other things, led to changes in clinical practice models. In addition to clinical experience, it is equally important today to make optimal use of scientific research data-based knowledge. As medicine evolves, a growing number of clinical issues can no longer be resolved solely through experience, but require scientific research. Historically, medical research had to be supported by evidence; this was known as evidence-based medicine. Now, precision medicine is more widely practiced, which combines the strengths of other disciplines with evidence-based medicine to address the development issues in modern medicine, avoiding the partiality of a single

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discipline, improving the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment, and minimizing side effects.

2 Development Trend of International Biomedical Technology Life sciences and biotechnology advancements are widely acknowledged as the defining characteristics of twenty-first century science and technology in the fields of medicine and biomedicine. The growth of the bioeconomy has been facilitated by advancements in the life sciences and biotechnology, and economic growth in biology, medicine, and medical-related fields is having a significant impact on the structure of interests and resulting in major changes in the global economic pattern. Biotechnology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems people face today, making it ideally suited to address problems in areas such as population, fertility, health, agriculture, natural resources, the environment, and energy. First, biomedical technology represents the pinnacle of scientific and technological progress in the twenty-first century. The bionics we are currently discussing, which includes genomics, proteomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, and phenomics, is the basis of human and all biological existence. In a nutshell, it is a process where DNA is converted into RNA, which is then converted into protein. RNA proteomics is a subset of DNA genomics transcriptomics, alongside stem cell tissue engineering, antibodies, vaccination, bioinformatics, novel medications, conventional drugs, synthetic biology, and minimally invasive technologies. These technologies address the most urgent issues at the forefront and core of life science research, which should be resolved to advance human health. How individuals age, how immunity is regulated, how memory is produced and lost, why birth abnormalities occur, how tumors form, and how aging can be regulated remain unanswered questions in the life sciences. In addition, advancements in biomedical technology have revolutionized approaches to treating, controlling, and preventing the majority of communicable diseases that affect humans. Second, the bioeconomy will emerge as a new economic growth driver in the twenty-first century, which is evident from the following: First, industrial manufacturing in the past was responsible for significant environmental pollution, energy consumption, and resource consumption. These issues can be resolved as a result of the current emphasis on environmentally friendly production and development. Second, the global bioeconomy also expands annually at a rapid rate. Despite the dire circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020 and the devastating impact on the global economy, the biomedical industry is still exhibiting robust growth. Due to the enormous consumer demand, the pharmaceutical industry comprises the largest proportion of the bioeconomy, which also includes the agricultural and marine economies. Third, as evidenced by the actions

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of a number of multinational corporations, the biotechnology and biomedical industries are expanding rapidly throughout the world. Fourth, China’s biotechnology sector is expanding faster than the global average. Biotechnology is once again a solution to humanity’s most pressing problems. Then, what are these pressing problems? Speaking from a human-centered perspective, health comes first, followed by agricultural food security, bioenergy, and environmental protection. This is how one envisions sustainable human growth in the future, and it is closely intertwined with biotechnology. How can agricultural output be increased? And how can diseases and pests be diminished? Oil has always been a unique and irreplaceable source of energy, and therefore, biotechnology must be employed to produce bioenergy and address environmental issues, proving that it is a significant innovation for resolving urgent issues faced by humans. Finally, biotechnology is the foundation of biosecurity. There are two sides to technological development. For instance, as part of research into gene editing, stem cells, gene therapy, transgenic technology, and other technologies, pathogens and viruses need to be studied. However, concerns such as laboratory safety and abuse of biotechnology may also arise in research into harmful microorganisms, and this is where biotechnology could be of assistance. It is being used to address issues such as how to perform the biological protection function more effectively, as well as how to rapidly differentiate and diagnose, when new or sudden communicable diseases emerge. This is also a development trend that is seen around the globe. At present, most countries, particularly those more developed, have national biotechnology strategies; for example, the United States’ National Bioeconomy Blueprint. Other countries and regions including those in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, and India also emphasize bioeconomy, life sciences, and biotechnology in their national plans. Before the United States can assert its leadership position in the bioeconomy, which is the primary objective of the National Bioeconomy Blueprint, it must first address its energy environment, economic challenges, biotechnology, and bioindustrial concerns. It must also innovate in biotechnology by combining interdisciplinary fields, such as internet technology and biotechnology (IT+BT), to produce bioeconomic core technologies, and then invest in interdisciplinary cutting-edge technologies through government and social capital to maintain its advantages in bioeconomy, biotechnology, and life sciences. Furthermore, many established multinational corporations formerly active in the chemical and petroleum industries have now established subsidiaries focused on biotechnology and health, or the integration of biotechnology into the chemical and petroleum production process for biomanufacturing, as opposed to using the industrial manufacturing techniques of the past to address resource and environmental issues. In addition, some major IT companies with healthcare businesses, such as Alibaba and Huawei, are now integrating into the biotechnology sector, leveraging their exceptional strengths in life sciences and bioinformatics, despite having begun their operations in other industries. Analysis demonstrates that, undoubtedly, the United States has the most advanced biomedical sector and biotechnology in the world, as evidenced by the following characteristics: First, biotechnology development is supported by fundamental and

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creative research. During my nearly 18 years in the United States, I served as a professor at universities and colleges from the west coast to the east coast, including the School of Medicine of the University of California, San Francisco, the Southwestern Medical Center of the University of Texas, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Pittsburgh. Therefore, I have a better understanding of the overall development of the United States. For example, top universities in the United States such as Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the School of Medicine of the University of California, San Francisco are all located near Silicon Valley, which was established due to the companies (not only in the electronics industry but also in the bio-industry) settling near these universities and colleges, facilitating the exchanges between scientific and technological professionals and the transfers of achievements. Second, in addition to the federal government, local governments are generally unambiguous regarding their financial and political support of biology. For instance, due to ethical concerns and heavy pressure, the federal government of the United States initially did not provide stem cell research with much support. California, however, prioritized and funded stem cell research. Later, the federal government acknowledged the significance of stem cells as an area of development. Third, the incorporation of information technology. Information technology has gained prominence, particularly in the field of biotechnology, from the time when medical research primarily focused on anatomical form and structure to the vast quantities of information science and bio-omics data available today. Since the sequencing of the human genome has been completed, people have a better understanding of it, and this understanding is not only for pleasure, but also for future human development needs, such as understanding the nature of life and the mystery of life and providing answers to questions such as how diseases grow, how tumors form, and how to create more effective and disease-targeting pharmaceuticals. As bioinformatics provides answers to these questions, biotechnology should incorporate information technology. Fourth, the use of social venture capital. While China is still in the development and optimization phase, the United States has adapted its investment and financing environment to the market mechanism. In recent decades, the Chinese government has invested more money in the real estate industry, as well as in some obviously essential industries. However, as China’s economic development model shifts, the real estate industry is no longer booming, and many social funds are seeking new investment opportunities, among which is the field of biomedicine. Due to the risks involved in biomedical research and development, the government has allocated funds to various high-tech innovation initiatives, also known as venture capital. Despite the fact that the United States has this system, it has been ineffective in curbing the recent outbreak of the pandemic. In other words, although it has the best public health systems, medical treatment systems, and medical expertise in the world, these systems in the United States are not connected to the national governance structure, and therefore, cannot have a positive impact. On the contrary, China, despite its current academic and scientific and technological inferiority, has performed well in preventing and controlling the pandemic because we are able to maximize our use of these resources.

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Other countries, besides the United States, also possess unique characteristics. The United States and the United Kingdom are both powerful countries and relatively close allies in biomedical research and development, with numerous Nobel Prize winners making contributions to this field. Comparable to the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington in the United States, the majority of biomedical research in the United Kingdom is conducted in universities and colleges, research institutes, and organizations of densely populated cities such as London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Meanwhile, India has a significant advantage in the field of biological information, despite its poor track record in preventing and controlling COVID-19. While Japan began biotechnology research much later than other countries, it has made rapid progress since then, even proposing the idea of “developing Japan based on biotechnology industry” and building many industrial parks. There are also a number of industry parks in China, the majority of which are located in industrial cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, and are primarily associated with biotechnology, life sciences, and the bio-industry.

3 Frontiers in Biomedical Technologies Biotechnology is, first and foremost, focused on human health, specifically disease prevention. However, despite advances in science and technology, our understanding of health issues and the nature of life remains very limited. Clinical diseases can be seen as an iceberg, while the manifested symptoms, patient’s discomfort, and a number of diagnostic indicators are the tip of the iceberg that is on the surface of the water/ After the disease has been identified, there are various treatment options available, including radiation therapy, chemical medication treatment, biological treatment, and, of course, traditional Chinese medicine. Why, then, do approximately 3 million people die annually from tumors despite the availability of so many treatments? This is because there are no effective cancer treatments. Communicable diseases that negatively impact the Chinese population’s health, such as the plague, cholera, smallpox, blood clotting, and tuberculosis, are no longer a major concern in the early stages of the establishment of modern China because effective diagnostic and therapeutic options are available. However, diagnostic and therapeutic options for cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and metabolic disorders remain limited. As we discussed, our most basic understanding of these diseases is only the tip of the iceberg. As a result, many patients receive a diagnosis when they are already in the middle or late stages, and have experienced excruciating discomfort to the point that they could not work. Also prevalent during therapy are passivity and blindness. For instance, in clinical practice, ten patients diagnosed with the same type of tumor receive the same standard treatment but have varying outcomes and side effects. Chemotherapy can be beneficial for some individuals while ineffective for others. To study the disease, it is necessary to understand the genetic background, genetic mutation, and changes in cell molecules caused by changes in the neurological and endocrine systems, as well as changes in tissue organs, as they eventually

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lead to clinical diseases. We can only develop a more accurate clinical diagnosis and identify more potent molecular and logo targets if we understand the part of the disease that is ‘hidden under the water surface’. This method has the potential to increase pharmaceutical innovation and improve treatment precision and is essentially an innovation in science and technology which directs and contributes to the advancement of medicine and health. Several technological advancements in the field of biomedicine require further investigation. First, biomics. As previously stated, biomics encompasses genomes, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, and epigenomics, all of which are essential because they enable us to understand the mysteries of life. In 2018, I invited a world-renowned expert known as the father of human life production, named because he created a new cell from various genetic fragments which then grew into a new life, to Beijing. At that time, he moved to Peking University and founded a genome company with the intention of learning what an individual would look like at birth, 3, 13, 33, 53, and 83 of age with 1 ml of their blood for DNA analysis using technology. In other words, while there may be minor changes in the acquired life process, our genetic makeup has already been recorded, so there will be no significant changes in how we look. This is referred to as the “power”, that is, the power of heredity, which is the stability of genes and precisely why species can sustainably evolve on Earth. In short, the essence of the genome can be described with the proverb “like father, like son”. The fundamental principle of genetics holds that genetic information is stored in DNA, that DNA is translated into RNA, and that RNA is then translated into protein, which serves as the functional execution unit. This process has resulted in the development of metabolomics and the microbiome that coexists with humans. These are the issues at the forefront of life sciences. Second, stem cells and regenerative medicine. Stem cells and regenerative medicine involve a number of delicate issues, including ethical concerns. Currently, there are many individuals in need of kidney transplants, but the source of kidneys cannot meet the demand. In the future, can stem cells and regenerative medicine be used to provide viable organs and tissues? Although some techniques for the regeneration of small amounts of tissue have made significant strides, the regeneration of large organs with intricate functions still faces formidable obstacles. Third, vaccines and antibodies. Since the outbreak of the current COVID-19 pandemic, China has been actively producing vaccinations and was among the first countries in the world to do so. In addition to treating infectious diseases, vaccines can prevent diseases such as hypertension. Meanwhile, there are two types of antibodies: those that target major chronic diseases and those that target cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as PD-1 and PD-L1 and other antibodies that target critical cellular signaling pathways are all effective at treating tumors. At present, various countries are also searching for a comprehensive antibody to combat COVID-19. Fourth, personalized therapy and biological therapy. Conventionally, Western medicine has relied on chemical medications to treat patients, using clinical evaluation and imaging studies to diagnose and administer treatments.

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In the future, additional therapeutic modalities, such as molecular analysis, molecular diagnosis, cell therapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy, will gradually develop based on this foundation. Numerous Chinese corporations are studying gene therapy, immunotherapy, and cell therapy. It is necessary to conduct research and receive support at the ethical, legal, and regulatory levels to improve the clinical application of these technologies. Fifth, medical equipment. Similar to military weapons, medical equipment is an indispensable platform and device in the medical field. Medical technologies can improve the clarity, accuracy, and early detection of a variety of diseases, increase treatment efficacy, and reduce side effects; many procedures are impossible without CT and MRI. Medical equipment has recently seen interdisciplinary development in the field of medicine, moving toward miniaturization, intelligence, networking, telemetry, digitization, and minimally invasive design. In the past, if a doctor in Beijing wanted to diagnose fatal illnesses in remote areas such as Guizhou and Yunnan, the patient would have to take an x-ray test in their local hospital and send it to the doctor in Beijing, where the doctor could then view it and provide a diagnosis. Now, when a patient undergoes tests at their local hospitals, such as gastroscopy, the doctor in Beijing can join the patient in real-time. The same applies to surgery. Beijing Jishuitan Hospital is well-known for its orthopedic care. Even though the hospital’s specialists are headquartered in Beijing, they are able to simultaneously perform two orthopedic surgeries in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and Yantai, Shandong. However, this cannot be performed without medical equipment. Therefore, the development of modern medicine is inseparable from the evolution of medical equipment. Along with this, we have seen tremendous developments in fields such as big data and smart medicine. What role does artificial intelligence have in biomedicine? How can big data be applied to the advancement of medical technology? There can be a variety of factors at play. In the past, the government occasionally relied on experience or brainstorming when formulating policies, but their hands were sometimes tied due to the limited data available. Today, a more scientific and evidence-based approach is used. For instance, in its efforts to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic, China has utilized big data to instantly trace travel history and even estimate the probability of virus spread, which enables the authority to predict the severity of the illness, the rate of transmission, and the amount of material and human resources required to stay ahead of the virus. Prior to the availability of data, clinical decision-making was primarily dependent on experience; however, it is now possible to compute clinical decision-making. Eventually, once sufficient data is available, artificial intelligence will be able to provide reference opinions to assist physicians in making decisions (but it cannot decide on treatment options). Humans have limited abilities, and it is impossible for us to remember everything. However, if a drug is to be administered and all of the patient’s conditions are input into the computer, artificial intelligence will determine whether the patient has liver damage, renal failure, or renal insufficiency and whether the patient can take the drug. While maximizing their full potential, people should also have faith in science and fully embrace its role in clinical decision-making and drug research and development. Another question that remains is how can the hospital’s operations and management be optimized

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while maximizing the use of its medical staff. This can be resolved through health management, such as the use of wearable equipment. After the onset of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders, doctors have only 10–15 min to save a patient, but it is difficult to effectively utilize these few minutes, especially at home where the likelihood of a timely rescue is low. However, we can equip the at-risk elderly with wearable equipment enabled by artificial intelligence to monitor their physiological changes before the onset of illness (atrial fibrillation or arrhythmia that may occur; most myocardial infarctions may occur before the heart attack), process the data, send the results to the hospital’s chronic illness management department, and inform the doctor that the patient is exhibiting symptoms of the condition and requires immediate treatment. This is known as early recognition and detection. China adheres to a “three-medical linkage” model of medical reform, in which medical care, medical insurance, and medical reforms are all interconnected, with medical insurance playing the most important role. From the policy level, up to the computing level and monitoring level, artificial intelligence can help us make the cost of medical insurance, or taxpayer money, more efficient so that more individuals in need can benefit from medical insurance. In the future, a patient in a remote area may be operated on by their local surgeon, but owing to the special technology, a doctor in Beijing will be able to see and direct the patient’s condition clearly as if they were standing right next the operating table. Physicians in Shanghai and Beijing can even perform certain surgical procedures via telemedicine. The same applies to diagnosis. Previously, it was required to bring and store an x-ray image for consultation with a doctor. Now, a patient can receive medical attention alongside the consultation. However, we are confronted with major challenges. The first is data collection. We should prioritize obtaining accurate and high-quality data as low-quality data will impede further analysis. We should also prioritize data sharing. Can massive volumes of data be shared and centralized? China has a sizable population with advantages in the size of the data collected, so it is essential to effectively utilize these data. The second concern is how people perceive artificial intelligence in medicine and whether or not it will be accepted, which can be addressed through education and popular science. In addition to ethical and legal concerns, the use of artificial intelligence raises significant privacy and human rights issues because it involves personal information. The technology and healthcare industries are incapable of resolving the problems associated with big data and artificial intelligence. It must have the support or initiative of the government, a consensus reached between industry associations, research conducted by universities and research institutes, and applications by corporations and hospitals. Only with the participation of every member of this chain can the application of artificial intelligence be successful in the field of medical health.

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4 Key Tasks of China’s Biomedical Technology Development China has always paid attention to the uses of strategies and tactics to achieve desired ends. Every five years, the Chinese government will formulate a plan for national economic and social development. The 14th Five-Year Plan has stipulated some of the key research fields.

4.1 Important Directions for Biomedical Technology Development First, the roots of innovation. China must conduct an in-depth study into the fundamental concepts of the life sciences and seize leadership positions in related industries. We must also develop our interpretations and understandings to address many challenging issues in the life sciences. First and foremost, more money must be invested in technological theory and cutting-edge technology. There are many fundamental concerns regarding life science research. Due to the international competition in these fields, each country should employ its research teams and methodologies, which serve as the basis. Second, treatment. Biology medicine is the primary focus of today’s discussion of biotechnology. In terms of prevention, we will want to use vaccinations to prevent acute and chronic infectious diseases. In terms of diagnosis, early detection of critical diseases is particularly crucial. Numerous malignancies, including lung, rectal, and breast cancer, respond favorably to treatment following early detection. The fiveyear survival rate for tumors is 90%, but the efficacy of treatment is quite low once they reach an advanced stage, especially after metastasis. An accurate diagnosis is followed by molecular typing and molecular staging based on the current clinical staging in order for medical professionals to feel more confident in treating the disease. Biological therapy comprises gene therapy, protein medications, cell therapy pharmaceuticals, and immunotherapy drugs, a comprehensive treatment of which incorporates regenerative medicine and the replacement and repair of damaged tissues and organs. This process begins with the biofabrication of tissues and organs. At present, Chinese pharmaceutical companies divide their research and development into two phases: high-level imitation and accessibility issues resolution. Patients with certain diseases have significant needs. First and foremost, a solution must be found for the availability of medicines, and pharmaceutical companies in China must engage in high-level, high-quality imitation and innovation, which is also known as “me-too” or “me-better”. For many cutting-edge technologies, we innovate based on international research findings. However, in addition to high demand and accessibility, there are also problems with intellectual property. China may require a license for

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certain technologies. To establish China’s commanding heights in biomedical technology, we must innovate our sources, set new goals, and build new structures, while also guiding the global advancement of biomedicine and making contributions to humanity. In the absence of prior basic research, however, it is impossible to develop a new objective and structure. Therefore, China should strengthen its fundamental research in this field. Regarding the positioning of the development of China’s pharmaceutical enterprises, the first strategy is “focused on pharmaceutical enterprises and advancing towards healthy enterprises”. In the past, pharmaceutical companies only sold drugs to treat diseases, but they now do more. They seek to prevent, reduce, and delay the onset of illness in individuals. The expansion of pharmaceutical enterprises in China is centered on the entire life cycle chain, from medical equipment to health equipment to health care products and beyond. The second objective is to “transition from generic drug-focused companies to companies that focus on both innovation and generic drugs”. In the past, we had to address a number of issues before turning our attention to generic medications. However, China now needs more innovative businesses and has put in place effective regulations and processes to encourage their growth. Third, Chinese companies should expand internationally. The majority of Chinese pharmaceutical companies are still regional companies that primarily serve the country’s medical requirements. From the standpoint of national economic development or a community with a shared future for human health, we hope that businesses will be able to “go global” and form more numerous international corporations in the future. Fourth, companies should evolve into modern enterprises that reform and restructure to conform to the socialist market economy.

4.2 Key Development Directions of Chemical Drugs The first is the treatment for severe chronic diseases. Long-term and persistent health issues for the Chinese populace include cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, rheumatic immunodegenerative diseases, and kidney diseases, all are chronic diseases that are the greatest pain point for people’s quality of life. We also observed a blatant aspect of the targeted poverty reduction process, that is, the disease is the cause of poverty for more than half of the poor families. Once a member of the family develops critical illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, congenital heart disease, and scoliosis the entire family will be forced to live in abject poverty, no matter how financially stable the family was before. Therefore, it is crucial that we identify better treatment options in the field of medication development. Furthermore, it was also found that mental illnesses are linked to the aging process. This is especially crucial given that the 7th national census revealed that China continues to experience a high rate of aging. The health and quality of life of common people are also significantly impacted by autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, coagulopathy, and multiple sclerosis. Numerous people, not just in China, will experience neurodegeneration

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as they age, but there is a lack of research on this subject, and there is no better treatment. Existing research is concentrated on illnesses caused by drug-resistant microorganisms, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis and other common infections. Next is traditional Chinese medicine, which we can discuss in three aspects. Firstly, research and development of novel medications for the ailments that can be effectively treated by traditional Chinese medicine, which is China’s treasure trove. It has protected the health of the Chinese people and contributed to medical treatment for thousands of years. In this COVID-19 outbreak, it has also successfully worked with Western medicine, particularly in preventing patients with mild illnesses from becoming critical. Western pharmaceutical dosage, especially hormones, will result in side effects such as osteoporosis and site fibrosis, while treatments with traditional Chinese medicine bring numerous advantages. Acupuncture, massage, and other techniques of traditional Chinese medicine have a significant impact on the treatment of sports injuries, chronic cough, allergies, insomnia, depression, and other conditions. To effectively apply traditional Chinese medicine, we must identify its strengths. Second, the development of traditional compound prescriptions. Eminent physicians in ancient China, such as Zhang Zhongjing and Sun Simiao, passed down a number of representative recipes through the years. On this basis, we must develop medicine recipes with long-lasting and highly specific curative effects for a variety of diseases. However, in addition to respecting the qualities of traditional Chinese medicine, we must also employ modern techniques. Not all traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions are monolithic, but compound prescriptions are analogous to “rulers, ministers, and adjuvants”. There are numerous divisions of labor within the pharmaceutical industry. It is comparable to a soccer team with goalkeepers, defenders, and strikers; it is a result of collaboration, which is what makes traditional Chinese medicine unique. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States is one of the numerous international agencies with which I have interacted, and they all concur with my belief. I also believe that traditional Chinese medicine can go global if we continue to scientifically develop it at each stage and link, and conduct solid clinical evidence-based research. Many traditional Chinese remedies have been subjected to clinical trials and launched on the market in western countries. Third, the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine. From the viewpoint of a community with a shared future for mankind, it is hoped that traditional Chinese medicine will not only safeguard the health of the Chinese people but also the health of people worldwide. Finally, there are biological medications, beginning with vaccinations. Vaccines, including cutting-edge vaccine adjuvants, are especially effective in responding to public health catastrophes. What did people anticipate when the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged? They were awaiting a vaccination against the virus. Many diseases have been eradicated or reduced in frequency in China. In China’s immunization program, for instance, the hepatitis B vaccine, polio vaccine, BCG vaccine, and other vaccines have unquestionably improved people’s health and quality of life. Infectious illness vaccines and other similar vaccines are considered therapeutic vaccines. Second, antibodies, including whole antibodies, antibody-small molecule conjugated medicines, medicines for stem cells, medicines for immunotherapy, and medicines for gene

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therapy. Drug release technologies, such as drug delivery systems (diver systems) and relisten, are utilized by targeted used in biological therapy, particularly those used in gene therapy. These technologies describe how the drug is transported and precisely delivered to the site where it must act to reduce side effects and regulate the drug’s effect at a higher level. In 2019, seven of the top ten pharmaceutical products marketed globally were biotechnology-based, and six of them were antibodies, clearly demonstrating the rapid development of biological medications.

Zhan Qimin Molecular oncologist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, currently serving as Director of the International Cancer Institute of Peking University and Dean of the National Institute of Health Data Science at Peking University (NIHDS-PKU).

Innovative Practices in High-Tech Industry Development Liu Zhongfan

Abstract Graphene is a remarkable new material with a huge range of potential applications. With a thickness of only one atomic layer, it is the thinnest substance known to man and also the strongest, with a theoretical strength of 100 times that of steel. The Beijing Graphene Research Institute is positioned as a source of fundamental technology for the graphene industry, a base for high-end graphene material production and equipment R&D, a platform for “R&D OEM” for multinational corporations, a hub for high-tech talent and an innovation and entrepreneurship base. The most active application market right now is graphene, which has high hopes for advancements in thermal control and excellent health. Future plans for the graphene sector depend on preparation, and it is essential to adapt our way of thinking and recognize the transition from research to engineering to industrial thinking while moving from basic research to industrialization. The essential solution to the issue of collaborative innovation between business, academia, and research is for China to promote the collaborative innovation model of a single entity and allow millions of firms with internal collaborative innovation capabilities to develop. Keywords Graphene · Industrialization · Beijing Graphene Research Institute · Fundamental research · Engineering thinking · Industrial thinking · R&D OEM · International collaboration.

1 An Introduction to Graphene A novel substance dubbed “the king of new materials” is graphene. With a thickness of only one atomic layer, it is the thinnest substance known to man. It is the strongest, with a theoretical strength of 100 times that of steel. And it is also a material with the best electrical and thermal conductivity. Graphene is the only material capable of accumulating such a high level of performance excellence. Graphene is a pure carbon material, made up of 100% carbon atoms. Therefore, it is a “high-carbon” substance, L. Zhongfan (B) Beijing Graphene Institute, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_12

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in contrast to the “low-carbon” concept that is currently extremely prevalent. Granted, it is believed that this “high-carbon” graphene material can contribute to the “lowcarbon economy”. Graphite ore is a natural graphite. Graphite has a layered structure. There is little tension holding the layers together. With the use of tape, numerous layers can be torn. You can eventually pull a graphite flake out with the thickness of an atomic layer if you have the patience to continually shred it. And that is graphene. Early experimental research on graphene was torn out by this stupid method, so it was frequently amused that transparent tape was responsible for the Nobel Prize in graphene. Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were the pioneers of graphene research. They examined the properties of this single-layer graphite flake for the first time by practically tearing it off layer by layer using regular tape, and the paper was published in “Science” on October 22, 2004. This ought to be the first popular article on the topic of graphene. Six years later two pioneers won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Here, I want to underline that “inadvertent action” frequently leads to “breaking through from zero to one innovative basic research.” It is a result of scientists’ intense interest and thirst for knowledge, and it is challenging to plan and concentrate on studies. Basic research is not just planned out and funded. Money does not play a decisive role. Basic research has its laws. Graphene is a remarkable new material with a huge range of potential applications. Although the majority of them are still in the research and development stage, there are a wide variety of conceivable application scenarios, including those in the fields of electronic information, energy, functional materials, biomedicine, energy conservation and environmental protection, aerospace, and national defense and military industries. The first one is graphene-modified lithium-ion batteries. The electrical additives utilized as a positive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries have a bigger benefit over the already popular charcoal black conductive agent from a theoretical standpoint. The positive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries has a low conductivity, hence a lot of inactive and light groups are added to them to lower their energy density. High-performance graphene conductive additives can drastically cut down on usage, enhancing energy density and enabling quick charging. The high thermal conductivity of graphene enhances battery stability and safety by assisting heat dissipation during rapid loading. It should be noted that the fast charging of a single-section battery differs from the fast charging of whole vehicles, and that charging piles and guns have different power requirements. As a result, some business owners claim that the phrase “charging for eight minutes, can run a thousand kilometers” is purely advertising and shouldn’t be taken seriously. People also focus a lot of attention on graphene coatings. Compared to traditional glass scales (3–5 microns thick), ultra-thin graphene micro flakes offer better physical shielding and slow the entrance of corrosive substances. According to studies, adding roughly 0.5% of graphene oxide or its derivatives to insulation material reduces chloride ion penetration by half, and has a substantial impact. If the strongly anticorruption coatings comprising metal zinc are supplemented with roughly 0.3% pink graphene, higher use efficiency of zinc will be realized, resulting in a large reduction in the amount of zinc powder needed to accomplish cost-saving goals. It

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should be noted that high-guide electrical graphene, which is more stable than metal, worsens metal electrochemical corrosion, and the physical shielding effect offered by graphene only addresses the need for short-term anti-corrosion protection. Therefore, the magical effect of graphene coatings should not be overstated. According to statistics, the global market for anti-corrosion coatings was valued at around $25 billion in 2017, of which the graphene coating market accounted for roughly $800 million. At the moment, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces are home to the majority of the 700 Chinese enterprises involved in the graphene coating industry. The most active application market right now is graphene, which has high hopes for advancements in thermal control and comprehensive health. Far-infrared light is best absorbed by graphene, which also has the best electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. The far-infrared spectrum of graphene and the far-infrared spectrum launched by the human body have a significant overlap from the standpoint of the launch spectrum. It is also the origin of the so-called “life light wave” emitted by graphene. Fast thermal responsiveness, low driving voltage, high transmission rate, and high thermoelectric conversion efficiency are all advantages of thermoelectric conversion equipment made of graphene materials. Many of these graphene thermoelectric products have been introduced on the domestic market; examples include electric heating paintings, electric heating apparel, electric heating blankets, heating eye masks, infrared physical therapy rooms, floor and wall heating, neck and waist protection, etc.

2 Development History of Graphene Let’s take a look back at the history of graphene. Graphene has a history that spans almost 20 years, beginning at the end of 2004. There are several significant time nodes and occurrences. The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the two pioneers of graphene research on October 5, 2010, which helped to increase the material’s popularity. To promote graphene materials outside of the lab and establish a new graphene sector, the EU created a ten-year “graphene flagship plan” in 2013 with an investment of 100 million euros annually. The Implementation Plan for the Renewal of Key Materials was published in 2014 by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, and graphene was included in it. The Sixth Element (Changzhou) Materials Technology Co., Ltd., which focused mostly on graphene, landed the New Third Board in the stock market in the same year. The National Graphene Institute (NGI) was created in March 2015 by the University of Manchester in Britain, home to the two Nobel Prize winners. On October 23 of the same year, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s visit to the NGI sparked the “graphite fever” that has persisted to this day. The Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), where I am the inaugural director, was formed on October 25, 2018, in Beijing to advance the study and development of graphene new material. Huawei debuted the Mate 20X smartphone with graphene heat dissipation technology in the same year. The “Graphene Engineering Innovation Center”

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(GEIC), dedicated to fundamental research and engineering, was established by the University of Manchester on December 10, 2018, to seize the opportunity of the graphene new material industry. In China, graphene has become a household name. China started a “graphene fever” after it was recognized as a new material worthy of a Nobel Prize in 2010. Internet marketing for graphene products is overpowering, and graphene-related businesses have sprouted up like mushrooms after a storm. More than 20,000 local enterprises claimed to be involved in the graphene industry as of the end of 2020. With an estimate of more than all other nations put together, this number is conceivably the highest in the entire world. China now has 30 graphene industrial parks, 54 graphene research institutions, and 8 graphene industry innovation centers, according to incomplete statistics. I was present for the unveiling of the 30th graphene industrial park, which arrived in Shenzhen. More than twenty provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government have included industrial layouts of the graphene sector in their 13th Five-Year Plans, along with a set of supporting measures. Beijing also started a special project on graphene science and technology in 2016, to turn the benefits of research and development resources into advantages for the graphene industry’s growth. The growth of the graphene business is a topic that many listed firms follow closely. Uncompleted statistics show that there are already more than 60 listed businesses operating in the graphene industry, spanning every link in the chain. The majority of them are companies in the energy sector. Since 2011, Chinese academics have published the majority of the world’s graphene-related academic articles (34%), taking the top spot in terms of basic research. China, which accounts for 68% of global graphene-related patent applications, is far ahead of the pack. It is undeniable that China’s graphene industry is the largest in the world from a statistical perspective. To benchmark graphene materials, we employ the Gartner technology maturity curve. From the lab to industrialization, graphene materials must go through five stages, similar to other new materials and technologies: technology trigger, peak of inflated expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of enlightenment, and plateau of productivity. Graphene was considered to be in its stage of innovation trigger at the end of 2004, but it swiftly gained broad attention, raised expectations, and evolved into a nearly omnipotent supermaterial. The hype peaked between 2015 and 2016 when graphene appeared to have infinite potential. The buzz has now subsided and everyone has gradually calmed down. In reality, the majority of the materials and technologies in the lab will fail in the middle of their development rather than completing it.

3 The Industrialization of Graphene Future plans for the graphene sector depend on preparation. The foundation of the sector is its materials. There won’t be a graphene industry if massive production technology doesn’t advance. There is no reason to be concerned if there is no sound

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basic research in preparatory science because the core competitiveness will be gone. It must be stressed that the absence of focused basic research makes it challenging to achieve substantial advancements in preparation. From what I can tell, even though I can publish a ton of articles and submit a ton of patent applications, it will be challenging to aid in the industrialization of graphene materials if all I do is directing students to conduct basic research in the Peking University labs. It should be emphasized that improving the quality of graphene materials is a gradual process that calls for perseverance and patience. Graphene materials won’t become industrialized immediately, though it is not necessary to make materials perfect to develop an industry. There are no exceptions to this development procedure. Male graphene and female graphene are the two categories into which I frequently split graphene in jest. Male graphene is represented by graphene powder material, which is a stupid, extensive, and rough material, while female graphene is represented by graphene film material, which is a fine, intensive, and high-end material. Of course, this is just a joke. The two forms of graphene are not identical in terms of their preparation procedures or their intended applications. At present, powder graphene materials are closer to industrialization, with more research done in China. What is the current state of powder graphene material preparation? Researchers from the National University of Singapore released their findings in an article in 2018 after meticulously examining powder samples from 60 businesses worldwide. They discovered that 90% of the materials were not graphene and that the majority of them contained less than 10% graphene. Additionally, the carbon content of graphene, a substance made entirely of carbon, is less than 60%. So how such material can be relied on to shape the future of the graphene industry? We must work hard on the materials, and preparation shapes the future. The same holds true for graphene film materials burnt in high-temperature furnaces. We compiled the results of our team’s 10 years of research on graphene film development in an over-60-page review article in 2018. In actuality, there is a substantial difference between ideal and reality for graphene films as well. Reality is a different story. The ideal graphene film is a perfect two-dimensional single crystal, whereas the real graphene film is a polycrystalline film consisting of piled-up single crystal pieces, much like a raggedy piece of clothing after mending, and is hence defect-rich. In theory, it is simple to comprehend that the high-temperature development process of graphene films is extremely complex and entails numerous elementary reaction steps. Every step needs to be planned and managed for completely perfect graphene growth, which is challenging to do in practice. It is not difficult to raise output or to make it bigger, but it is challenging to do it well. This is how things now stand. It has been 13 years since we first started working in the graphene field in 2008. In my early years, I worked on carbon nanotubes, a related field of graphene, and the underpinnings of both performance testing and preparation are extremely similar. I have therefore been conducting research on graphene for more than 20 years. When I first started studying graphene, I mainly concentrated on basic research, creating graphene films by chemical vapor deposition, examining its unique features, and investigating potential uses. Later, as a result of numerous “mistakes,” I decided to

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develop a massive preparation technology for graphene film materials, which is the foundation of the graphene industry. It was a significant leap from laboratory samples to mass-produced goods, and as interest grew, the Beijing Graphene Institute was finally founded with the help of the Beijing Municipal Government. We can perform tasks that laboratories are unable to carry out with a larger stage and platform.

4 Beijing Graphene Institute’s Contribution to Innovation in Systems and Mechanisms Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI) is a brand-new R&D organization that is run by Peking University and is jointly sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Government and social capital. The day of its formal unveiling was October 25, 2018. The Institute, which has a total investment of 2 billion yuan projected over 10 years and a staff size of 240 employees, is situated in Cuihu Science and Technology Park in the Zhongguancun North District, 15 km from Peking University. The Institute is positioned as a source of core technologies for the graphene industry, a base for high-end graphene material production and equipment R&D, a platform for “R&D and OEM” for multinational corporations, a hub for high-tech talent and an innovation and entrepreneurship base, as well as a basis for investigating collaborative innovation mechanisms among the government, industry, university, and research institute, and a demonstration area for new R&D institutions. The Institute focuses on three main business sectors: (1) R&D of massive equipment and technology for preparing graphene materials; (2) R&D of core technologies for the future graphene industry; and (3) R&D and OEM for businesses in the existing market. Institutional mechanism innovation is a crucial safety net for the Institute’s success. To describe the overall development approach, we employ the “egg model.” About 200 individuals make up the “yolk,” a representation of the Institute’s core technology R&D team which focuses on developing massive preparation technology and equipment for graphene materials as well as “splashing” application technology to maintain the core competition in the future graphene industry competition. The “egg white” represents a number of “R&D foundry centers”, where the Institute sets up special R&D teams to provide “one-to-one” R&D foundry services to meet the specific needs of enterprises. On the one hand, it addresses the issue of inadequate research and development capacities within businesses, and on the other hand, it offers market backing for the long-term growth of the Institute. From a different angle, the Institute works for enterprises to conduct research and development while enterprises work for the Institute to manage the market, each party’s strengths complementing the other to produce outcomes that are advantageous to both parties. The outermost “eggshell” represents the application market, and the Institute will make every effort to promote the commercialization of technologies and will never stop at the level of fundamental research and technological research and development. Our strategic objective is to establish a 100-billion-dollar graphene

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industry and a platform for open graphene research and development with a staff of roughly 1,000. Let me give you an overview of a few prominent products that have scaled and become industrialized during the previous three years. The first is the industry-leading A3-size graphene film, with a 10,000-square-meter annual output. Each A3-sized graphene film costs 20,000 yuan, which is still a significant amount of money. The second is the single-crystal graphene wafer, which is sold for over $3,000 each and is produced in annual quantities of 10,000 4-inch and 12,000 6-inch wafers. The third is the ultra-clean graphene film with the highest quality, which can only be made by us at this time. We are the first to achieve ultra-clean growth of graphene, which is exceedingly “dirty” when it “grows” in a high-temperature furnace. This ultra-clean graphene exhibits performance that is nearly at the theoretical maximum and marks the highest level of graphene film preparation. The fourth is the super graphene glass, a technology we developed with a 5,000-square-meter annual production. I want to emphasize the fact that the production machinery for these graphene-based compounds has been prepared by us. The Institute has produced a number of new pieces of graphene growth equipment at its own R&D facility. The fact that the Beijing Graphene Institute has three collaborative innovation teams is an advantage: (1) a basic research team relies on the high-level teams of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows of Peking University; (2) a professional process R&D team; (3) an equipment manufacturing team. The three teams collaborate effectively and are crucial to advancing the massive manufacturing of graphene materials. It is evident that without the latter two teams, it is extremely difficult to reach massive production to undertake fundamental research at Peking University alone. It is also extremely difficult to be competitive for the latter two teams alone without substantial basic research backing. Massive production is a significant advancement for graphene new materials and is essential for advancing material industrialization. In actuality, most research is conducted in laboratories, where graphene samples are produced. They are far from being graphene materials. The massive preparation of materials, which is significantly more challenging than doing samples, is carried out by very few teams. The foundation dictates the strength, the technique determines the quality, and the equipment decides the result in the study and development of graphene materials. Fundamental research is crucial. There won’t be any strength or competitiveness without reliable fundamental research to back it up. The “Graphene Preparation Science” Basic Science Center of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, which relies on Peking University and the Beijing Graphene Institute, was officially approved and founded in September 2021. The establishment of this first fundamental science center in China in the area of graphene is a testament to the ten years of hard work we have put in, as well as a source of pride and a solid basis on which to build future efforts. Even at the basic research level, it is impossible to manufacture high-quality graphene materials without investigating and developing massive preparation techniques. Also, making our own equipment is crucial. Equipment is the “solidification” of the technique, and

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new equipment is necessary to implement upgraded preparation techniques. Naturally, the self-developed equipment is a crucial safeguard for individual intellectual property rights. It is essential to adapt our way of thinking and realize the transition from research thinking to engineering and industrial thinking while moving from basic research to industrialization. This is extremely important. What is research thinking? Curiositydriven divergent thought is what constitutes research thinking. Innovation arises from novelty, which is crucial. Scientists think in a similar manner. What is engineering thinking? When designing a specific thing like a bridge, engineering thinking must be focused on the specifics and cannot be content with just pulling off tricks. This is called engineering thinking. What is industrial thinking? Industrial thinking is that market considerations such as cost, price, and competitiveness must be taken into account. The truth is that it is not the best technology and the best material that can enter the market and occupy the market. Research thinking alone is most definitely insufficient for developing graphene new materials; engineering thinking and industrial thinking are also required. The efficient fusion of the three might really encourage the growth of the industry. My opinion is that giving scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs access to a public platform, a shared starting point, and a benefit-sharing mechanism, all of which are essential, is the key to industryuniversity-research institute collaboration on innovative ideas. There is still much potential for improvement in the industry-university-research institute’s collaborative innovation system, which is the root of the “two skins” dilemma between technology and economics that is frequently discussed nowadays. Currently, there are two entirely different models of collaborative innovation among the industry, university and research institute: one is a model of collaborative innovation within a single subject, and the other is a model of collaborative innovation across several subjects. Large-scale high-tech firms like Huawei are typical examples of collaborative innovation approaches for a single subject. They have their own teams of engineers, scientists, and market operation specialists who work together and develop toward a common objective and value chain. Universities, research facilities, cutting-edge R&D institutions or innovation hubs, as well as independent entities like businesses, are all included in the multi-subject collaborative innovation model. These subjects are all attempting to collaborate and develop jointly under the direction of common objectives. In reality, it is easy to see which of the two modes is more effective. The former is comparable to a fast machine, whereas the latter is comparable to a group of synchronous machines that are operating at radically different levels of difficulty. In light of the current situation, our nation has unwittingly given the multi-subject collaborative innovation model more attention in order to enable the efficient collaboration of many “machines”. It is worthwhile to consider the exceedingly difficult road we have selected. The essential solution to the issue of collaborative innovation among the industry, university, and research institute is for China to promote the collaborative innovation model of a single entity and allow millions of firms with internal collaborative innovation capabilities to develop. The consensus is that engineering R&D is the pathway for basic research findings to be industrialized, and it is also the weakest link in China’s existing chain

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of collaborative innovation among the industry, university, and research institute. Enterprises are crucial for transforming all basic research and technology R&D findings into practical applications. The “stuck neck” technology will never be able to be redressed without a business system and without entrepreneurs taking responsibility. The development of the graphene industry is not something that can be accomplished quickly; rather, it takes an organic combination of national and market will, long-term unrelenting efforts, and unyielding determination, with sustainability being the key to the future. Long-term plans are also being developed by my team to identify “splashing” applications for graphene-based materials. In actuality, “industrial MSG” and “additives” are essentially the functions that graphene is playing in current application settings. Graphene is not necessary or even simply a marketing ploy. The “splashing” applications of graphene are constantly being researched. The applications are irreplaceable and will bring the upgrading of traditional industries and even launch a brand-new one. Here are a few examples of what we are exploring. By employing graphene as the epitaxial buffer layer of a third-generation semiconductor material, we seek to merge graphene with LED lighting technology, and the results are quite positive. Due to this innovative technical approach, LED luminous efficiency has grown by 35%, and deep UV LED wavelength has reached 280 nm. We also developed “ene-carbon fiber” for the production of electro-optic modulators, fiber detectors, mode-locked ultrafast lasers, etc., which develops graphene directly on the surface of the conventional fiber. According to our research, the “ene-carbon fiber” technology is anticipated to successfully merge graphene new materials and optical communication technology to launch a brand-new market for next-generation optical fiber. The most intriguing is the brand-new graphene material called graphene glass fiber created by the Beijing Graphene Institute. It is anticipated that this material, which has an unusually high electrothermal conversion efficiency of more than 94%, greatly surpasses the widely used resistance wire and heats up very fast, would become a disruptive force in the established electrothermal business. This is a significant achievement for our team because graphene glass fiber technology has been practically used in the military industry realm. Future technologies like these have the potential to completely transform an industry, and we eagerly await them. The idea of “R&D and OEM” was also put up by the Beijing Graphene Institute, which is dedicated to developing a new type of “R&D and OEM” that will enable scientists and entrepreneurs to travel together. This is a brand-new mode for industryuniversity-research institute collaboration in innovation. The Beijing Graphene Institute has built an “R&D and OEM Center” to provide individualized R&D and OEM services in response to the research and development requirements of businesses. Pooling interests throughout the process, it will support business high-tech research and development in a stable and long-term way and help create recognizable products alongside businesses. The “BGI Shenzhou Tire R&D and OEM Center,” which collaborated with Ningxia Shenzhou Tire Co., Ltd. to employ graphene in aviation tires to address the issue of the inadequate service life of domestic aviation tires, is a successful example. Additionally, we established a “special fiber joint laboratory” in collaboration with China Bluestar Chengrand Co., Ltd. to advance the study and development of composite fiber materials made of graphene and aramid.

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Our objective is to establish a graphene high-tech company that will concentrate on the R&D, manufacture, and sale of graphene materials. We also aim to offer the world’s most competitive graphene materials, as well as related manufacturing and testing equipment, and to build a 100-billion-dollar graphene industry empire. This is our team’s main objective and the Chinese dream of ours. We are steadfast and strongly convinced of it. The burgeoning graphene industry needs international collaboration. With potential and problems coexisting in the graphene new material industry’s early stages of growth, strong worldwide collaboration is essential. The future is determined by preparation. The BGI has great capability for massive preparation and equipment research and development. It can offer the most competitive graphene equipment and materials to consumers worldwide. In order to support industrial upgrading and the growth of emerging industries, it is also prepared to offer worldwide consumers graphene-related technology R&D services in the mode of R&D and OEM. To ensure that the graphene industry has a promising future, we are prepared to work side by side with colleagues around the globe.

Liu Zhongfan Director of Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC, vice chairman of the CPPCC Beijing Municipal Committee, vice chairman of the Central Committee of Jiusan Society and chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Jiusan Society.

Future Development of Industries in the Intelligent World Riding the New Wave of Technologies Shu Cheng

Abstract The notion of the intelligent world is a sweeping and comprehensive concept that encompasses the convergence of physical and informational infrastructures. China’s vision of achieving socialist modernization by 2035 includes a strong emphasis on technological and scientific innovation, positioning the country among the most innovative nations in the world. To thrive in the intelligent world, businesses must break free from conventional paths of innovation and evolve from imitation and introduction to integration and originality. The intelligent world is characterized by the widespread application of intelligence, including artificial intelligence, life science and technology, blockchain, new materials, and 5G/6G communication technology. Companies must choose the best course for technological transformation in light of the shifts in the global innovation ecosystem, trade system, and geopolitical landscape. The intelligent world offers numerous prospects for different industries, but the ability and power of any one company to participate is restricted. Companies should concentrate on the underlying core technology and determine their own positioning to genuinely participate in the creation of the smart world. Keywords Intelligent world · Science and technology Innovation · 5G/6G · Internet of Things · Cloud computing · Big data platforms · Edge computing · Information security · Industrial development

1 Significance and Trend of Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation In his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary Xi Jinping outlined the schedule and roadmap for building a modern socialist country in all respects: on the basis of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2020 and attaining the first centenary goal, we will S. Cheng (B) Suirui Group Co., Ltd, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_13

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strive for another 15 years to essentially achieve socialist modernization in 2035; from 2035 to the middle of this century, we will struggle for another 15 years on the basis of essentially realizing modernization to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. By 2035, when China essentially completes its socialist modernization, its economic, and technological strength will have increased significantly, placing it among the most innovative nations in the world and driving sustainable development in all aspects of society and economy with science and technology innovation. More importantly, it will have established the long-term driving force to achieve the second centenary goal, further clarifying the objectives and directions of China’s science and technology innovation of 2035, as well as the significant practical implications of accomplishing the goal. The aforementioned important responsibilities and missions are carried out by different kinds of technology enterprises in China as the primary carriers of the national innovation system. At this crucial historical turning moment, those aspirant Chinese science and technology firms must steadfastly overcome their dependence on the conventional path of science and technology innovation, expedite the transformation of science and technology innovation, and upgrade from introduction and imitation to integration and originality in response to global demand, finally achieve innovation leadership, determine their strategic positioning within the context of national innovation development, insist on driving company development with science and technology innovation, and encourage industrial development and upgrading. China is currently facing both enormous opportunities and significant challenges as a result of the new round of technological revolution, which is represented by artificial intelligence (AI), life science and technology, blockchain, new materials, and 5G/6G “space-air-ground integrated” communication technology. How should businesses, governments, universities, and other institutions choose the best course for technological transformation in light of the enormous shifts in the global innovation ecosystem, trade system, and geopolitical landscape? How can we successfully advance integration and innovation at a rapid rate? This is a claim that calls for extensive research and application. For businesses, we should take into account the national strategy and roadmap and establish the company’s own struggle goals for the years 2035 and 2050 based on the current situation. If we look to the progress of science and technology for clues as to where the economy and society of the future are headed, what do we see in store for the world of the future? This is a significant matter that needs thorough study and investigation. First, the world’s powers, notably the global manufacturing powers, have turned their attention to intelligent manufacturing. In the process of global transformation from automated factories to intelligent factories, intelligent manufacturing is a new production method based on the deep integration of new-generation information and communication technology (ICT) and advanced manufacturing technology. It is applied to all areas of manufacturing operations, including design, production, operation, management, and service, and has the capabilities of self-awareness, self-learning, self-decision, self-execution, and self-adaptation. In the future, major

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developed countries and regional economies will pay attention to the next generation of intelligent manufacturing, create medium and long-term growth plans for the manufacturing sector, and take advantage of the peak in the advancement of advanced manufacturing. All nations will compete to develop intelligent manufacturing systems, and a layout for essential common technologies, intelligent manufacturing system platforms, and industrial internet will be established. Large-scale industrial cooperation will unavoidably become a trend in this process. China has a strong industrial foundation and competitive opening advantages in the new wave of intelligent manufacturing since it is the world’s largest manufacturing country and the largest industrial output country. Second, the systematization of sci-tech innovation development and application is accelerating, shifting from multiple points to system integration. The Internet of Things (IoT), industrial internet big data, cloud computing, edge computing, and AI are examples of the new generation of information technology (IT). 3D printing, robots, human–machine collaboration, and precision gene engineering are examples of modern manufacturing technologies. Together with them, the convergence of new energy, new materials and biotechnology into a trend of many breakthroughs and cross-integration will accelerate the advancement of science and technology innovation, improve human production and life, and transform the entire planet. Third, cross-border innovation and new-form innovation are accelerating due to global industrial integration, and the usage of intelligent equipment is widespread. Information technology enterprises and internet corporations will fully use their advantages in the field of information technology and invest in the real economy in a variety of fields; and traditional manufacturing firms are engaging in intelligent manufacturing to achieve industrial transformation and upgrading. Industrial robots will be a common form of intelligent equipment as the intelligent process accelerates. With the development of IT, industrial robots will be able to more efficiently connect to the network and form a broader production system, allowing for numerous robots to work together to accomplish a set of production solutions. “Replacement of human labor with machines” has become a major trend for industrial production. We are progressing toward a fully interconnected intelligent world, as indicated by the foregoing assessment of the trend of industrial development and the direction of development of new technological innovations. The development trend of this intelligent world will greatly change all facets of human life and work. The construction and operation of an updated intelligent world infrastructure platform is currently a major focus in the international IT sector. The advent of a fully interconnected intelligent world means that the requirements of human industry and living will increase in complexity, diversity, and being multi-dimensional. Strong, forward-thinking tech firms should seize the opportunity this transition presents and compete successfully in the industries in the intelligent world by leveraging a convergence of industrial, national, and global trends to discover and exploit their competitive edge in order to satisfy the needs of people in the future intelligent world.

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2 Intelligent World and Its Trends Over the next two decades, our planet must become an intelligent world with distinctive features. The term “intelligent world” is distinct from the “smart planet” idea put forth by IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) in 2003. When compared to the “intelligent world” which places an emphasis on the integration of physical and informational infrastructures, the “smart planet” idea is narrowly focused on the infrastructure level. In today’s highly intelligent environment, the widespread application of intelligence will have far-reaching consequences for the human race. The new intelligent world is comprehensive, with a richer connotation and a wider scope than the so-called “intelligent interconnection” and “smart planet” idea system proposed over the previous two decades. What will the intelligent world look like? Through a careful examination of the likely path of intelligent world development, we have produced a full examination of and demonstration of the scope of the intelligent world. Broadly speaking, the term “intelligent world” refers to a data-driven society that has integrated communication technology, big data, AI, cloud computing, edge computing, blockchain, and other novel technologies to facilitate the interconnection of government, business, family, and individual user of several terminals and apps, as well as the in-depth and all-encompassing use of AI to boost economic output and individual well-being. In the future’s fully interconnected intelligent world, not only will all devices be interconnected, but there will also be a natural blending of humans and machines. For example, many IoT devices attached to people’s flesh might become commonplace between 2035 and 2050. Many intelligent chips will be injected into humans in the future to secure our quality of life, our health system, and our personal safety, much like a child needs to be vaccinated at birth. As a result, the intelligent world is a pervasive and prominent concept, and in the not-too-distant future, every technological aspect of human life will be improved or replaced to accommodate it. There are four distinguishing features of the fully interconnected intelligent world from the perspective of the general public’s perception and experience: extending the boundary of human perception, improving the efficiency of information connectivity, from digital to digital intelligence, and all-in-one intelligent systems. These four characteristics will permeate all walks of life and every facet of our life, from the products we consume and wear to the places we live and the ways we travel. Extending the boundary of human perception: From human intelligence to machine intelligence. Humans have historically experienced the world through their senses of touch, hearing, and sight; however, in the future, we will go beyond these senses by employing intelligent sensing technologies to view the world through computer perception. Improving the efficiency of information connectivity: Connecting things and objects quickly is possible due to the globalized high-speed interconnection network, which will transmit data collected by machines to the cloud for real-time analysis.

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From digital to digital intelligence: Received data will be processed in real-time, either in the cloud or at the edge nodes, into quantifiable information and computable knowledge that will enable self-decision making and self-execution, hence increasing data value. All-in-one intelligent systems: Humans will enter a new era of “all-in-one intelligent systems and interconnected computing” in which any object can be linked to the internet. Traditional industries will undergo transformations in the intelligent world. Listed below are four such instances, drawn from the fields of tourism, logistics, smart city management, and sports. In terms of tourism, big data will be used to realize early warning and prediction of the flow of people in many tourist attractions in the future, allowing parks to improve the satisfaction and comfort of tourists through the implementation of features like IoT-based electronic tour guides, voice-based customer service products, etc. In a single facial swipe, tourists may gain access to a variety of AI-powered features, such as a live view, an itinerary planner, and valet parking. More museums and other destinations will adopt VR-powered online tourism services in the near future, giving more tourists a greater opportunity to take part in the online creation and sale of digital cultural products. In terms of logistics, intelligent order recognition technology has been pushed; it can read 20 million handwritten orders in three hours, drastically cutting down on logistics costs; most logistics enterprises have begun constructing intelligent warehouses, and these can integrate warehouse outbound management and vehicle trajectory mobilization, increasing overall efficiency by a factor of ten; the rise in popularity of intelligent distribution robots is also expected to have a significant impact on the logistics sector in the near future. In terms of smart city management, the meaning of the term “city” is expanding and deepening in a way that has never been seen before. The city is becoming a synergy between the physical and digital worlds. With the profound integration of digital technology into urban activities such as government management, people’s livelihoods, public safety, and industrial development, the innovative power obtained from ICT is reshaping human life. After the previous stages of growth known as industrialization, urbanization, and informatization, the next stage of development known as smart city—the inevitable development direction driven by digital technology—will usher in a new vision for improving the quality of human existence. In terms of sports, whether it’s keeping the score of a team’s wins and losses or preparing a new team for competition, sports in the intelligent world will be conducted entirely digitally. In training, for instance, the application of intelligent technology will allow for more scientific correction of athletes’ training actions, or adjustment of athletes’ training intensity, regardless of whether the training is skill-based or strength-based. These will all be put to use extensively in competitive settings. There will be a great need for a wide range of IT goods and information solutions to accommodate a wide range of industries and use cases. And technology such as chips, operating systems, and cloud platforms are essential building blocks for the intelligent world of the future.

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3 Industrial Development Opportunities Enabled by the Great Megatrend of the Intelligent World Over 30 broad categories and over 300 secondary ones make up development and operation in the intelligent world. Companies with real hard-core technology strength and good research and development of basic hard-tech capabilities and basic ecology can take advantage of the situation and contribute to the construction and operation of the intelligent world ecology in China and around the world despite the fact that there are so many fields and industry categories. The intelligent world offers numerous prospects for different industries, but the ability and power of any one company to participate is restricted. Companies should identify their own positioning and concentrate on the underlying core technology in the process of developing the intelligent world to make it deeper and more thorough in order to genuinely participate in the creation of the intelligent world. Taking communication cloud and industry management cloud as examples, only firms with complete support capabilities across IaaS (basic cloud), PaaS (platform cloud), and SaaS (application cloud) can truly add value from a cloud computing standpoint. And from the point of view of intelligent robots, we may broadly classify them as industrial robots, commercial service robots, life service robots, military robots, and so on by following the qualities of the respective industries in which they are used. Each market of the future will be worth hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. In actuality, there are parallels in the underpinning technology support and significant differences in the application situations of several categories of robots. The field of AI is vast, and intelligent robots make up only a subset of it. The interconnection between them will create the IoT capacity in the intelligent world as the range of intelligent items grows ever richer, whether they be robots or intelligent terminals. To put it simply, “end-pipe-cloud-edge-network intelligence” sums up the many types of hardware used in the intelligent world. “End” is a pan-terminal that encompasses a wide range of intelligent terminals, including intelligent sensing and intelligent equipment; “pipe” is an intelligent pipeline, which is an interconnected network connection pipeline product and solution; “cloud” refers to the cloud platform, cloud architecture, and cloud application of intelligent clouds, as well as cloud computing products and solutions; “edge” refers to intelligent edge computing and edge security networks, which are edge computing products and solutions; “network” refers to data transmission network pipeline products and solutions based on 5G/6G + star chain networks; and “intelligence” refers to industry-level intelligent convergence solutions. Along with the widespread adoption of intelligent pan-terminal, the requirements for operation will become increasingly stringent; operation includes not only terminal operation, but also data operation, as well as the integration and management of customer demands. As a result, intelligent manufacturing technology and product system will increase in complexity in the future of the intelligent world. For this reason, the tendency toward industrial fragmentation and technological

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decoupling will inevitably give way to the trend toward the intelligent integration of comprehensive solutions. Here are some of the technologies that will form the backbone of the future intelligent world: AI, IoT, industrial internet, cloud computing (including the communication cloud), big data platforms, edge computing, and information security. The most valuable must be the integration of technology applications and integrated development. In these areas, Suirui where the author now works has also done some planning and design. Sooner than we believe, a future where everything is perceived, interconnected, and intelligent will be possible due to the integration of 5G/6G, cloud networks, IoT, and AI applications. As the fully interconnected intelligent world begins to permeate every aspect of our lives, we will need to adapt our daily routines and the tools we use in the workplace, and the needs of our customers will evolve and diversify. To win the first opportunity in the competition of industries of the intelligent world, a technology firm must combine the industry trend, national situation, and global trend to explore and play the advantages of the enterprise, and satisfy the demands of people in the future intelligent world. The term “metaverse” has only recently entered popular usage. In fact, the metaverse is a vital part of the intelligent world, while the latter encompasses more space than its diminutive counterpart. The metaverse, in layman’s words, is a multidimensional integrated technology capacity, such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR), that combines multiple terminal devices and existing internet technologies to construct a virtual hybrid cyber world in addition to the real world. The digital world, or metaverse, is where people of the future will be able to discover their new identities, positions, and social responsibilities. The next ten years in China will see the elimination of conventional businesses in favor of those that are backed and armed by digital technology and neural networks. Traditional businesses, if they still exist, are doomed to fail or disappear. Inevitably, the future of manufacturing will involve a complete digital overhaul of the sector and the entire field. First and foremost, digitization entails the use of digital platforms to support the entire closed-loop process from manufacturing to customer contact, from market research to market feedback, from supplying goods and services to customers to following up and entering new markets. The complete closed-loop of production, logistics, and delivery is backed by digital architecture and cloud network platforms. Second, a digital company is first and foremost a business and only afterward a digital company. The reason for an enterprise’s existence is to offer its target markets and target objects (customers) services that have commercial values. Only in this manner can it be referred to as an enterprise, and then an enterprise may be both lucrative and long-lasting. As a result, a digital enterprise, in fact, uses digital tools and intelligent “equipment” (this “equipment” is not necessarily a specific hardware device, but a full range of capabilities), to improve the company’s service target market and the effectiveness of target customers, thereby enhancing the customer’s sense of acquisition. The value of company digitization lies in that the essence

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of efficiency improvement is competitiveness improvement, and competitiveness improvement can automatically raise revenue and profitability for businesses. Third, the effectiveness of conventional businesses’ digital transformations is highly correlated with the problems that traditional businesses face. The highest levels of digital transition efficiency are frequently found in traditional businesses with more severe problems. For instance, practically all commercial and trade businesses in the circulation category—one of the most painful sectors to transform—have essentially done so. Why is this so? Because traditional commercial and trade businesses would go out of business if they do not develop digital platforms in the wake of the growth of e-commerce platforms. It will also likely go bankrupt if the business mode is not finished digitally. So, we can envision a scenario like this: many of the county’s apparel and cosmetics establishments are about to close. The major reason is that they are increasingly far from customers, because one click away, he/she can order apparel and cosmetics online for less money and with more assurance of quality, and can return them if not satisfied. In the traditional industry, this means that those who opened storefronts and sold items in the realm of commercial circulation were the first to finish the digital transformation. People are eager to create shops on these large e-commerce platforms because they have mastered the traffic and altered peoples’ purchasing behaviors. The axiom of business management is “Whoever wins the customer wins the world.” With the same ideology, it is anticipated that similar things will occur in industrial production businesses in the future. For example, businesses that produce precious metals (or ferrous metals, or a specific raw material) and businesses that produce generators, engines, or specific components will experience the same issue. The entire process, from procurement to quality review to delivery, will need to be digitalized to satisfy their loyal customers. Customers would expect to be able to track the production and delivery of their orders as well as the amount of inventory that is available in realtime. Only businesses that achieve homeopathic transformation can survive when consumer demand increases. We describe it as the digitization of commercial items as well as the digitization of manufacturing, design, delivery, and operation links for the aforementioned scenarios. Only when all of the links of digitization are combined into one will businesses be able to survive and thrive. In the next ten years, all businesses that are unable to undergo digital transformation will vanish, much like the physical storefronts that once sold clothing and other consumer products in small towns are now no longer there. The support of businesses’ digital skills and cloud network capabilities will be crucial to their digitization in the future. Enterprise services require “cloud + network” support, however, cloud network support capabilities are hidden from customers. In the intelligent world, the development trend of industrial technology perception level is: the more dated a technology is, the more likely it is to reach the customer’s field of vision; conversely, the most cutting-edge things frequently just serve to make customers feel comfortable, such as the enterprise’s back-end cloud network support capabilities. Although customers are not required to view it, it is crucial to the success or failure of the business.

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4 Building and Operation of the Intelligent World If we had to sum up the construction and operation of the intelligent world in one sentence, we would say that it will be built using products and solutions to create a digitally integrated intelligent world as its foundation. High-speed communication, ubiquitous perception, intelligent carriers, information security, and independent digital ecology are all topics covered by the intelligent world business category. When information and data are empowered, they become limitless productive resources. Future commercial opportunities in the area of the “intelligent world” will be quite diverse and include things like cloud computing (including the communication cloud), big video, AI, 5G/6G, IoT, all-cloud networks, information security, digital ecology, etc. For example, each of the aforementioned fields would have a market worth many trillions of dollars in an intelligent world. Every organization, every business, every family, and every person will benefit from intelligent technologies. For businesses, the focus should be on giving customers secure, dependable, and competitive goods, services, and solutions; encouraging open collaboration with industry partners in the digital ecosystem; generating value for customers; fostering organizational innovation; enhancing family life; and unleashing your own potential. Businesses can only successfully advance a digitally connected intelligent world by overcoming the constraints and limitations of the intelligent world in terms of capabilities, connections, business, experience, and ecological collaboration. Technology is developing today at a rate that is unimaginable. The cloud, AI, and 5G/6G constitute three examples of digital technologies that are continuously pushing the boundary and advancing at a rapid rate. Technology innovation is shifting from a single discipline to an interdisciplinary one, from a single point of technology to cross-technology collaboration, and from vertical industries to cross-industry integration. The transition to an intelligent, digital future is quickening. The year 2035 will be a watershed moment in China’s history. According to the report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, China will essentially complete socialist modernization in 2035, and within the general trend of national growth, the intelligent world will likewise gradually become a reality. The technological and commercial prototypes of the intelligent world of 2035 are currently only dimly visible. It is anticipated that humanity will reach the YB data era by 2030 (one YB equals ten million billion GB). The worldwide general computing power and AI computing power will both expand by hundreds of times when new technologies like quantum computing take off. Every aspect of life will experience new development opportunities, all of which are dependent on the assistance of information technology, including new communication, the metaverse, bioscience, new energy, smart homes, digital cities, the dual-carbon industry, etc. There will always be a competition where there is a market. Technology companies can only earn significant admission tickets into the future intelligent world market and competitive landscape by continuously inventing and sticking to the fundamental philosophy of “driving company development with innovative technology products.”

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With the advent of the 5G/6G + AIoT era, against the backdrop of China’s encouragement of advanced manufacturing, key & core technologies, new infrastructure construction, and digital economy, by concentrating on the construction and operation of an intelligent world, technology companies should be customer-oriented and strive to continually improve customer experience, grow into creators and operators of an intelligent world with a massive customer base, and offer a wide range of effective and intelligent products to users around the world. Facing the trend of technology development in the next decade, all types of technology companies, based on highly stable, significant bursts of cloud computing capabilities, are currently laying out their products to cover AI, IoT, industrial internet, cloud computing, big data platforms, edge computing, information security, and other important fields. According to the blueprint for the “intelligent world,” new technologies will make it easier for people to communicate with one another and with objects, as well as totally alter how people live. Through open collaboration with cloud network ecological partners in the industry, technology will serve every organization, every enterprise, every family, and every individual as the number of intelligent terminals rises, breaking down barriers and boundaries among the intelligent world’s capabilities, connections, business, experience, ecological collaboration, and other domains to jointly create a digitally integrated intelligent world. The need for digital transformation in all spheres of life is becoming more urgent given the fast-growing digital economy. For businesses, particularly those in conventional industries, digital transformation is no longer a choice question. Rather, it is a question of life or death,. To effectively help enterprises, especially traditional enterprises, realize digital transformation, and promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, as well as the integration and innovation of technology enterprises and traditional enterprises, the advantage of technology enterprises are digital capability, while the depth of knowledge of traditional enterprises for business is equally crucial. The integration of the two has resulted in a series of classic cases. Taking the communication cloud sector as an example. The iterative update of technology has improved interpersonal communication. Since product production plans and sales data analysis reports can be shared remotely and in real-time, an immersive situation where partakers can take notes and annotate, the cloud video conferencing solution empowers various production enterprises, making possible more efficient and convenient communication. This can effectively shorten the distance between production and sales, and save time, manpower, and travel costs, while also significantly improving efficiency. The court’s collaborative office platform has already achieved the refined management of the entire online office process, the unified management of the official document process, and the integration of official documents from the national fourlevel courts in the field of collaborative office in China’s political and legal system. The building of “Smart Court 3.0” in China has been substantially accelerated by

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technology. The homogeneous cross-network, cross-terminal desktop, and crosshand-held handling enable integrated application, real-time data synchronization, and interaction. Up to now, the Supreme People’s Court’s non-confidential, paperbased official documents are 80% entirely digitized, have a 100% per-capita turnover coverage, are circulated more than 2,700 times per day, and are distributed more than 310 times per day. Administrative costs are significantly reduced, management is more standardized and streamlined, and the office is more convenient and efficient. The highly publicized Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 ended smoothly in March of that year. This Winter Olympics features numerous new technological innovations, and smart sports are now a reality. China’s Ministry of Science and Technology began studying and developing the Action Plan for Science and Technology at the Winter Olympics (2022) as early as the beginning of preparations for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, focusing on “zero-emission energy supply, green travel, 5G/6G sharing, smart game-watching, sports technology, clean environment, safe hosting of the Games, and international cooperation.” During the Winter Olympics, whether it is the main operation center, the press center, or the competition venues in the closed-loop area, technical support personnel from various technology companies can be seen everywhere, providing professional technical guarantees for the five security systems and six application scenarios, which play a major role in promoting the low-carbon management of the Winter Olympics and helping the Winter Olympics’ Organizing Committee to implement low-carbon office and operation. These are some instances of actual social and industrial ecological construction that is founded on the overarching principles of the intelligent world. The future has arrived. We now find ourselves in a completely new intelligent world. China is on the verge of a national revival, however, China’s technological prowess and industrial ecology are still comparatively behind in many domains of key, core and fundamental technologies. The only way is to maintain your composure, recognize the path, and put in more effort. The road is long ahead, but we will get there! We welcome the new intelligent world, we warmly embrace it, and we work together to develop and create it.

Shu Cheng Founder of Suirui. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Suirui.

Environment

Chapter 14 Change and Transformation of Atmospheric Environmental Governance in the Ecological Civilization Era Chapter 15 Environmental Pollution Control to Drive High-Quality Economic and Social Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals Chapter 16 China’s Energy Technology Innovation and Industrial Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals

Change and Transformation of Atmospheric Environmental Governance in the Ecological Civilization Era Yuanhang Zhang and Hancheng Dai

Abstract With all the efforts to put in the prevention and control of air pollution, China’s air quality has been improved significantly. However, China still suffers from combined air pollution comprising dual high O3 and PM2.5 . In response to the international call for climate action, China has put forward the strategic goals of “achieving CO2 emissions peak before 2030, carbon neutrality before 2060”. To achieve these goals, it is imperative for China to integrate pollution control and carbon reduction. In this chapter, we will introduce the characteristics of China’s air pollution and the history of governance, analyze the correlation between combined air pollution and climate change, investigate the mechanism and potential of the “dual carbon” strategy to promote the deep integration of pollution control and carbon reduction, and discuss the approaches to carbon neutrality and the fundamental improvement of air quality under the concept of ecological civilization. Keyword Combined air pollution · Carbon reduction · History of governance · Dual carbon goal · Ecological civilization

China’s air quality has seen significant improvements through comprehensive progress made in preventing and controlling air pollution along with a campaign to make our skies blue again. Blue sky and white clouds have replaced the haze, and the air quality of a growing number of cities has reached the government standard. Despite these improvements, ozone pollution has become a new problem in atmospheric environment management. This, combined with air pollution, has become a serious problem in recent years. Domestic demand for high-quality development and the international call for action on climate change have constantly reinforced China’s determination and confidence to accelerate the reduction of pollution and carbon emission. China has promoted strategic goals to peak the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 (hereinafter referred to

Y. Zhang · H. Dai (B) College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_14

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as the “dual carbon” strategy). We now stand at a critical juncture in the transformation of China’s economic development and the optimization of its environmental quality. In this context, pollution control integration and carbon reduction, under the concept of ecological civilization, can allow us to seize an unprecedented historical opportunity made possible by the current technological revolution and industrial transformation. This integration and reduction can also substantially improve air quality and achieve the dual carbon goals. In this lecture, we will introduce the characteristics of air pollution in China and the history of governance, analyze the correlation between air pollution and climate change, and investigate the dual carbon strategy’s mechanism and potential to promote the deep integration of pollution control and carbon reduction. This lecture also covers approaches to carbon neutrality and the fundamental improvement of air quality through the concept of the ecological civilization.

1 A Long Journey: The Characteristics of Air Pollution in China and the History of Governance Since the reform and opening-up, China’s economy has entered the fast lane of development, garnering global recognition for its progress in urbanization and industrialization. With a 2021 per capita GDP exceeding 12,000 USD, 77 times that of 1978, China is on the precipice of entering the ranks of high-income economies. The urbanization rate has also increased from 18% in 1978 to 64.72% in 2021. However, China’s economic development excessively relies on investment and export, giving rise to a coal-based energy structure, an industrial structure dominated by high energy consuming and high polluting industries, and a highway-dominated transportation structure. All of these factors result in air pollution emissions that far exceed the environmental carrying capacity. Since the 1970s, China has committed itself to environmental protection, with a focus on the coordinated development of the environment and economy. However, environmental protection has been marginalized, devalued, and pushed aside for many years to make way for economic development. China’s capacity for environmental governance lags far behind its social and economic development. As a result, pollution problems that should have been addressed at different stages have gradually piled up, and the air pollution problems that have impacted developed countries for hundreds of years have also occurred in China. Soot pollution, dust storms, and photochemical smog overlap, forming a combined air pollution that is significantly different from that of developed countries. This issue is particularly serious in key urban agglomerations including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Chengdu-Chongqing Region, which regularly experienced an expansive haze for more than 100 days annually at the end of the twentieth century. This situation poses a great challenge to the prevention and control of air pollution.

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Since the Los Angeles photochemical smog event in 1943 and the London smog event in 1952, Western developed countries have engaged in the long-term exploration and effective control of air pollution. They began by focusing on the control of coal-fired flue gas, then moved to controlling acid rain and photochemical smog in the 1980s, and set a standard for PM2.5 at the end of the twentieth century. Then the focus shifted to a synergistic form of control over PM2.5 and ozone and studying the interaction between air pollution and climate change. The hundred-year history of industrialization in Western developed countries has seen short-term pollution incidents, as well as pollution control carried out in an orderly manner over a relatively long period of time. A joint pollution prevention and control system with environmental air quality standards was used as a guide for this effort. This was combined with a multi-pollutant and multi-objective synergy strategy, as well as coordination among the federal, state, and city levels to create a cross-departmental response that has formed gradually. These efforts are undertaken to effectively solve environmental pollution step by step. In contrast, China’s long-standing pollution problems have not been solved and new problems have quickly arisen. In addition, China has reached a crucial moment in both pollution control and rapid economic development, making pollution abatement even more difficult, with the time for the public to expect air quality improvement becoming shorter. In 2013, the government launched its “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” and the “Three-year action plan for cleaner air” to curb the worsening air pollution as quickly as possible. The aim of these plans is to decrease PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, increase the number of good weather days, and control heavily polluted weather. To implement these places the government has taken numerous actions. It has implemented structural adjustments in energy, industry, transportation, and land use; conducted major specialized campaigns; and strengthened effective measures. The measures include controlling the use of coalfired boilers, replacing coal powder with clean alternatives, shutting down outdated production facilities, rectifying poorly managed and polluting small enterprises, upgrading coal-burning power plants to achieve ultra-low emissions, managing nonelectricity industries, upgrading and reconstructing the industrial structure, controlling the emissions of mobile sources, and reducing airborne particles in a comprehensive way. As a result, the emissions of SO2 , PM10 , and the primary emissions of PM2.5 have been significantly reduced, the ambient air quality has been rapidly improved (see Fig. 1), and the number of haze days has been considerably reduced. In 2020, the average annual PM2.5 concentration in 337 cities dropped from 46 µg/m3 in 2015 to 33 µg/m3 , with Beijing dropping to 38 µg/m3 and the Pearl River Delta Region to 23 µg/m3 , meeting the set standard for six consecutive years. This marks a major breakthrough in air pollution control. We must also be aware that substantial work remains to fundamentally improve the air quality in our country, and the road ahead for the control of combined air pollution will be difficult. On the one hand, the PM2.5 pollution load is still high, with 43% of cities in China not meeting the current national air quality standard (35 µg/m3 ) for average annual PM2.5 concentration. If the WHO-IT2 (25 µg/m3 ) and WHO-IT3 (15 µg/m3 ) are adopted, only 107 and 17 cities satisfy the standards,

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Year

Year

Fig. 1 Trends of main indicators of air pollution in China in the past 20 years (the value of 2000 or 2013 is 1) Left: Emissions; Right: Ambient concentration (PM2.5 and O3 are the average value of 74 cities)

respectively. In addition, North China still suffers from severe air pollution in winter. On the other hand, the multi-pollutant control strategy is being implemented in an unbalanced manner. With inefficient NOx emission reduction and weak VOCs governance, China has seen more severe ozone (O3 ) pollution in recent years (Fig. 1) and a tendency to expand in the extent, scope, and duration of such pollution. The contribution of ozone (O3 ) pollution to nonstandard air quality has also gradually increased, and it has become a bottleneck restricting the improvement of urban and regional air quality. However, at present, China is still short of a clear target and roadmap for the control of O3 pollution. The current air quality standards are still insufficient to support the synergistic control of PM2.5 and O3 , since the focus of the current pollution control is still on PM2.5 and O3 is overlooked. To break through those constraints and difficulties, we must work hard to push forward and improve the multi-pollutant synergistic control strategy and build up the refined air quality control technology system. Moreover, we must not only strengthen the effective emission reduction of the primary pollutants and reduce their concentration, but also pay more attention to the driving force of atmospheric oxidation in the formation of secondary pollution, conduct nonlinear emission reduction of multiple pollutants focusing on atmospheric oxidation control, and assist the regional synergistic control of PM2.5 and O3 .

2 Analyzing the Problem: The Intrinsic Connection Between Air Pollution and Climate Change Since the Industrial Revolution, the impact of human activity on the environment has far exceeded that of natural changes. This is especially true for the adverse impact of the increasingly serious air pollution, climate change, and ecological degradation that have attracted more and more attention from scientists, governments, and the

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public. Due to the growth of the global economy and the population, man-made greenhouse gas emissions have increased rapidly to more than 60 billion tons, and the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2 ), methane (CH4 ), and nitrous oxide (N2 O) has repeatedly set new all-time highs. According to the latest assessment report (AR6) from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average global temperature in 2021 was 1.12°C, higher than in pre-industrial times. The international community has come to a broad consensus regarding the need to curb global warming and achieve carbon neutrality. Since China is in a critical period of industrialization and urbanization, its fossil fuel-dependent economic development model makes it the largest carbon emitter in the world, and it bears great pressure to reduce carbon emissions. Climate change and air pollution are interconnected. China is confronted with great difficulties in air pollution control, and air pollution in turn intensifies global warming. The air pollution levels are mainly driven by three factors: man-made emissions, climate, and atmospheric chemistry. Long-term changes in air pollution are attributed to man-made emissions, while weather and climate are closely related to short-term and interdecadal changes in atmospheric pollutant concentrations. They also significantly affect the chemical transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere. With the further worsening of global warming, Central and East China may see longlasting adverse conditions regarding atmospheric diffusion in winter, resulting in a decreased wind speed in the boundary layer, an increase in relative humidity, and a stable atmospheric stratification, which is more likely to cause haze pollution. In turn, air pollutants represented by aerosols are the second largest climate affecting factors following greenhouse gases, and different air pollutants will have a different impact on the global climate. According to the IPCC AR6, due to the short amount of time aerosol is present in the atmosphere, measures to improve air quality will lead to a rapid decline in the atmospheric aerosol concentration for the short term. This will impose an additional heating effect on the climate system in a short period of time, further intensifying the global warming caused mostly by greenhouse gases. The decrease in man-made aerosol emissions in China from 2006 to 2014 led to an increase in the average annual effective radiative forcing by 0.7Wm−2 in Eastern China. This was especially true in summer when the average rose by 2.5Wm−2 , resulting in an increase of 0.18°C in the average annual surface air temperature during this period. The main pollutants that cause air pollution and climate change come from the same source; thus, it is highly possible to address the two issues in a synergistic manner. With the deepening understanding of the interaction between air pollution and climate change, multi-pollutant synergistic control has become an important strategy for countries around the world to respond to air pollution and climate change. California is one of the first regions to conduct synergistic control of air pollution and climate change, and its Bay Area “2017 Bay Area Clean Air Plan” is the first regional plan of its kind in North America. The plan sets departmental targets for emission reduction based on different sources (such as transportation, energy, industry, water resources, etc.) and the goals of multi-pollutant emission reduction (including CO2

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and other greenhouse gases). It also presents targeted measures for different industries. Among them, the measures to reduce emissions are mainly applied to the following three emission sources: traffic, power, and industrial sectors. The measures include encouraging the use of advanced clean passenger cars and trucks and developing stricter fuel efficiency standards, low carbon fuel standards, and a renewable energy quota system, as well as more stringent performance criteria for greenhouse gases from power plants. They exercise strict control over energy efficiency projects and buildings, as well as the total carbon emissions and carbon trading in the industrial sector. Through these efforts, California has achieved gradual progress in its synergistic control of traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases, while also gaining rich experience in governance. In the 1990s, Chinese scientists suggested that there is “combined air pollution” in China that differs from developed countries (see Fig. 2). They based their assessment on research regarding the characteristics, sources of origin, and environmental effects of air pollution at different stages at home and abroad. This combined air pollution is essentially a result of the interactions between pollutants, the coupling of the transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere, and the synergistic or antagonistic effects that cause environmental pollution. Its external features include an increase in atmospheric oxidizing pollutants, a concentration in fine particulate matter, a significant reduction in atmospheric visibility, and the spreading of environmental degradation to the whole region. This theory also stresses that when the concentration of a substance in the atmosphere exceeds the normal level and imposes adverse effects on human beings, ecology, materials, or other environmental factors (such as the nature of the atmosphere, water quality, climate, etc.), it results in atmospheric pollution. Given that air pollution and climate change share the same origin, the concept of air pollution has been expanded in several ways from the traditional definition that focused on air pollution and its influence on health, such as the impact of CH4 and CO2 on the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also expanded the concept of pollutants from conventional pollutants to include CO2 and other greenhouse gases around the year 2000. Emission sources have been expanded from man-made emissions to also include natural sources, such as the VOC emissions from agriculture, forestry, and green land that cause high concentrations of ozone in the local area and methane emissions from rice fields and livestock that cause global climate change. The research scope has also been expanded to include the effects on atmospheric properties, water properties, and other environmental effects and changes in the climate. At the urban and regional levels, the focus of combined air pollution is placed on primary pollution and secondary pollution, as well as their collective impact on human health, ecological systems, and atmospheric visibility. At the regional and global levels, the focus is on the atmospheric oxidation of NOx, CO, and CH4 , as well as the impact of CO2 and short-lived radiative forcing pollutants on climate change (see Fig. 2).

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Fig. 2 Formation of combined air pollution and its environmental and climatic effects

3 Mutually Beneficial Cooperation: The Deep Integration of Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction In 2015, the Paris Agreement set an objective of limiting global warming to below 2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible. It also required countries around the world to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, or carbon neutrality, by 2050. There is no doubt that carbon neutrality enjoys a broad consensus as a means to curbing continuous global warming. Thus far, over 130 countries and economies that are accountable for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and more than half of the global GDP have set carbon neutrality targets. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and other regions have proposed new green policies, and the United States has prioritized climate change in its domestic and foreign policies. In 2020, the Chinese government put forward its dual carbon goals, or the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, to achieve a CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. In 2021, the Chinese government formulated and released the “1 + N” policy system composed of the implementation plans for a carbon peak in energy, industry, transportation, urban and rural construction, and other sectors. The system’s integration of central and local efforts and its focus on cross-departmental collaboration have displayed China’s strong capacity for climate governance to the world. In the past decade, the emission load of pollutants in China has generally declined. Of these pollutants, SO2 and primary PM2.5 emissions have decreased rapidly, NOx has decreased slowly, VOCs and NH3 have remained stable at a high level with a slight decline (Fig. 1), and the synergistic emission reduction of CO2 has been preliminarily achieved. The above outcomes were mainly attributed to measures such as clean heating in rural areas, governance over non-electricity industries, control of coalfired boilers, and staggered and limited production of high-polluting enterprises.

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Since the implementation of the “Three-year action plan for cleaner air,” China has rolled out a series of major initiatives for the structural adjustment in energy, industry, transportation, and land use and for the special governance campaigns. It has also achieved certain gains. However, despite the country’s pursuit of pollution control and air quality improvement, fundamental breakthroughs cannot be seen in the structural adjustment of the above four sectors. China needs to seek new opportunities and driving forces for transformation. According to the “Evaluation Report on the Implementation of the Three-year action plan for cleaner air” released by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the potential for the end-of-pipe control of China’s air pollution will be narrowed considerably, so we must tap the potential of the four structural adjustments to support continuous improvement in air quality and fundamentally eliminate heavily polluted weather. Greenhouse gases and air pollutants have the same origin, mainly fossil fuels and the use of biological resources in energy and industrial production. The dual carbon strategy not only can accelerate the social economy’s green transformation and the low carbonization of the four structures, but also can promote the simultaneous and efficient emission reduction of PM2.5 , NOx, VOCs, CO2 , and other pollutants at their source. According to the report, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will see an increase of 15%-25% in NOx and VOCs emission reduction by 2030 under the dual carbon strategy, and it is expected to meet the air quality standard for O3 . At the national level, reaching the carbon peak can pull down the national average PM2.5 concentration to 25 µg/m3 , and carbon neutrality can pull that down to 7.6 µg/m3 , reaching the Phase 4 transitional goal set by WHO. Therefore, the dual carbon strategy and the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction will bring unprecedented opportunities for China to accelerate the fundamental improvement of air quality. The fundamental improvement of air quality relies on the synergistic prevention and control of PM2.5 and O3 . We must develop a new pattern with structural emission reduction as the key approach, which is then supported by end-of-pipe emission reduction. We must also promote VOCs and NOx emission reduction in a scientific way and reduce NOx emission to less than 10 million tons. Through these efforts, we will improve the ambient air quality to satisfy the goal of building a beautiful China. Under the current environmental management framework, the plans for pollution control and carbon reduction are relatively independent, and the synergistic effect has not come into effect. In particular, there is no clear target or roadmap for O3 pollution control. In order to solve these problems at a fundamental level, we must work hard to promote the deep integration of the “Air Quality Improvement Action Plan (2021– 2025)” and the implementation plan for reaching a carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In addition, we must, based on the shared root and source of pollutants and greenhouse gases, establish mechanisms for the synergistic implementation of the two strategies. This includes synergistic goals, paths, and policies and the significant reduction of emissions at the source through the effective implementation of the four structural adjustments. This will significantly improve the efficiency of the synergistic control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution under the dual carbon strategy (see Fig. 3).

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Fig. 3 System of refined control technology for the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction

The synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction is built around multipollutant synergy, multi-objective coordination, and refined and comprehensive regulation. Air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions have the same origin, and pollution control and carbon reduction share the same path towards emission reduction. This suggests that carbon neutrality and the improvement of air quality can be achieved in an orderly and coordinated manner through overall planning. The details are as follows: (1) In terms of target indicators, both the improvement of air quality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are essentially done to promote the green and sustainable development of human society at different spatial scales. These include urban, regional, national, and global scales. This is done to drive social development, maintain ecological balance, and ensure the high-quality development of human society and the security of the people’s health without destroying the quality of the environment. (2) From the aspect of objects of control, industrial structure, energy structure, transportation, land use, ecosystem, and residential consumption all need to be regulated and managed for air quality improvement and greenhouse gas emission reduction. In addition to CO2 and non-CO2 gases, SO2 , NOx, aerosol, and ozone are also radiative forcing factors that can warm or cool the climate. We must accurately identify key sectors, key energies, and key technologies that have a simultaneous significant impact on pollutants and carbon emissions in order to facilitate the coordinated reduction of pollutant and carbon emissions. (3) Regarding regulators, the ecological environmental protection in China entered a “unified” period in 2018. With this in mind, we need to establish a mechanism for the cross-departmental synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction

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to seek a holistic approach for the emission reduction of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and to achieve closed-loop management over air quality and the response to climate change. This should be done through the deep integration of pollution control and carbon reduction. (4) As for management methods, the control of air pollutants and greenhouse gases is conducted through traditional administrative orders, gradually popularized market means, and diversified economic incentive policies such as the control indicators for total emissions, energy-efficiency-based emission standards, the carbon emissions trading market, and green energy-saving subsidies, etc. Meanwhile, we should also mobilize the enthusiasm of all sectors of society and increase public participation. (5) Regarding task measures, energy production and consumption, industrial production, and land use are the key sources for both air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Thus, they should be the key sectors in which we conduct synergistic control. We must promote the dynamic adjustment of the four structures and the green transformation of ecology, production, and life. In addition, we must also include carbon emissions in the evaluation and audit system for air pollution control and promote safe and orderly pollution control and carbon reduction under the overall space-based planning and from the perspective of cross-departmental collaboration.

4 Call of the Times: Ecological Civilization, Dual Carbon Strategy, and Permanent Blue Sky As mankind has progressed, human civilization has gone through three stages: primitive civilization founded on simple food gathering, fishing, and hunting; agricultural civilization based on farming and animal husbandry; and industrial society dominated by mass production through machines. However, rapid industrialization has triggered serious side effects and brought about a global ecological environment crisis, resulting in tension between humans and nature. The principles of an ecological civilization are committed to limiting human activities within the confines of the ecological environment and to protecting and managing the ecological environment in an integrative and systematic manner. This is done in a bid to solve the fundamental contradictions and problems that are presented by industrial societies. In addition, ecological civilization extends beyond natural protection and environmental governance to foster a social form that is characterized by the harmonious coexistence between people and nature, people and people, people and society, as well as a virtuous cycle, comprehensive development, and sustained prosperity. It will surely become a new civilization form that leads the transformation to sustainable economic development. China has entered a crucial period in advancing its ecological civilization during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, which has a focus on reducing carbon emissions. We must promote the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction, facilitate

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the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and realize qualitative changes in improving the ecology. Therefore, the dual carbon strategy is a step toward practicing the concept of ecological civilization. Achieving carbon neutrality as part of pursuing an ecological civilization is an inevitability that will address the prominent problems concerning resources and the environment regarding economic development. It will also achieve the sustainable development of the Chinese nation and help China to perform its responsibilities in the international community and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Therefore, we must grasp this historical opportunity and create a comprehensive layout for the dual carbon goals and the ecological goals to promote the comprehensive green transformation of society and the fundamental improvement of environmental quality. In so doing, we will realize the modernization goal of a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature and sustainable development. With the dual carbon strategy that is part of China’s ecological civilization, the goals of pollution control and carbon reduction cannot be achieved simply through technical progress in carbon reduction, net zero policies, and carbon negative goals. It also cannot be realized through traditional government-led, top-down control. Instead, it should be based on the profound understanding of the internal relations and interactions of the three systems, namely, natural process, human activities, and social structure. We must go deep into the internal logic and basic theories of science and technology, economic laws, social ethics, and philosophical values of these systems (see Fig. 4). When it comes to natural processes, we must recognize the interaction between air pollutants and greenhouse gases in multiple mediums such as water, soil, air, and creatures. In terms of human activities, we must understand the interaction between the near-zero emissions of multi-pollutant and low-carbon economic growth. In terms of the social system, we must reach consensus after adequate communication by the interested parties of all social strata and participate in the building of a low-carbon society that practices a low-carbon lifestyle. On this basis, we must explore how the great reform can be conducted and how social and economic development can be transformed. We must also explore how to build a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system; form a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system; develop a market-oriented innovation system for green technology; and advocate a simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyle. Additionally, we should rely on smart regulation and other refined and emerging management technologies to form a co-governance model that spans departments, regions, and industries. These efforts ultimate will allow us to achieve the mutually beneficial results of carbon neutrality, as well as permanent blue skies and harmony between humans and nature. Achieving ecological conservation and carbon neutrality depends on the deep transformation and major reforms of the social economy and industrial structure. China’s economy has entered a new stage under the constraint of both carbon neutrality and high-quality development, and we must consider both emission reduction and economic development while pursuing the goals of pollution control and carbon reduction. Inappropriate paths of emission reduction may interfere with the realization of our economic goals, as well as force some regions to return to the high

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Fig. 4 Integration of the improvement of air quality and carbon neutrality under the guidance of ecological civilization

polluting and high energy consuming development. This may be caused by negative economic and social effects and is not conducive to the realization of the pollution control and carbon reduction goals. Therefore, to create a permanent blue sky and achieve the dual carbon goals, we must consider the development status and needs of the economy, energy, industry, science and technology, finance, and society. We must identify and foster new growth drivers, development models, and transformation paths. We must continuously broaden the concept and mode of development under the guidance of ecological civilization through conceptual and technological innovation. In addition, we must make viable technical solutions and policy measures for carbon reduction on the supply side and the consumption side, respectively, encourage the development and application of green technology, promote green production and consumption, avoid the “high carbon” lock-in effect, and promote economic and industrial transformation and green and efficient development to achieve innovative, coordinated, ecological, open, and shared low-carbon and high-quality development.

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In the process of pollution control and carbon reduction, we need to explore ways to achieve environmental governance and ecological improvement at a lower economic cost, so that we can obtain greater economic and environmental dividends from the new development model. It is estimated that the dual carbon goals will bring new growth opportunities with an investment demand of one billion yuan in the next 40 years. The implementation of pollution control and carbon reduction will undoubtedly impose a profound impact on GDP growth, industry distribution, job market, total-factor productivity, and other economic growth indicators, thus we need to create a comprehensive plan and layout. At the macro level, we need to explore the key industries for pollution control and carbon reduction, identify the key production network of carbon and pollution, and then develop effective and appropriate action plans that meet the needs of multi-objective development, thereby guiding the allocation of resources. In this way, we will attain double the results with half the effort. At the micro level, we need to refine the enterprise management and production models to achieve the goal of pollution control and carbon reduction without lowering the efficiency of the enterprises. We must find business models targeted at carbon neutrality for each industry, including production, plant layout, and energy sources. To achieve the fundamental improvement of air quality and the dual carbon strategic goals, we also need to transform the consumption of households and individuals to green, low-carbon consumption. We must, through information sharing and other means of publicity and education, leverage the enthusiasm of different players at all levels and encourage spontaneous changes in public behavior and consumption toward the adoption of a low carbon lifestyle. We must also force the production side to reduce carbon emissions and pollution from the demand side, thus providing a broad public foundation and a lasting driving force for the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction. Over the 50-year arduous exploration into preventing and controlling of air pollution, China has invested major efforts in coal-smoke pollution, acid rain, dust storms, photochemical smog, and combined air pollution. With rapid economic and social development, air pollution has been decoupled from economic development, and urban and regional air quality have been improved gradually. In particular, in the past decade, the implementation of the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan” and the campaign to keep the skies blue provide strong support for the efficient control of air pollution. The air quality has significantly improved and heavily polluted weather has significantly decreased, marking a major breakthrough in the history of air pollution control. At the same time, we should also be aware that we are stepping into a new stage of synergistic control of PM2.5 and O3 , as the pollution load of PM2.5 is still high in China, and the regional ozone pollution is becoming worse. In addition, the interaction and overlapping of air pollution and climate change has further made the control of combined air pollution more complex, arduous, and timeconsuming. Regarding the goal of improving air quality, carbon peaking and carbon neutralization will provide a new driving force and opportunities for solving such problems. The emission reduction potential of traditional end-of-pipe pollution is

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narrowing, and the pollution reduction potential of the four major structural adjustments is difficult to enact. Since air pollution and climate change share the same source and hold the potential of synergistic governance, the dual carbon strategy will accelerate the green transformation of the social economy and the low carbonization of the four major structures, while simultaneously facilitating the emission reduction at the source of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and air pollutants such as PM2.5 , NOx, VOCs, CO2 . More importantly, ecological civilization and the dual carbon strategy will trigger an extensive and profound economic and social reform, which will significantly improve the social production model, lifestyles, and ecological model; drive the conscious social behaviors of enterprises and the public; form broad top-down and bottom-up consensuses; and increase the economic and environmental dividends of the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction. Therefore, leveraging the concept of the ecological civilization and the dual carbon strategy, we must endeavor to promote the deep integration of the “Air Quality Improvement Action Plan (2021–2025)” and the implementation plan for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In addition, based on the shared source of pollutants and greenhouse gases, we must establish mechanisms for the synergistic implementation of the two strategies, including synergistic goals, paths, and policies. We must also significantly reduce the emissions at the source through the effective implementation of the four structural adjustments. This will to improve the efficiency of the synergistic control of PM2.5 and O3 pollution and support the fundamental improvement of air quality and the early realization of the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Yuanhang Zhang Atmospheric environment expert, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University. Hancheng Dai Climate and environmental policy expert, researcher and director of the Department of Environmental Management at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University.

Environmental Pollution Control to Drive High-Quality Economic and Social Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals Hou Li’an and Yao Hong

Abstract The goals for peak CO2 emissions and carbon neutrality constitute a strategic choice made by China to achieve sustainable development for the Chinese nation and build a community of a shared future for mankind. It requires a broad and profound systemic reform in economy and society, as well as a strict control over environmental pollution. Under the background of dual carbon goals, we must control environmental pollution effectively and efficiently through green and lowcarbon technologies, and solid environmental protection systems. In this chapter, we will summarize the theoretical and practical achievements of China in environmental pollution control over the past few years from the following three aspects: sewage treatment, indoor air pollution control and synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction in the industrial field. Besides, we will also provide a high-quality development path for the environmental pollution control industry to open up new space and lay a solid foundation for the realization of the dual carbon goals. Keyword Dual carbon goals · High quality development · Environmental pollution control · Sewage treatment · Indoor air pollution control · Synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction

In October 2017, the 19th National Congress of the CPC promoted the concept of “high-quality development” for the first time and clearly stated that “China’s economy has shifted from high-speed growth to high-quality development.” In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the General Debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly that China would adopt more powerful policies and measures to bring its carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 (hereinafter referred to as “dual carbon”). In October 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee reviewed and adopted the “Proposals for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the H. Li’an (B) · Y. Hong Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_15

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Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035,” specifying that China will pursue high-quality economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the meeting, “High-quality development is the coordinated development of economy, society, culture, and ecology.” In March 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping further pointed out while joining the deliberation of the Qinghai delegation at the Fourth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress, “High-quality development is not just a call for economic development, but an overall requirement for economic and social development in all aspects.” In November 2021, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee adopted the “Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century,” stressing that it is imperative for China to achieve high-quality development. This development should be driven by innovation and characterized by coordination, eco-friendly growth, and openness to the world that ultimately leads to shared growth. There should also be a focus on propelling transformative changes in the quality, efficiency, and impetus of economic development. The dual carbon goals are closely coordinated with high-quality development. High-quality development is one of China’s strategic plans to respond to the once-ina-century changes it is experiencing. It is a realistic choice that can be used to adapt to the new development stage, an inevitable requirement for solving major social contradictions, and an important path for building a powerful modern country. Dual carbon goals are a basic strategy for building a low-carbon and zero carbon society, a major strategic task in the transformation towards high-quality economic development, and a strategic measure for China to gain greater influence around the world and to build a global community. In the context of domestic and international dual circulation, dual carbon goals are needed internally for China to pursue innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth and to realize high-quality development. It is also the only way for China to build a community with a shared future for mankind. In September and October 2020, the “Guiding Document on the Country’s Work to Achieve Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals Under the New Development Philosophy” (hereinafter referred to as “Opinions”) and the “Action Plan for Carbon Dioxide Peaking Before 2030” (hereinafter referred to as “Action Plan”) were released. As the core content of the “1 + N” policy system for carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, the two documents have further clarified the overall goal and major measures and approaches of China’s carbon peaking, marking the start of China’s dual carbon actions, as well as its new gains in high-quality social and economic development. A broad and profound systemic reformation of the economy and society is required to realize the dual carbon goals, which are an irremissible responsibility of all industries. The industry of environmental pollution control undertakes the important task of improving the quality of the ecological environment, while also being faced with the major challenge of improving people’s satisfaction with the living environment. The industry sets the internal requirements for high-quality economic and social development, while also serving as an important support and driving force for achieving the dual carbon goals and high-quality development. All of this is done to promote

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an ecological civilization; wage a determined battle to prevent and control pollution; effectively control greenhouse gas emissions; pursue green and low-carbon development in consumption, production, and daily life; better meet the needs of the people for a beautiful ecological environment; build a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system; and preserve the ecological environment. In the context of China’s dual carbon goals, we must control environmental pollution effectively and efficiently through the improvement and R&D of green and low-carbon technologies and adopt a new system to transform the traditional end-of-pipe control. This should be done to set controls at both the source and the end and better respond to the opportunities and challenges that are a result of the dual carbon goals. In this lecture, we will summarize the theoretical and practical achievements in environmental pollution control in China over the past few years from the following three aspects: sewage treatment, indoor air pollution control, and synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction in the industrial field, as per the requirements for highquality economic and social development in China under the dual carbon goals. We will also, on this basis, provide a high-quality development path for the environmental pollution control industry to open up new spaces and lay a solid foundation for the realization of the dual carbon goals.

1 Green and Low-Carbon Sewage Treatment Contributes to High-Quality Economic and Social Development 1.1 Urban Sewage Treatment (1) Current state of China’s urban sewage treatment industry Sewage collection, treatment, and resource utilization facilities have collectively become a core component of urban environmental infrastructure, playing a vital role in pollution prevention and control and in the improvement of the urban living environment. With the rapid development of urbanization and the consequent rapid increase of the urban population since the first Industrial Revolution, the urban water environment has become worse and worse. In 1914, activated sludge process technology was developed in Britain, the birthplace of industrial civilization, marking the beginnings of the modern sewage treatment industry. On April 28, 1984, China’s first large-scale urban sewage treatment plant—Jizhuangzi Sewage Treatment Plant—was officially completed and put into operation in Tianjin, filling the gap in the construction of sewage treatment plants in modern China. The following 30 years and beyond have seen the fast growth of China’s sewage treatment industry. As of 2020, the total treatment scale of urban sewage treatment plants covering cities, towns, and villages has reached more than 250 million m3/d, making China the country with the largest sewage treatment capacity in the world, surpassing the United States.

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However, in the pursuit of obtaining higher quality effluent or meeting higher standards, improvements in technics and the upgrading of technological methods have led to an increase in energy consumption during sewage treatment. Additionally, due to the long-term adherence to the decomposition and mineralization of pollutants and the thorough oxidation of simple natural organic matter or the effective degradation of complex artificial compounds, the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from sewage treatment has also increased with the sudden growth in sewage discharge. Although the concept of “sewage resource utilization” has been adopted and promoted in the sewage treatment industry since the 1980s, the development and application of the whole-process resource utilization technology based on both micro and macro research remains stagnant. In addition, China’s sewage treatment industry has long adhered to a model of operation that values what is done aboveground more than underground, places emphasis on water over sludge, and focuses on the construction of sewage treatment plants while ignoring sustainable development and related technological progress. This has resulted in the following deficiencies and major technical defects in the sewage treatment system: poor pipeline construction with frequent serious leaks; energy-intensive delayed aeration technology and designs that lack a primary sedimentation tank and are inconsistent with the international technology standard; a lack of systematic treatment and disposal plans for sludge resource results in a low proportion of sludge anaerobic digestion projects (less than 3%) and difficulty in achieving carbon emission reduction in the short term. There is also no clear top-level design in China for the recycling of nitrogen and phosphorus resources in the same manner as other countries that have industrialized this process. In conclusion, China’s sewage treatment plants mainly emphasize the control of pollutants and the up-to-standard discharge of water, ignoring the functional and systematic plans for sewage treatment. Moreover, due to the excessive attention placed on the standardized discharge, a series of problems such as high energy consumption and resource waste have emerged in the sewage treatment industry. As a result, the sewage treatment industry has become a major consumer of energy, a major producer of secondary pollution and resource waste, and an outsider of the pollution prevention and control strategy for “clear water, blue sky, and clean land.” It has distanced itself from the concepts of creating a low-carbon, green, sustainably developed and ecological civilization. Thus, it is imperative for China to update its sewage treatment concepts and technologies in an urgent manner.

1.2 Energy Consumption, Energy Loss, and Carbon Emissions in Urban Sewage Treatment in China (1) Energy consumption Urban sewage treatment is an energy-intensive process in which the links of collection, transmission, treatment, and discharge all require a large input of external resources and energy, particularly the consumption of domestic materials such as

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oxygen supply and chemical use during transmission and the input of energies such as electricity, natural gas, and fuel. Currently, energy consumption in the urban water supply and sewage treatment process accounts for about 1%-3% of the total of the whole society, among which the urban sewage treatment process accounts for about 1%. With China’s rapid urbanization, the growth of the urban population, the rise in the treatment rate of domestic sewage, and the rise in the discharge standard, this percentage will continue to grow if the traditional sewage treatment model remains. In addition, more than 90% of urban sewage treatment plants in China adopt biological treatment technology. In order to achieve up-to-standard discharge, chemicals such as additional carbon resources, absorbent for phosphate removal, dehydrant, and disinfectant are widely used. As a result, the cost of these chemicals exceeds the cost of power consumption, becoming another prominent problem in the operation of sewage treatment plants. (2) Energy loss The higher the organic content in sewage, the higher the chemical energy. In this case, the heat energy contained in sewage will rise as the discharge of sewage increases. Traditional sewage treatment technology can “mineralize” organic matter thoroughly by consuming a large amount of energy. This kind of water purification system that “consumes energy with energy” not only results in a waste of resources and energy, but also inevitably leads to the generation of secondary pollutants such as GHGs, resulting in the unexpected transfer of pollutants. Research shows that the organic chemical energy contained in typical domestic sewage with a COD concentration of 500 mg/L is equal to nearly 5 times the energy consumption required by the traditional biological oxidation process. Therefore, if 60%-70% of the organic matter can be converted into available biogas energy, the energy demand of sewage treatment plants can be met. In addition, the waste heat from urban sewage makes up about 40% of the total urban waste heat. This heat can be utilized, since the water volume and the temperature of the sewage experience few fluctuations throughout the year. It is estimated that the potential energy (chemical energy + heat energy) contained in urban sewage can equal 9–10 times the energy consumed during sewage treatment, among which the chemical energy accounts for about 10% of the total, with the other 90% being heat energy. If the energy contained in sewage can be utilized through technological developments, the energy required by sewage treatment plants can theoretically be partially or completely self-contained. There may even be excess energy. Going forward, the sewage treatment technology should shift from complete oxidation—mineralization to transfer and capture—utilization. This is also the research focus and direction for the high-quality development of green and low-carbon technologies in urban sewage treatment. (3) Carbon emissions Treatment based on the “consuming energy with energy” model undoubtedly makes urban sewage treatment an important source of GHGs. Traditional sewage treatment completely oxidizes and degrades or transforms pollutants containing

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carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), resulting in the direct emission of GHGs dominated by CO2, N2O, and CH4. At the same time, energy consumption (such as oxygen supply, lifting, stirring, heating, and use of chemicals) during sewage treatment relies on the burning of fossil fuels, causing the indirect emissions of GHGs. According to the carbon emission scopes formulated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the GHGs from sewage treatment plants can be divided into three ranges or scopes: Scope 1 includes the GHGs directly emitted during sewage transmission and treatment, mainly containing CO2, CH4, and N2O produced during the biotransformation of the pollutants; Scope 2 includes the GHGs indirectly emitted from the energy consumption during sewage transmission, treatment, and discharge; Scope 3 includes the GHGs indirectly emitted from the production and transportation of chemicals consumed during sewage treatment. At present, the direct and indirect emissions of GHGs from urban sewage treatment account for 1–2% of the national total. Though the proportion seems small, the total amount is substantial. In 2016, the carbon emissions of China’s urban sewage treatment industry reached 54.14 million tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq), and that of the whole sewage treatment industry during the same period was about 197 million tons, accounting for 1.71% of the national total. Currently, the carbon emission intensity of urban sewage treatment is generally stable at about 0.92 kg CO2-eq/m3. If the activated-sludge-dominated treatment technology continues to be utilized, the carbon emissions of the urban sewage treatment industry are expected to reach 83.16 million tons of CO2-eq in 2030, and that of the whole sewage treatment industry will reach 365 million tons, accounting for 2.95% of the national total. Therefore, the control of GHG emissions from urban sewage treatment should not be ignored in the decisive fight for clear water, blue skies, and pure land and in pursuit of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

1.3 High-Quality Development Path for China’s Urban Sewage Treatment Industry (1) A basic strategy of low-carbon and green development The new sustainable sewage treatment concept targeting the recycling of resources and energy was first proposed by Dutch scholars in the mid-1990s. The Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) released “NEWs: The Dutch Roadmap for the WWTP of 2030” in 2010 and developed a plan for WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) to achieve the NEWs framework target by 2030 through the concepts of resource plant (N), energy plant (E), and water plant (W) and by actively promoting related technologies. In China, the direction in which the sewage treatment plants will progress has also been made clear, that is, to achieve the dual carbon goals, self-sufficiency of energy and resource recycling. In September 2020, following the proposal of General Secretary Xi Jinping regarding the dual carbon goals, the ministries and

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commissions of the state quickly responded and implemented the overall layout of the “Opinions” and “Action Plan.” As a result, more detailed dual carbon guidelines have been issued one after another. These guidelines make strengthening the recycling of renewable resources and promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of energy the top priorities of the entire sewage treatment industry. During the 14th Five-year Plan period, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and nine other departments jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting Wastewater Resource Utilization” in January 2021, clearly stating that urban domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, and agricultural and rural sewage are the key sectors in which sewage resource utilization should be applied. In terms of urban sewage treatment, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development jointly developed the “14th Five-Year Plan for Urban Sewage Treatment and Resource Utilization Development Plan” in June 2021, stressing that a new pattern of energy-saving and low-carbon urban sewage treatment and resource utilization must be adopted. It also emphasized that the efforts to strengthen the construction, operation, and management of sewage treatment facilities and improvements in their treatment capacity according to the 13th Five-year Plan should be maintained. In addition, more specific requirements were rolled out for industrial sewage treatment. For example, the “Implementation Plan on Recycling of Industrial Wastewater” jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and five other ministries and commissions in December 2021, clarifies the specific tasks of wastewater recycling, helping to develop core and key equipment technologies and improving water efficiency to meet the set standard in key industries. Against this backdrop, increasing the sewage recycling rate and strengthening the resource/energy recycling of sewage and sludge are still important tasks for China as it moves towards low-carbon and green sewage treatment. (2) Technology for low-carbon and green development Because the cognition of “sewage” has generally shifted from the object of waste treatment to the carrier of resource and energy recycling, the research and application of technologies concerning resource recycling, energy development and utilization, and carbon balance are on the rise. A multitude of nations have mapped out a technology path for sewage plants to move towards self-sufficient energy or carbon neutrality in response to climate change. For example, the proposal of “Carbon-free Water” by the US Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) calls for all sewage treatment plants to be carbon neutral by 2030. The targets set by Thames Water in the UK and Melbourne Water in Australia call for them to be net-zero by 2030. There is also the timetable and roadmap from Brownfield to Greenfield developed by Singapore, and the “Sewerage Vision 2100” released by Japan that requires complete self-sufficiency for energy consumed during sewage treatment and a certain number of technical application cases by the end of the twentieth century. China’s dual carbon goals also serve as a guide and timetable for the R&D and application of low-carbon and green technologies in the urban sewage treatment industry. Based on the concepts presented by NEWs, the technology path for low-carbon and green development in urban sewage treatment should be considered from the

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following three aspects: First, from the aspect of energy utilization, we must study low-carbon and green technologies for energy utilization in sewage treatment to realize energy self-sufficiency, including the use of green energy, plans for low energy consumption in sewage treatment plants, and the full conversion of organic chemical energy and heat energy in sewage into electricity in situ. Second, from the aspect of resource recycling, we must study the recycling of fertilizer-related resources (N, P) in sewage and pay attention to the recycling of the treatment water. Third, from the aspect of carbon balance, we must study and apply technology that combines carbon emission reduction with energy utilization, in which the residual sludge is an important carrier for energy and resource utilization and must be obtained incrementally in a green way based on the carbon balance of the whole sewage treatment system. Objectively, the sewage treatment industry in China still faces inherent deficiencies and unbalanced development. This requires us to think rationally and conduct systematic coordination to rationally determine the weight and priority of the above three dimensions according to the reality of different regions. This is particularly true for the development and application of advanced technologies to build new plants or transform the existing sewage treatment plants. To do this, we must maximize the recycling and utilization of energy and the ecological benefits. (3) Prospect of low-carbon and green development With the increasingly strict control of carbon emissions, the increasing public awareness of the circular economy, and the ecological and environmental impacts and benefits of sewage treatment, GHG emissions from sewage treatment will attract much more attention from 2030 to 2050. In terms of the current social economy as a whole, the low-carbon and green development of sewage treatment technologies relies on the advancement of modern science and technology, such as the development of green energies like wind, solar, and targeted resource recycling technology, etc. This is in addition to the complete change of the traditional mechanism of “pollution” control based on the “consuming energy with energy” model. From now to 2030, the long-life infrastructure of existing urban sewage treatment plants will be confronted with the shortage of short-term financial investment, which will hinder the application of low-carbon and green technologies to a certain extent. At present, the sewage treatment industry is still dominated by traditional primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment systems, and the R&D of low-carbon and green technologies will mainly focus on the recycling of energy resources (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulfur) in sewage and on the effluent purification to achieve NZE (net zero energy) and carbon neutrality. This includes the rapid enrichment of carbon in sewage (the capture and redirection of carbon sources), anaerobic digestion of sludge (combined heat and power generation), anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), and mainstream and side-stream anaerobic anammox.

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1.4 Industrial Wastewater Treatment 1. Discharge and treatment of industrial wastewater Industrial wastewater refers to the wastewater, sewage, and waste liquid produced during industrial production that contains industrial production materials, intermediates, and products lost with water, as well as pollutants produced in the process of production. Without proper treatment, the freely discharged industrial wastewater often causes irreversible damage to the surrounding environment and ecology. The industrial wastewater in China is mainly produced by the petrochemical, coal, papermaking, metallurgy, textile, pharmacological, food, and other industries. In recent years, in order to reduce the discharge of industrial wastewater, China first reduced industrial water consumption at the source by adopting new production technologies, eliminating backward production capacity, strengthening the recycling of wastewater, and decreasing water consumption per product unit through the joint efforts of the government and enterprises, thereby reducing the industrial wastewater discharge year on year since 2011 and recording remarkable gains in industrial water management. However, China is still facing significant industrial water consumption and a huge demand for industrial wastewater treatment. The Chinese government consistently places the R&D and application of industrial wastewater treatment technologies high on the agenda. Since the 1970s, it has organized scientific research institutes and universities to engage in the research of industrial wastewater treatment technology and made a large investment in manpower, material resources, and financial resources as it strives to solve the technical problems that exist in industrial wastewater treatment, which account for a considerable proportion of the national economy. However, through the in-depth advancement of the “Made in China 2025” strategy, China’s industrial production technology has been constantly updated, and a number of different kinds of industrial products have been produced to meet people’s material and cultural needs. As a result, industrial wastewater has included more pollutants with different characteristics and become difficult to treat. In order to strengthen the treatment of industrial wastewater and protect the nation’s ecological environment, China has promulgated relevant policies to gradually migrate the industrial enterprises into industrial parks with relatively refined wastewater treatment facilities to achieve centralized collection and unified treatment of industrial wastewater. However, despite these achievements regarding industrial wastewater treatment, including the development and application of a series of industrial wastewater treatment technologies, the yearly reduction in discharge, the yearly increase in the treatment rate, and the gradual reduction of discharge intensity, there are still a number of problems existing in some second-tier cities and small and medium-sized cities. For example, the treatment rate of industrial wastewater remains low, the existing sewage treatment facilities hardly reach the standards for load and operation, the wastewater treatment in the industrial parks features poor adaptability and low efficiency, the discharge standards and assessment indicators of treatment facilities are not scientific or reasonable, the investment in the R&D of technology

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is insufficient, and the comprehensive recycling rate is low. These issues stem from the large variety of industrial wastewater, the high requirements for technological development, and the difficulty in management. 2. Carbon emissions from industrial wastewater treatment Currently, there is dearth in research regarding greenhouse gas emissions from industrial wastewater treatment in China. Compared with urban sewage, industrial wastewater contains a higher amount of organic and inorganic matter, and it is more difficult to treat. Moreover, the treatment of industrial wastewater normally consumes more energy and chemicals. Therefore, industrial wastewater treatment will emit more GHGs than urban sewage treatment when we take into consideration aspects such as pollutant abatement, power consumption and transportation, and disposal of residual sludge. In addition, the treatment and disposal of the residual sludge generated during sewage treatment is also an important contributing factor to GHGs. 3. Carbon reduction strategies for industrial wastewater treatment (1) Shoring up weak spots in the centralized treatment of industrial wastewater The centralized treatment of industrial wastewater is a method widely adopted by most industrial parks and can effectively treat sewage on a large scale. It can also strengthen the supervision of sewage discharge. From a government perspective, centralized sewage treatment can reduce the basic construction funds per unit of sewage treatment. From an enterprise perspective, it can reduce the capital investment necessary for environmental protection measures so that more manpower and material resources can be put into production and operation. In addition, centralized treatment can purify the wastewater effectively while also facilitating the gradient utilization and recycling of industrial wastewater in the parks. However, incidents of water pollution occurring in industrial parks in Henan, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi provinces in recent years have shown that the following deficiencies exist in centralized sewage treatment: obsolete sewage pipe networks, poor processing technology, low-performance sewage treatment facilities, non-uniform sewage discharge standards, and a lack of regulation on environmental protection. Considering these issues, we must apply a method that calls for one pipe and one pool for one enterprise to enterprises experiencing a fluctuation in sewage quality or large amounts of sewage discharge. We must also monitor the quality of sewage from different enterprises and ensure that the water flowing into the sewage treatment plants in the park is treatable. Additionally, we must conduct refined management over the information monitoring and regulation of the centralized sewage treatment in the park and ensure that the monitoring stations for water quality cover the entire sewage treatment process. In doing this, we can monitor the sources of risks and accidents when the sewage quality is abnormal and take corresponding engineering or technological measures to ensure a stable and controllable sewage quality. Furthermore, we must build up the deployment and control system of the front-end sewage pipe network for the sewage treatment plants in the park and decrease the risk of collapse of the sewage treatment system, which could occur as a result from an

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unstable outflow of water quality. This will ensure the stable and up-to-standard discharge of the plants. (2) Accelerating R&D in treatment technology for refractory industrial wastewater Refractory industrial wastewater contains a variety of pollutants and a large number of toxic and harmful substances. Its basic features include a high concentration of organic matter and low biodegradability. The refractory pollutants in such wastewater are rarely degraded stably or efficiently through conventional water treatment technology, and it is difficult to accurately analyze and evaluate the distribution characteristics and hazards of the high-risk trace pollutants when treating the water. The “Implementation Plan for Recycling of Industrial Wastewater” issued during the 14th Five-Year Plan period requires that 94% of industrial water be recycled by 2025. Therefore, the efficient treatment of refractory industrial wastewater is an issue that must be resolved quickly. Regarding treatment technology, it is better to adopt new green technologies that can facilitate carbon source recycling, advanced nitrogen removal, and detoxification and purification in industrial sewage treatment systems in the pursuit of efficiently removing refractory pollutants. As far as treatment theory is concerned, our focus should be placed on the study of the processes and their specific mechanisms in the wastewater treatment system by leveraging the most advanced analytical techniques and the latest theories from various disciplines. In addition, we must also identify a number of unknown pollutants and their intermediate converted products and study their biological toxicity and ecological and health risks. Through these efforts, we will provide a comprehensive and systematic scientific basis for the Priority Pollutant List and the adjustment and upgrading of production processes and development strategies for relevant industries and enterprises. (3) Current carbon emissions from industrial wastewater treatment and R&D of low-carbon treatment technologies Although the amount of industrial wastewater discharge in China decreases annually, its volume remains quite large. Because the pollutants in this wastewater are at a high intensity and have a complex composition that is difficult to treat, the treatment of the wastewater emits a greater amount of carbon dioxide than urban sewage. Therefore, to pursue the dual carbon goals, we should first gain a basic understanding of the carbon emission status of the wastewater treatment in different industries, industrial parks, and enterprises, then tap the energy saving and emission reduction potential of the treatment and design targeted overall planning for the treatment. To this end, we must encourage the development of low-carbon, green, and intelligent integrated treatment technology for “treating wastewater with wastewater” and apply new technologies in the treatment. Such treatment technologies could be centered around the above-mentioned integrated technique with anaerobic anammox and other lowcarbon emission treatments, coupled microbial electrolysis carbon capture (MECC) technology, and other new technologies. These would meet the high efficiency necessary for industrial sewage treatment and achieve energy self-sufficiency and negative carbon emissions.

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(4) Strengthening resource utilization and recycling of industrial wastewater Industrial water is an integral part of water in a society. Industrial water consumption in China has been declining, albeit slowly, year by year, with the exception of 2020 when COVID-19 broke out. The ratio of industrial water within the total water consumption of the society as a whole remains at more than 20%, and the industrial value-added water consumption per ten thousand yuan in China is still obviously higher than the average of developed countries in Europe and the Americas. Promoting the recycling of industrial wastewater; reducing water consumption in industrial production; improving the recycle rate of the water; and decreasing the carbon footprint in the industrial processes of collecting, transporting, treating, and distributing water are conducive to alleviating the water resource shortage and waterbased environmental pollution. They are also useful in advancing ecological civilization and taking action to pursue high-quality economic and social development and the dual carbon goals. In order to promote the resource utilization of sewage in key fields, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and seven other departments jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting Wastewater Resource Utilization” (hereinafter referred to as “Guiding Opinions”) in early 2021 to facilitate the resource utilization of sewage in a systematic way in the industrial and agricultural sectors of both urban and rural areas. This is meant to resolve problems such as water resource shortages, water-based environmental pollution, and water-based ecological damage. In terms of the utilization of industrial wastewater resources, the Guiding Opinions requires positive actions to speed up the utilization of industrial wastewater resources and the implementation of industrial wastewater recycling projects. According to the Guiding Opinions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Ecological Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development, and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued the “Implementation Plan on the Recycling of Industrial Wastewater” (hereinafter referred to as the “Implementation Plan”) on December 24, 2021, presenting the main target of increasing the recycling rate of water used by industrial companies “above a certain size” to 94% by 2025. The amount of municipal recycled water for industrial use will be significantly increased with a further rate increase in the steel, petrochemical and chemical, and non-ferrous industries, and a growth of more than 5% in the textile, paper-making, and food industries compared with 2020. In addition, the water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial value added will decrease by 16% compared with 2020. This, therefore, will produce a new pattern for the efficient recycling and utilization of wastewater in major water-use industries. The Implementation Plan targets leading petrochemical and chemical, steel, non-ferrous, paper-making, textile, and food industries with large amounts of wastewater discharge and relatively mature transformation conditions. It has outlined plans for wastewater recycling in different industries. It also calls for the innovation-driven development of key equipment technologies and the application of such technologies by category. In this way,

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advanced equipment will be applied in different industries and regions, and the standards will be utilized to the fullest. Moreover, the Implementation Plan also asks us to strengthen the demonstration role of the key industries by enhancing water efficiency to reach the standards, intensify service support by establishing typical benchmarks for wastewater recycling, cultivate and strengthen professional forces for wastewater recycling, and advance the implementation of comprehensive policies. In order to improve the management and the security of wastewater recycling, the Implementation Plan provides concrete measures to promote industrial wastewater recycling in an orderly manner.

2 Comprehensive Management of Indoor Air Quality to Ensure High-Quality Economic and Social Development Indoor environment refers to the living spaces and the workplaces, as well as public places for activities. Urban residents spend 70%-90% of their time in various indoor environments every day, so the air quality of such spaces has a huge impact on human health. According to China Indoor Environment Monitoring Center, about 111,000 people die from indoor air pollution every year in China, with 220,000 excess outpatient visits and 4.3 million excess emergency room visits. People’s health has been challenged by serious indoor environmental pollution, and the economy has suffered greatly due to the same reason. Higher requirements for the prevention and control of indoor air pollution have also been presented due to the global spread of COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to take effective measures to limit pollutants in the indoor environment to be within a certain range and to prevent, reduce, and purify indoor air pollution to ensure people’s physical and mental health, as well as the orderly progress and high-quality development of the social economy.

2.1 Types, Sources, and Hazards of Indoor Air Pollutants 1. Types of indoor air pollutants There are a wide variety of indoor air pollutants, mainly: (1) gas pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, trichloromethane, etc.; (2) microbial pollutants such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi; (3) inhalable particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). 2. Sources and hazards of indoor air pollutants (1) Interior decoration and furniture pollution Pollutants from interior decorations and furniture are caused by harmful substances such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethanol, and chloroform.

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Organic vapor is widely found in interior decoration materials including paint, plywood, particle board, foam filler, interior wall paint, plastic overlay, etc. Among them, artificial boards (particleboard, fiberboard, plywood, etc.), the production of new furniture, the laying of wall and ground decorations, and the adhesives used at the tops and bottoms of windows can release formaldehyde, and some paints and coatings also contain a certain amount of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde can be absorbed by the human body through the respiratory system, causing abnormalities in the nasal cavity, mouth, and throat, as well as abnormalities in the lungs, liver, and immune system in serious cases. Benzenes from synthetic fiber, plastic, fuel, rubber, etc. are hidden in paint, additives in various coatings, adhesives, and waterproof materials, and the combustion of fuel and tobacco leaves can also produce benzenes. The inhalation of benzenes may cause leukemia and aplastic anemia. (2) Pollution from buildings Pollutants such as ammonia and radon can be released by building materials and interior decoration materials during the construction of buildings. Ammonia mainly comes from the concrete admixture used in building construction, especially in winter when urea and ammonia are used as the main components in the concrete antifreeze for wall construction. These ammonia-laced materials will release the ammonia as environmental factors such as temperature and humidity change, with the ammonia slowly seeping out of the wall and causing a tremendous increase in the concentration of ammonia in the air. Additionally, ammonia is also used as an additive and brightening agent in furniture and other interior furnishing materials. Ammonia can stimulate and corrode the upper respiratory tract, weakening the resistance of the human body against disease. It can also cause cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest through the reflex of trigeminal nerve endings. Ammonia is likely to enter the blood via the alveoli after being inhaled into the lungs and bind with hemoglobin, preventing oxygen from being transported efficiently. The inhalation of a large amount of ammonia may result in the production of tears, a sore throat, hoarse voice, cough, blood-streaked sputum, chest tightness, short-term dyspnea, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, etc. In severe cases, pulmonary edema, adult respiratory distress syndrome, and respiratory irritation may occur. Indoor radon mainly comes from building materials and interior decoration materials, especially building materials made of slag and furnace slag and uranium-rich interior decoration materials. Radon is also produced by the soil in the foundation. It is electrically charged during the process of decay and easily inhaled into the human body, resulting in anemia. (3) Smoke from cooking and smoking Smoke with complicated components from cooking and smoking can also cause indoor air pollution. There are over 3,800 kinds of substances in these types of smoke, all of which float and linger in every corner of the room. People remaining in this environment for a long duration will be exposed to health hazards.

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(4) Pollution from the outdoor environment Dust, suspended matter, inhalable particles, and microorganisms can float into the room and aggravate the indoor air pollution to a certain extent. Microorganisms found in soil, water, and the atmosphere are among the microorganisms found indoors. Those microorganisms that attach to fine particles, such as dust and water vapor, suspend in the air to form aerosols, then enter the room as indoor and outdoor air is exchanged. Indoor areas with a high relative humidity, such as bathrooms, kitchens, and areas with electrical equipment such as humidifiers and air conditioners, are prone to breeding microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. Indoor activities and pets may also cause indoor microbial pollution. The flocculent matter produced by carpets, cloth sofas, curtains, and other textiles provide habitats for microbial reproduction. In addition, if there are too many people indoors, their metabolic activities, such as sweat gland emissions and exhalation of CO2, will lead to an increase in the indoor temperature, creating a breeding ground for the mass reproduction of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. Pathogenic microorganisms refer to those that can infect humans, animals, and plants or even infectious disease. Based on the structure, chemical composition and living habits, such microorganisms can be divided into eukaryotic microorganisms, prokaryotic microorganisms, and non-cellular microorganisms. Many fungi are typical eukaryotic microorganisms, most of which are not pathogenic but are beneficial to human beings, with only a few hundred of them causing disease in humans. Bacteria are typical prokaryotic microorganisms that can cause commonly seen bacterial infectious diseases. Since they are sensitive to antibiotics, acute bacterial infections are easier to treat. Viruses are typical non-cellular microorganisms that are small and have a simple structure. The risk of viral infection is normally higher than that of bacterial infection.

2.2 Introduction and Development of Technologies for the Control of Pathogenic Microorganisms in Indoor Air The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has made a serious impact on human life and health, and COVID-19 has become a global public health crisis. Although China has achieved remarkable results in the prevention and control of COVID-19, the spread of the epidemic abroad has not been effectively curbed, and some regions in China still experience outbreak clusters. In China, the scientific and precise methods used to prevent and control COVID-19 have become normalized. COVID-19 is transmitted by respiratory droplets, aerosols, and close contact. Both droplet and aerosol transmission occur through the air. The distance of droplet transmission is generally within 1.5m, with the diameter of the droplet being greater than 5 µm. WHO recommends taking measures such as maintaining a safe distance and wearing masks to mitigate the risk of infection. According to the “Report of the

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WHO-China joint mission on COVID-19,” COVID-19 spreads from infected persons to others who are unprotected through droplets and close contact, and it may also spread through the air when aerosols are generated by medical operations in medical institutions, as the virus can attach to the aerosols. Bioaerosols (viruses) are generally 0.02–0.3 µm in size and can survive in the air for up to three hours. In outdoor open spaces, COVID-19 aerosols do not easily cause disease due to atmospheric dilution and aerosol attenuation. In hospitals, schools, and public places in epidemic areas and in environments that lack good indoor ventilation and purification facilities, aerosol virus particles produced by infected persons may accumulate and increase the risk of cross-infection. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of purification and disinfection systems for indoor pathogenic microorganisms and effectively reduce the risk of virus transmission through indoor air, thus protecting people’s lives and health. 1. Current status of indoor air purification and disinfection technology While air is a necessary factor for human survival, it also acts as an important medium for the transmission of diseases, and airborne epidemics are becoming more frequent. Air microorganisms composed of viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma, and fungi or fungal spores that are harmful to the human body generally exist as aerosols. The respiratory infection rate caused by microbial aerosols is as high as 20%, and respiratory viral infections, such as SARS, avian influenza, influenza A (H1N1), and COVID-19, have become a major threat to public health and seriously affect people’s lives. Indoor air purification technology can improve indoor air quality, living and working conditions, and physical and mental health. Such technology can be mainly divided into passive adsorption filtration, active release purification, and double purification. Natural or mechanical ventilation is a simple, economical, and effective way to purify air. This method improves air quality by controlling the air exchange rate, air exchange efficiency, and other indicators. However, during the ventilation process, the direction of the air containing pathogens should be considered to prevent their spread. High efficiency filtration technology adsorbs and intercepts microorganisms on the filter screen to remove indoor pollutants such as bacteria and viruses. H12 and H13 HEPA filters, theoretically, have a certain purification function for viral aerosol particles. The use of ultraviolet disinfection, plasma disinfection, photocatalytic disinfection, and other technologies can also kill viral microorganisms. We can select an appropriate disinfection method according to the type and quantity of a given microorganism. There is a wide variety of existing air purification and disinfection equipment available. It is hard to eliminate all pathogenic microorganisms by using only filters or adsorption equipment, especially in epidemic-stricken areas with serious contamination. A crowded hospital may be filled with air containing more pathogenic microorganisms, and this poses new challenges to the air purification system. 2. Solution for the air purification and disinfection process

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Fig. 1 The whole-process “five-in-one” air purification technology

As shown in Fig. 1, Academician Hou Li’an and the research team developed the whole-process “five-in-one” air purification technology in response to the existing problems in the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the air of wards in epidemic areas. It is a system that integrates the intelligent fresh air system, air purification and fresh air system, air purification and indoor disinfection system, and the nano purification coating and intelligent negative pressure disinfection system with the adoption of a modular design and flexible combination that adapts to different application scenarios. Thanks to the strong organic synergy of the system, it can purify the air of 99.9996% of the aerosols. At present, the technology has been demonstrated and applied in many areas to effectively protect the indoor air quality and provide scientific and technological support in the fight against COVID-19. The key points of the technology are as follows: (1) Technology for transforming a private house to a negative pressure ward In the reality of epidemic prevention, different technical modules can be selected according to the prevention needs to form a proper air quality assurance system. For example, some air purification units can be added to ordinary civil buildings to quickly transform them into negative pressure wards. In new hospitals, the wholeprocess air purification system can be installed, but in an established hospital, proper air purification units can be equipped according to the actual needs. The modified negative pressure wards with a standardized pressure difference, air flow direction, and air quality, can effectively block the transmission of viruses and microorganisms, increase the ward capacity, and decrease the construction cost for a negative pressure ward. (2) Fresh air and exhaust systems One of the future directions for fresh air systems is to update them to purification systems that integrate efficient heat recovery, temperature control, humidity

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adjustment, and air pollutant purification. The “clean air generation and directional delivery technology” uses a direct-flow positive pressure air supply, as well as air supply technology with an attached respiratory zone air deflector, to achieve a directional flow of fresh air from what would be considered the clean area to the transition area and then to the polluted area. This method will reduce the risk of cross-infection. In addition, it can provide an air supply that that is large enough to meet super cooling or super heating demands. The fresh air will be directly sent to the respiratory zone of personnel to reduce indoor polluted air, ensure the freshness of the air breathed by personnel, and avoid cross-infection. The intelligent negative pressure exhaust module in the “intelligent fresh air purification/intelligent negative pressure purification technology” can automatically increase or decrease pressure to maintain a stable indoor negative pressure. The UV sterilizer and ozone generator in the disinfection and sterilizing system can effectively prevent the diffusion of pollutants. Together with the intelligent fresh air purification module, it can create a stable indoor negative pressure gradient and closed-circulating purified air. The intelligent fresh air system can purify 99.9994% of the aerosols, while the intelligent exhaust system can purify 99.9996%. (3) Indoor purification and disinfection system Two key technologies are adopted for the indoor purification and disinfection system. One is the fine aerosol removal technology, which can effectively separate and collect aerosol particles and ultra-fine atomized absorption liquid through the 3rd-degree gravity when the size and weight of the aerosol particles are increased after hygroscopic absorption. The other is the dual disinfection and sterilizing technology for pathogens, that is, improving the reaction of pathogens to a disinfection solution by increasing the specific surface area using cloud-type ultrafine atomization technology. At the same time, high-energy ultraviolet light is used to interrupt the DNA double helix chain to inactivate bacteria and viruses. Backed by key technologies, a sterile cloud-type air purifier is developed. The purifier will create a supersaturated water vapor environment with ultrafine fog droplets, in which aerosols grow as condensation nuclei and are subsequently collected in the high gravity field. In addition, the ultrafine fog droplets contain an absorption disinfectant. It can work alongside the ultraviolet disinfection to ensure the thorough inactivation of pathogens. In this case, no filter materials are needed, and a high purification precision is guaranteed. It can remove dust, PM1, PM2.5, droplets, and other fine particles from the air and has a particle removal efficiency greater than or equal to 99.9%. The PM2.5 removal efficiency is greater than or equal to 98.5%, and the rate at which bacteria is killed is greater than or equal to 99.2%. The multi-functional air purifier adopts a high efficiency filter membrane, photocatalysis, and other innovative technologies that can effectively remove PM2.5, pathogenic microorganisms, and decompose and eliminate benzene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, and other harmful chemical gases in the air. The purifier is composed of a high-efficiency nano graphene filter membrane, honeycomb activated carbon adsorption, actinic sterilization and disinfection, and a VOC removal module that can be freely combined based on the type of pollutants. This innovative design

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features the integration of HEPA filters, TiO2 and ACF/MnOn photocatalysis, NOx nano-catalysis, and other technologies and includes functions such as dust removal, organic matter generation, efficient sterilization, and NOx removal. The bacterial eradication rate of the purifier is 99.98%, and the aerosol cleaning rate is 99.7%. The air purification (environmental monitoring) robot can monitor air quality (formaldehyde, PM, etc.). Equipped with different types of disinfection modules, it can effectively remove pathogenic microorganisms and other pollutants in the air to ensure indoor air quality. The robot can be controlled at a long range, and it can independently plan its route, effectively avoid obstacles such as people and objects, fully cover the indoor area, and break the limitations of traditional disinfection equipment that can only purify at fixed locations. (4) Environmental functional materials The whole-process “five-in-one” air purification technology uses a large number of environmental functional materials, including the advanced graphene quantum dot-based nanomaterials and synthetic materials that can cause mechanical adsorption and structural destruction to proteins and effectively kill the virus. It also uses titanium dioxide and graphene quantum dot-based nanomaterials that provide antibacterial and purifying coatings for the continuous dynamic disinfection and sterilization of the floors and walls. In addition, studies show that the nano-graphene coatings can adsorb, capture, and eliminate viral microbial carriers effectively, with the removal rate of microorganisms from an object’s surface reaching about 60.49%. 3. Indoor air purification technology developmental tendencies (1) Air quality detection system We should focus on developing methods and instruments that can achieve rapid and accurate detection of viral microorganisms in the air, such as bioaerosol samplers and online automatic virus detection devices, for the collection and detection of viruses in the air and on the surface of objects. We should also optimize and integrate the virus detection module with other air quality detection modules to build an intelligent monitoring and management system for indoor air quality. (2) Fresh air and exhaust system We should develop a fresh air purification system that integrates efficient heat recovery, temperature control, humidity adjustment, and air pollutant purification to provide a comfortable working environment for medical staff. The humanized design (split-type design, outdoor unit with air purification function), low energy consumption, pipeline cleaning, and maintenance of the fresh air system can be promoted based on the building types and internal space layout. The generation and directional delivery technology for clean air can be used to deliver air to work areas and hospital bed areas, achieving a directional flow of fresh air from the clean area to the transition area and then to the polluted area to reduce the risk of crossinfection. Connecting the fresh air system and negative pressure system can ensure

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both the fresh air inflow and the stable negative pressure gradient in the ward. In addition, the air in the ward should be filtered by a high-efficiency filter, disinfected and sterilized, and finally discharged through the negative pressure system to form a safe and controlled air exchange in the room. (3) Indoor air purification system First, we can develop air purifiers with sterilization and disinfection functions. The air purifier can use a high-efficiency nano graphene filter membrane, ultraviolet photocatalysis, low-temperature plasma, and other purification combination technologies. It can also adopt ultrafine atomization technology to produce disinfectant atomized water vapor to improve the effectiveness of virus and bacteria removal. Second, we can develop a modular air purifier with multiple functions. Building a highly integrated and space-saving air purifier is one of the key technical factors that will determine the future development of air purifiers. One of the future development trends for purifiers is to be equipped with multiple purification functions that can simultaneously remove different target pollutants such as viruses and VOC through the integration of different modules. Third, we can develop portable air purification equipment. Due to the complex and diverse environments in need of air purification, it may not always be convenient to use large air purifiers. Developing smaller and more portable air purifiers will be a continuing trend. Fourth, we can develop ecological and environmental functional materials. Indoor air quality can be improved effectively through the research and development of ecological and environmental materials that can purify air pollutants and kill viruses and bacteria. Those materials include nanofiber air filtration materials, graphene aerogel, etc. The antibacterial purification coating made from titanium dioxide and graphene quantum dot-based nanomaterials can improve the removal rate of pathogenic microorganisms. (4) Intelligent air quality assurance system Modern sensor technology can be used to measure the indoor and outdoor environmental quality online, control indoor purification, disinfection, fresh air, and other aspects, and achieve intelligent air quality regulation in hospitals and other buildings. It can also drive the deep integration of the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, and the real economy.

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3 Synergy of Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction in Industrial Enterprises to Promote High-Quality Economic and Social Development 3.1 Basic Connotation of the Synergy of Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction China is quickly transforming from low-end to high-end industrialization. Although the high-quality development of an industrial economy will bring about a significant reduction in carbon emissions, China’s total CO2 emissions will remain high for a long time to come due to the coal-dominated energy structure, the industrial structure dominated by a heavy chemical industry, and the highway-based freight transportation structure. From a global perspective, China is the world’s top CO2 emitter, and it faces great challenges and pressures in the reduction of carbon emissions. On April 30, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out while presiding over the 29th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s ecological civilization would enter a critical period of focusing on carbon reduction, promoting the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction, adopting green and low-carbon approaches in economic and social development, and realizing a qualitative change in the ecological environment. Promoting the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction is an important step for implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, which is a major task toward fulfilling China’s solemn commitment to reach a carbon peak and become carbon neutral. It is also a key path in the battle against pollution and toward building a beautiful China, a good opportunity for the green and low-carbon development of a social economy, and an inevitable requirement for building a modernized country in which humanity and nature coexist in harmony. The goal of building a beautiful China is challenged by the following problems: the overall concentration of air pollutants remains high; the treatment of water pollution still faces huge challenges at different scales; and the risk control of soil pollution is still under great pressure. It is difficult for us to achieve the dual carbon goals within the tight time frame when there are still serious structural problems. At the same time, we face pressure imposed by the strong growth of rigid demand due to economic and social development. Fossil energy consumption, industrial production, transportation, and residential life are the main sources of environmental pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Facing the dual pressures of environmental quality improvement and greenhouse gas emission reduction, it is imperative that we accelerate our efforts in pollution control and carbon reduction. Considering that environmental pollutants and greenhouse gases come from the same source, pollution control and carbon reduction are highly consistent in terms of management and control ideas, as well as management methods, tasks, and measures and can be planned, promoted, and implemented in a coordinated manner to reduce cost and enhance efficiency. In addition, the existing pollution control system can be used to achieve carbon

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reduction, while carbon reduction measures are used as key approaches to achieving long-term pollution control at the source. These actions will allow us to promote the synergy of the two to optimize resource allocation and improve the quality and efficiency of our work.

3.2 Measures for the Synergy of Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction 1. Promoting the green and low-carbon development of the social economy through the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction We must have a thorough understanding of the important position and key role of the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction in the process of industrialization and urbanization in China, especially during this new stage of development. We must utilize carbon reduction to prevent and control pollution and pursue high-quality economic and social development. In addition, we must also promote the continuous improvement of the ecological environment, pursue the dual carbon goals, and make new contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind and a beautiful China. 2. Creating a clear top-level design for the synergy between pollution control and carbon reduction We must develop and refine relevant laws and policies in accordance with the general principle of synergy between pollution control and carbon reduction. We must also integrate the response to climate change into the legal system to promote policies regarding ecological and environmental protection and implement a law-based synergy. We can also improve carbon emission standards, norms, and guidelines; study and formulate carbon benchmarks and systems for carbon emission standards; and establish methods and verification guidelines for carbon emission monitoring, assessment, and reporting. We can implement a dual control system built around intensity control and supplemented by amount control. It would include carbon emission reduction in the central supervision of ecological and environmental protection. In addition, we can strengthen supervision and law enforcement concerning pollutants and carbon emission reduction, establish and improve supporting rules and regulations for pollution control and carbon reduction, and strengthen the law enforcement capacity so that it fits the synergy created between pollution control and carbon reduction. 3. Grasping the vital and key points of the synergy between pollution control and carbon reduction to maximize efficiency Reducing coal use and making structural adjustments are vital points. There is a significant positive correlation between coal consumption and CO2 and pollutant emissions. In 2020, coal still accounted for 56.8% of China’s primary energy

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consumption. We should not only reduce the intensity of coal consumption, but also reduce the total amount. The total amount of coal consumption should peak as soon as possible, so that non-fossil fuel energy sources can become the main players in energy consumption. We must resolutely curb the reckless establishment and unapproved construction of energy-intensive and high-emission projects. We must also speed up the elimination and reduction of backward and excess production capacity in steel, nonferrous metals, building materials, petrochemical, chemical, thermal power, and paper-making industries. 4. Strengthening scientific and technological support for the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction The fundamental approach to reducing pollution and carbon emissions relies on scientific and technological support. This is true whether it is to develop new energy to promote an energy revolution, to facilitate industrial transformation and upgrading through structural adjustment, or to reduce carbon and pollutant emissions at the source or at the end. We must quickly establish a scientific and technological innovation system and mechanism that promotes synergy between the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions; encourages scientific research institutes, enterprises, and scientific research personnel to conduct R&D for critical or key technologies to provide support for the early realization of the dual carbon goals; and to contribute to the cultivation of a modern beautiful China in which humanity and nature coexist in harmony.

3.3 The Path for Synergizing Pollution Control and Carbon Reduction in the Industrial Sector The industrial sector is the largest contributor of pollutants and CO2 emissions, and its NOx, PM2.5, VOCs, and CO2 emissions account for 42%, 46%, 67%, and 42% of the national total, respectively. As a result, this sector has become the focus of pollution control and carbon reduction. Therefore, we should strive to build an efficient and low-carbon cycling industrial system; control the reckless development of energyintensive and high-emission projects; vigorously promote iron and steel, cement, and other key industries to save energy and reduce energy consumption; strengthen the recycling and utilization of renewable resources; reduce energy and resource consumption; reduce emissions of related pollutants and CO2 in the manufacturing process at the source; and realize the synergized reduction of pollutants and CO2 emissions. Since energy consumption is the main source of carbon emissions for industrial enterprises, the main approach for achieving carbon reduction is to replace traditional fossil fuel energy with clean energy. Table 1 shows some of the current forms of clean energy for industrial enterprises.

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Table 1 How industrial enterprises can obtain and apply clean energy Energy type

Access

Alternative energy

Application

Solar energy

Set up photovoltaic solar panels in an open space in the plant

Electric energy

Set up photovoltaic solar panels in an open space to generate electricity and satisfy energy consumption in the treatment of wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste and provide energy for industrial production

Wind power

Set up power generating units in an open space in the plant

Electric energy

Set up power generating units in an open space to generate electricity and satisfy energy consumption in the treatment of wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste and provide energy for industrial production

Biomass energy

Biogas produced in the Fossil fuels and electric anaerobic digestion of energy sludge in the wastewater or the organic waste residue

Waste-heat energy Heat energy contained in the waste steam during production

Replace traditional fossil fuels with biogas, generating biogas power to satisfy energy consumption in the treatment of wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste

Electric energy and heat Utilize heat energy energy after collection, using waste heat power generation technology to provide electricity for production and for the treatment of wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste

1. Synergy between the recycling of industrial waste gas and carbon reduction The recycling of industrial waste gas takes the waste gas emitted by production equipment and uses the waste heat, residual pressure, or heat energy of the combustible components contained in production, rather than discharging it to the air directly or after purification. Normally, the recycling of industrial waste gas can be divided into cyclic utilization and cascade utilization: the former refers to the recycling of waste gas to be used in the production process from which the gas is emitted, while the latter refers to the recycling of waste gas to be used in other form

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of production. For example, in the iron and steel industry, the energy of converter gas can be recovered and utilized in two ways: one is the medium–low calorific value converter gas via sensible heating and chemical energy conversion, and the other is the medium and low-pressure steam. In the cement industry, exhaust gas from the cement kiln can be used to improve the quality of lignite, and then lignite can be used to calcine cement. This helps to reduce energy consumption in the dehydration process and allows for quality improvement of lignite and the total CO2 emissions, thereby providing a new way for the local utilization of lignite resources. In the production of electrolytic aluminum, the electrolytic aluminum flue gas after dry treatment can be directly sent to the enterprise’s own power plant or a surrounding power plant to be used as combustion air in order to further reduce the emissions of SO2 and make full use of the waste heat of the waste gas from the electrolytic bath, thus achieving a cascade utilization of waste gas. 2. Synergy of the comprehensive utilization of bulk industrial solid waste and carbon reduction Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the comprehensive utilization of resources has been integrated into the Five-sphere Integrated Plan to advance ecological progress. With the development of ecological conservation and environmental protection, the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste in China to build a green and low-carbon circular economic system is not only a basic requirement for the comprehensive utilization of resources and improvement of efficiency in resource utilization, but also an important support for China’s dual carbon goals and the construction of a beautiful China. Bulk industrial solid waste is a large category, including tailings, metallurgical slag, coal gangue, fly ash, desulfurization gypsum, red mud, phosphorus gypsum, stone processing sediment, etc. Since China’s bulk industrial solid waste increases enormously on an annual basis with a large historical inventory, if we strengthen the comprehensive utilization of such resources and improve the utilization efficiency, we not only can save on original resources and reduce foreign-trade dependency, but also can reduce the risk of air, water, and soil pollution. (1) Promoting large-scale utilization of bulk industrial solid waste For the effective use of bulk solid wastes, such as fly ash, coal gangue, blast furnace slag (water slag), and desulfurization gypsum, which are characterized by mature utilization technologies, wide applications, and significant utilization, we must actively promote the integration of such waste and waste recycling industries, including the building material industry, and encourage the replacement of solid waste with original resources through the optimization of industrial layouts, supporting systems, and incentives to promote the efficient use of solid waste at scale. For example, fly ash can be further used in building material production, construction and road engineering, agricultural application, etc., and coal gangue can be used for power generation, building material production, recultivation, and reforestation. We

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can promote the high-valued utilization of industrial waste. Based on local conditions, we can utilize the coal gangue using multiple elements and multiple components, actively extract useful mineral elements, and drive the production of high value-added products such as agricultural fertilizers from coal gangue. We can also vigorously implement the high-valued application of fly ash based on the extraction of valuable elements and develop a product system for diversified and comprehensive utilization. In addition, we can promote the high-quality utilization of nonmetallic industrial waste residues and improve the quality of the comprehensive utilization of industrial by-product gypsum by region and type. (2) Establishing an innovative model for the comprehensive management of bulk industrial solid waste We can establish a model for multi-industry cooperative utilization and set up, as well as improve, systems and mechanisms for the coordinated development of industries engaged in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste in key areas. We can also improve the industrial system for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste based on the centralized production areas of solid waste; connect the discharge, disposal, processing, circulation, and application of solid waste resources; break down industrial protections and barriers; and strengthen industrial responsibility and division of labor. By encouraging upstream and downstream enterprises to engage in joint ventures and cooperation, we can promote the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste in traditional industries such as the chemical, cement, coal, electricity, and smelting industries to form a model for multi-industry collaborative and integrated development and to promote the optimal allocation of the supply and demand chain and value chain of solid waste resources. We can refine the professional operation model. In the case of red mud and other complex and hard-to-use bulk solid wastes with multiple components, we can rely on professional companies to improve the sorting and processing capacity. We can strengthen the business operation of bulk solid waste disposal and use the comprehensive utilization of resources as an opportunity to develop a competitive service industry that covers the examination, diagnosis, evaluation, technical equipment, engineering construction of the industrialization project, standards, information statistics, financial services, and personnel training. It can also be used to propel the coordinated development of the industry chain and intensify industrial linkage, coupling, and coexistence. We can establish a model of Internet + comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste. We can utilize modern information technologies such as big data and the Internet to promote the construction of a supervision information system for bulk solid waste in industries and regions with large waste production, provide real-time statistics on dynamic information such as the generation, storage, transport, and utilization of bulk solid waste, and improve the industrial management system based on the information data system. By establishing and improving the trading information platform for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, we can provide an information exchange platform for waste production and waste recycling enterprises that can release information regarding the production units, production amount, and

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quality of bulk solid waste in a timely manner to promote information exchange among enterprises, industries, and regions and to improve the efficiency of resource allocation. We can strengthen the leading role of key enterprises. We can establish a system for leading enterprises in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, encourage large enterprises in these fields to build and improve facilities for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, drive the green development and intelligent transformation of key technologies and equipment, and improve the enterprise utilization of resources and capacity for harmless disposal. We can also regularly issue a list of front-runner enterprises, provide policy support for the cultivation of backbone enterprises that have a mature capacity for the comprehensive utilization and disposal of bulk solid waste, and leverage the exemplary and leading role of such enterprises to drive the coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries. This will fully activate the industrial chain and drive the green and sustainable development of the whole industry. (3) Enhancing the consumption capacity of major regions for bulk solid waste We can foster a cross-regional product market mechanism. We can also establish a cooperation mechanism for “enhancing consensus, establishing rules, and promoting sharing” to promote the development of a market connection for products involved in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste and create links among production, supply, sales, and use. A cross-regional product standard sharing mechanism can be set up, and a preferential consumption mechanism can be established for the products involved in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste in the whole process from design to construction. In addition, we can encourage the flow of bulk solid waste between regions, utilize the existing rail, sea, and water transport, and carry out multimodal transport to promote the overall utilization rate of solid waste in key regions. For example, we can make full use of tailings, waste rock, fly ash, and other bulk solid waste resources from Shanxi and Inner Mongolia in key areas like the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas to fill up the shortage of production capacity and provide building materials for major project construction in the core development regions. We can establish cross-regional and multi-sectoral policy mechanisms. We should utilize the abundant market resources present in regional central cities or urban agglomerations and the advantages of sufficient solid waste resources in surrounding regions. This will encourage the integration of industries involved in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste into the regional cooperative governance framework. We can introduce systems for cross-regional and multi-sectoral collaboration and a mechanism for reporting and handling key bottlenecks to jointly address key problems that hinder the coordinated development of industries in key regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Yellow River Basin, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. We can also establish a scientific and rational regional coordinated development mechanism for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste and formulate fiscal and taxation

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policies, incentive policies for scientific and technological innovation, and policies for the comprehensive utilization of the products. We can carry out trials for comprehensive utilization in major strategic areas. We can give priority to the pilot use of bulk solid waste in major typical strategic regions, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Yellow River Basin, which produce a large amount and wide variety of solid wastes. In light of local conditions, we can explore new models for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste in those regions. We can prioritize the synergistic, clean, and efficient utilization of industrial waste on a large scale in the Beijing-TianjinHebei region and the surrounding areas and leverage the advantages of low-cost water transport in the Yangtze River Economic Belt to promote the synergistic and ecologically efficient utilization of regional industrial wastes, promote the large-scale utilization of stock wastes in the Yellow River Basin through market mechanisms for the purpose of ecological protection. Furthermore, we can work to promote the ecological and clean utilization of valuable components in solid waste produced from non-ferrous metal mining and smelting in Western China and foster the development of strategic emerging industries engaged in the synergistic utilization of industrial wastes in old industrial bases in Northeast China. (4) Establishing and improving long-term guarantee systems and mechanisms We can improve the standard system for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste. We can establish industry standardization institutions for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste to set up and improve the relevant standard systems. We can use comprehensive utilization to improve the green standards for the whole life cycle of the design, production, and use of the products. We can also strengthen the coordination among standards, promote the connection between product standards, utilize resources and upstream and downstream industrial standards such as construction standards and construction codes, and strive to solve the standard-related bottlenecks in the application of products. We can encourage the formulation of group standards in related subdivisions, improve the market competitiveness of the products, and promote advanced adaptation technologies through standardization. We can intensify preferential tax policies. We can implement preferential policies on value-added tax, income tax, and environmental protection tax for the comprehensive utilization of resources, expand the scope of preferential tax on products involved in comprehensive utilization, and explore ways to include underground filling or backfilling of bulk solid waste such as tailings and coal gangue in the preferential VAT list. Focusing on key areas in the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, we can conduct in-depth research on the tax system bottlenecks that restrict the development of the industry and develop operational, practical, and implementable tax preferential policies in line with the characteristics of the industry for bulk solid waste such as red mud, tailings, and construction waste. We can strengthen support for scientific and technological innovation. We can actively promote the establishment of scientific and technological innovation platforms, laboratories, and incubators for solid waste utilization; encourage scientific

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and technological innovation; implement key R&D plans; increase the application of achievements; and break down technical bottlenecks in the comprehensive utilization of complex and hard-to-use solid waste. We can encourage the establishment of multi-mode industrial innovation alliances to form innovation entities that share benefits and risks. In addition, we can also speed up the publication of a catalogue regarding advanced and practical technologies for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, collect key generic technologies for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste by type, intensify their promotion and application, and select and publish a catalogue of advanced application technologies and typical cases for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste. We can improve the evaluation system for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste. Based on the development of comprehensive utilization technology of bulk solid waste and the revision of the standard system, we can adjust and revise the relevant product catalog. By adhering to a market-oriented approach, we can improve the third-party evaluation mechanism for the comprehensive utilization of resources and actively introduce third-party evaluation in fiscal and tax reduction, project launching, and technology evaluation. Relying on the evaluation, we can release information regarding products, market demand, application achievements, technology promotion, and other service information in a timely manner. 3. Synergy of industrial water conservation and carbon reduction The term “water conservation” means saving water, yet the definition of this term varies domestically and internationally, as some individuals emphasize the saving of water by entities that consume it, while others emphasize the saving and protection of water at all links in the whole process from water acquisition, water supply, water usage, water consumption, water discharge, and water recycling. The former is defined on a narrow basis, while the latter is on a broad basis. Based on the current situation of our country and the measures being taken, water conservation can be interpreted as: on the premise of satisfying the sustainable economic and social development, taking legal, administrative, technical, economic, engineering, and other measures to reduce water consumption and loss in the process of water acquisition and water usage to improve efficiency and effectiveness of water use and to ensure scientific development, efficient utilization, and effective protection of water resources. (1) China’s industrial water-saving policy Industrial enterprises are always big users of water, and industrial water conservation is an effective measure that can alleviate the contradiction between the supply and demand of water in China. In recent years, China has introduced a series of policies to support water conservation in the industrial sector. In December 2021, in order to enhance the intensive and economical use of urban water resources and improve systemic water-saving, the General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban–rural Development, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Office of the Ministry

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of Water Resources, and the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Guidelines on Urban Water Conservation” (hereinafter referred to as “Guidelines”). The Guidelines stresses that water conservation in the industrial sector should be vigorously promoted. We can strengthen water quota management for industrial enterprises, ensure that water efficiency reaches the standard, actively apply advanced water-saving technology and equipment, and carry out water-saving improvements. We can also make good use of industrial wastewater, recycled water, rain water, sea water, and other unconventional water resources. Cities with severe water shortages in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and the Yellow River Basin should promote cooperation between operating units of municipal sewage treatment and recycling facilities and major water consumption enterprises and industrial parks. They should treat the municipal sewage and recycled water as an important water source for industrial use, reduce the enterprises’ consumption of new water, form a new model for the efficient recycling of wastewater based on city-industry integration, and explore and build up pilot projects that can be replicated and promoted. In addition, the monitoring and measurement system for enterprise water use can be refined to enhance efficiency. In March 2021, in order to implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the “Outline of 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035 of the People’s Republic of China,” continue to implement national water-saving actions, and accelerate the construction of a water-saving society, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development, and 3 other departments jointly issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a Water-Saving Society” (hereinafter referred to as “Plan”). The Plan points out that it is imperative for us to promote water-saving in the industrial sector, strengthen quota management on water use in high water consumption industries, and carry out evaluations in water balance, water performance, and water efficiency benchmarking for key enterprises. By applying advanced water-saving technology and equipment, we can implement enterprise transformation, promote internal water recycling for enterprises, and improve the repeated utilization rate. In addition, we can implement the industrial wastewater resource utilization project and set up a number of demonstration enterprises for the utilization of industrial wastewater resources, with a focus on the thermal power, steel, petrochemical, chemical, nonferrous metals, paper-making, printing, dyeing, and food industries. By 2025, we will select 50 leaders in water efficiency from the above industries. In April 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources issued the “National Water Conservation Action Plan” (hereinafter referred to as “Water Conservation Action Plan”) in order to implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, promote water conservation throughout China, comprehensively improve the efficiency of water resource utilization, form a water-saving production and lifestyle, ensure national water security, and promote high-quality development,. According to the Water Conservation Action Plan, we must vigorously promote industrial water-saving transformation, improve the water supply metering system and online monitoring system, strengthen

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management over production water, and vigorously promote water-saving technologies such as efficient cooling, washing, and recycling of water; wastewater recycling; and the replacement of high-water-consuming production processes. We must also support enterprises in applying water-saving technology and using recycled water and conducting evaluations in water balance, water efficiency auditing, and water efficiency benchmarking for key enterprises. Furthermore, it is necessary to transform enterprises that exceed the standard water quota to become water-saving within a specified time. (2) Development trend of industrial water-saving technology First, the upgrading of water-saving technology. In order to improve the efficiency of industrial water use and narrow the gap of water consumption in different regions, we must improve the production technology, restrict the development of industries with high pollution and low output, and complete industrial upgrades. In the face of increasing water demand, for regions where water use efficiency is improving in a stable way after industrial restructuring, we must find new water-saving methods to meet the demand, promote industrial pollution control and water-saving capacity by introducing new technologies, and achieve technology-led improvements in water use efficiency. Second, the visualization of the water use process. We need to conduct in-depth analysis on the industrial production for water use supervision, achieve the visualization of water use processes, and provide detailed statistics on water consumption. This can control the water-saving efficiency of each process and provide detailed information for managers to understand water usage in the production processes of enterprises, facilitate the control of specific water use processes, and optimize water use decisions. Relevant studies have introduced the visualization of industrial water use processes, such as decomposing industrial water processes based on independent links, measuring and managing consumption and drainage for each independent link, and combining the information of the links to create a whole system that can achieve systematic water management. Third, smart water management. China has huge industrial water demand, and water is an important industrial production material. However, industrial development greatly pollutes the water environment. Water scarcity and water environmental protection have become important factors restricting the further development of industrial enterprises. How to improve the utilization rate of water resources, reduce the use of water resources, control water environment pollution, and improve the water environment has become an important condition for the survival and development of industrial enterprises. Industrial Smart Water is meant to integrate all industrial water users, wastewater discharge facilities, various water supply facilities, drainage facilities, circulating water facilities, water treatment facilities, and various pipe network systems in a plant through the Internet of Things and achieve the efficient use of water resources, on-demand water supply, energy conservation and emission reduction, pollution control, and environmental protection via the management, analysis, handling, and decision-making based on big data. Industrial Smart Water is sure to become an important development direction for the transformation

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and upgrading of the industrial water sector that will drive the green and low-carbon development of industrial enterprises. Fourth, water-saving evaluation for projects. At present, the water-saving evaluation for industrial enterprises in China is conducted in accordance with the “GB/T7119-2018 Evaluating Guide for Water-saving Enterprises” on the following four basic principles: The evaluation indicators should reflect the actual status of the enterprise in water management and water efficiency improvement, and both the qualitative and quantitative evaluation should be conducted. The characteristics of water use in different industries and in the production of different products, as well as the differences in the various water resources in the region should be considered. There should be a certain degree of versatility for different types of enterprises, and there should be good comparability between enterprises in the same industry. It should be operable with true and credible data sources, as well as consistent measurements and a statistical caliber that is easy to evaluate. The water-saving evaluation index system includes basic requirements, management indicators, and technical indicators. The basic requirements refer to the conditions that water-saving industrial enterprises must meet. The management indicators mainly evaluate the watersaving management system, management institutions, water supply and drainage facilities, water equipment management, water measurement management, water balance testing, transformation and investment in water-saving technology, watersaving publicity, etc. The technical indicators cover the water acquisition, recycling, leakage, measurement drainage, and utilization of unconventional water sources by enterprises. Fifth, strengthening the effectiveness of water-saving supervision. This is an important approach to put water conservation into action. The success of water-saving supervision depends on two major driving forces: externally, the establishment of a third-party supervision subject and internally, the awakening of industrial producers’ own supervision awareness. In regard to the former force, it is necessary to consolidate the water-saving supervision work system, leverage the rigid binding force of laws and systems, and strictly regulate the water-saving behaviors through the law so that the supervision work can be conducted legally. In addition, it is necessary to establish clear evaluation criteria for water conservation so that supervision can be conducted according to those criteria, include the work of regulatory departments in the assessment, and urge units with supervisory authority to earnestly assume their main responsibilities and take practical supervision actions. As for the latter force, the government should strengthen publicity to improve the awareness of industrial enterprise dangers, as they are not only water users who conduct water-saving behaviors in accordance with the law, but also supervisors of their own water-saving behaviors. Enterprises should take the initiative to shoulder the task and mission of water conservation, realize the importance of water-saving behaviors for the development of the industry, society, and the country, and be aware that their own supervision will be more direct and effective than external supervision. Sixth, adjusting the structure of water use through economic leverage. Industrial restructuring plays a major role in the improvement of the efficiency of water

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resource utilization and the reduction of the enterprise water quota. In terms of macrocontrol, the state must explore new measures for water resource management such as reforming the water rights system and the water resources tax, implementing tiered taxes on clean water, and reducing the cost of recycled water through the regulation and promotion role of economic levers. This should be done to increase the share of recycled water in the water structure, improve the efficiency of water use and the capacity for sewage treatment, and raise the awareness of water conservation and recycling in the process of water use. In terms of industrial water conservation, these macro-control policies will constrain the enterprise costs, enabling the enterprises to actively adjust their water use structure with a greater focus on the utilization of unconventional water sources, as well as the transformation of the traditional old industrial model via new technologies. Seventh, water conservation through the limitation of discharge pressure. The control of total sewage discharge and water conservation through the limitation of discharge pressure can suppress the disorderly water use of enterprises so that they will actively seek water saving methods and the use of recycled water. Through the control of total sewage discharge, an anti-driving mechanism will be formed to encourage enterprises to independently change their water use structure and improve water use efficiency with the goal of controlling discharge. All industrial cities need to value water conservation to reduce emissions and control the discharge pressure to save water. By doing so, we will secure the development of both water conservation and emission control. Eighth, take into account the shortcomings of water conservation and implement water conservation in typical areas first. An understanding of water conservation should be integrated into all links of water resource management. We must know how the shortcomings of water-saving work are interrelated and mutually impacted. The visualization of the water use process enables managers to understand water consumption during production and provides a basis for water metering, which is conducive to the construction of a water management platform. The successful construction of the water management platform provides accurate and detailed data for water resource management, which will facilitate the realization of water-saving purposes. We must concentrate on the weak links in industrial water conservation, take all factors into consideration, and stay focused on the big picture. Typical industrial zones must be built into industrial demonstrations with leading innovative technologies to offer repeatable cases of industrial water conservation for other regions. In this way, we will achieve water conservation in key areas first and allow the early water-saving areas to drive the water-saving efforts of other areas later, thereby promoting the progress of industrial water conservation. 4. Synergy between industrial energy conservation and carbon reduction (1) Current energy consumption and carbon emissions in China’s industrial sector In recent years, energy consumption in the industrial sector in China has accounted for more than 60% of the national total, among which the industrial coal consumption occupies about 50% of the national total, suggesting that the current energy consumption structure is dominated by coal. Although clean energies such as natural gas and

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renewable energy have developed rapidly, and the energy consumption structure in the industrial sector has continued to be optimized in recent years, the basic feature of the “coal-dominated” energy consumption structure, or the high-carbon feature, is not likely to change in the short term. In addition, the heavy and chemical industries occupy a high proportion of China’s industrial structure, and the energy consumption of those industries accounted for 90.89% of the total in 2019. Though our country has entered the late industrialization period, part of China’s midwestern area is still in what would be considered the intermediate period of industrialization, in which economic growth relies heavily on the development of the heavy and chemical industries. Meanwhile, the growth of the steel, metallurgy, machinery, energy, chemical, textile, and other industries has given rise to an increased demand for energy. China has produced a large number of industrial products that have a high energy consumption but low value added, including about 56% of the world’s crude steel and 57% of the world’s cement. Although China has continued to strictly control the expansion of energy-intensive industries, eliminate backward production capacity according to the law and regulations, and eliminate excess production capacity in recent years, the high proportion of energy-intensive heavy and chemical industries in the industrial structure remains unchanged. The manufacturing industry in China also features a high energy consumption of unit value added, far higher than that of developed countries. The general equipment in our country is not energy saving. For example, the market share of efficient motors is only about 16%, far lower than that of developed countries, and the operating efficiency of motor systems is also lower than advanced products from other countries by about 10%. In addition, some energy-intensive manufacturing industries produce products with low added value, and the proportion of high-end manufacturing remains low. (2) Energy saving and carbon reduction measures for the industrial sector First, we can adjust and optimize the industrial structure and develop green and low-carbon industries. The industrial structure changes brought by industrialization are positively correlated with the total amount and structure of energy consumption. The high proportion of manufacturing industries in the structure leads to the large energy consumption. We should continue to resolve excess production capacity, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the petrochemical, electric power, coal, steel, and other industries, and vigorously eliminate backward production capacity with high energy consumption. Additionally, we must resolutely curb the reckless development of energy-intensive and high-emission projects, raise the threshold of energy conservation and environmental protection standards for such projects, resolve excessive production capacity, and reduce coal consumption. The newly-established or expanded energy-intensive and high-emission projects shall adopt advanced technology and equipment and shall meet the mandatory energy consumption standards. We can accelerate the green and low-carbon industrial development; develop and strengthen a number of energy conservation, environmental protection, clean production, and clean energy industries in their advantages

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and competitiveness; actively encourage and support the establishment of leading regional energy conservation, environmental protection, and new energy industrial clusters in China; and support the development of strategic emerging industries. Second, we can adjust the energy consumption structure for the efficient, clean use of fossil energy. Adjusting the energy consumption structure is a key to achieving the dual carbon goals. We should increase the proportion of renewable energy in energy consumption; encourage enterprises and industrial parks in areas rich in new energy to utilize clean energies such as solar, wind, and hydrogen energy; and build energy storage facilities such as electrochemical energy storage, compressed air energy storage, pumped energy storage, electric hydrogen production, and methanol production facilities based on the local conditions. We should support distributed photovoltaic power generation in industrial plants and promote the application of smart green microgrids in enterprises and industrial parks. We should also support comprehensive energy management in industrial parks and improve their consumption of new energy. We should promote the electrification of terminal energy consumption, replace coal and petroleum with electricity, advocate the use of equipment such as electric kilns and boilers, and expand the application of electric hydrogen production technology. Additionally, we can promote the efficient and clean use of coal, oil, natural gas, and other fossil energy sources, increase the share of thermal coal in coal consumption, and drive the development and application of key technologies in the clean and efficient development and utilization of coal, oil, and natural gas. Third, we can strengthen the industrial application of the new generation of information technology and strengthen the cross-field coupled development of energy and resources. Intelligent manufacturing has great potential in controlling carbon emissions and preventing climate warming. The deep integration of new generation information technology and advanced manufacturing technology is the key to intelligent manufacturing. The development of cross-field energy coupling is conducive to breaking down the barriers faced by energy use in traditional industries such as the energy, chemical, and power industries and realizing the comprehensive cascade conversion and utilization of various energy sources. In order to strengthen the integration of the new-generation information technology and the manufacturing industry, we will strive to promote the industrial application of intelligent technologies such as digital twins and the Internet of Things, promote intelligent production, and comprehensively improve the intelligent development of R&D, production, management, and service of enterprises to improve the quality and efficiency and drive energy conservation and consumption reduction. We will use digital technology to monitor the energy efficiency of motor-driven terminal equipment systems such as pumps, fans, and compressors; implement the transformation of key energyconsuming equipment and systems; and promote the optimization, matching, use, and management of high-efficiency energy-using equipment and production systems. We will also promote the construction of energy management centers, implement dynamic monitoring, control and optimize management, improve the energy analysis capability of enterprises, improve prediction and balanced scheduling, and promote the digital and refined management of enterprises over energy resources. In order to promote the cross-industry and cross-field coupled development of energy and

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resources, we will promote cross-industry collaborative waste disposal and multienergy complementarity to realize the joint development of steel, building materials, petrochemical, and other industries to save energy resources. For example, the byproduct gas of the iron and steel industries can be used as a raw material to produce chemical products with high value added, and the low-quality waste heat resources can be recycled for heating and gas supply. Fourth, we can promote the application of advanced and applicable energy-saving technology and equipment and continue to advance equipment remanufacturing. The application of high-efficiency and energy-saving technology and equipment is the key to saving energy in the industrial field. For general equipment such as industrial boilers, motor systems, and transformers that have a large volume and wide coverage, we should further improve energy efficiency, promote high efficiency and energy saving general equipment, and develop a withdrawal mechanism for low efficiency general equipment. We should strengthen the R&D and application of system optimization technology; shift from the promotion and application of single energy-saving technology to the integrated optimization and application of advanced energy-saving technologies; encourage the integrated optimization and application of advanced energy-saving technologies, information control technologies, and traditional production processes; and strengthen the energy saving efficiency of industry systems. We must continue to reproduce construction machinery, motors, internal combustion engines, office equipment, and automotive products, as well as their respective components and intensify the R&D of remanufacturing technology, strive to reduce the cost of remanufacturing, widely promote the remanufacturing of products, and break up aspects that restrict the development of the remanufacturing industry. Fifth, we can build a standard system for green and low-carbon industrial development and formulate green and low-carbon standards by industry type. We can conduct research on the standard system for green and low-carbon industrial development, analyze the construction needs of the system, set up the overall framework of the system, and put forward the key areas and task list for the formulation and revision of the standard. For the key energy-consuming industries such as steel, cement, electrolytic aluminum, and chemicals, we can study and formulate carbon emission quota standards to achieve dual control of energy consumption and carbon emissions. For the automobile, electronic, and other terminal equipment manufacturing industries, a set of carbon footprint verification standards will be formulated to reduce the carbon emissions of products throughout their life cycles. Sixth, we can strengthen green and low-carbon technological innovation and application and promote the commercialization of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS). Low-carbon technological innovation is the key to industrial development in response to climate change. Special funds and financial support should be strengthened to accelerate the R&D, demonstration, and promotion of low-carbon technologies. CCUS is a technology with the potential to reduce carbon emissions on a large scale, and it is also an important technological means to cope with global climate change and control greenhouse gas emissions. We must strengthen the toplevel design and strategic research, determine the strategic positioning of CCUS,

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clarify the roadmap of CCUS technology, create a favorable policy environment conducive to CCUS development, and jointly promote the development of CCUS from the aspects of finance, fiscal, science, and technology. We can promote the R&D of CCUS technology, improve the technical level of CCUS, study technologies related to CO2 resource utilization, establish a normative system and standard system for the whole-process CCUS demonstration projects, promote the construction of experimental demonstration projects, and strive to reduce the cost of CCUS projects. Seventh, we will continue to promote the diagnosis of industrial energy conservation to build a high-level industrial energy conservation diagnosis team. To make an energy-saving diagnosis of an enterprise is to know the basic situation of the enterprise, its main products, annual energy consumption, main energy-consuming equipment, energy saving plan, energy saving measures that have been taken and that are to be taken, equipment and technology to be diagnosed, technology to be tested, and analysis of the energy conserving potential of the enterprise. Whether the diagnosis is correct plays a key role in the efficiency of energy conservation. While there is substantial work to be done, the diagnosis can help enterprises identify existing problems in energy consumption, tap their energy-saving potential, and provide feasible suggestions for enterprises to become more energy-saving. We will encourage local organizations to conduct energy-saving diagnoses, expand the coverage of industries and fields, and pay attention to the implementation of energy-saving proposals in the future. We will improve the access conditions of industrial energy-saving diagnostic service institutions, identify the service capacity of those institutions, determine which industries and fields the institutions can serve, and arrange energy-saving diagnostic tasks in relevant industries and fields for the institutions in a targeted way to ensure that the energy-saving suggestions can be implemented. On-site energy saving diagnostic personnel should have relevant working experience in energy and other related fields, and service institutions should be encouraged to train energy-saving diagnostic professionals. The 19th National Congress of the CPC stated that China’s economy has shifted from high-speed growth to high-quality development and put forward the new concept of “innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development.” The dual carbon goals are necessary for China to break the resource and environmental constraints and realize the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. They are also a solemn commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind. China’s high-quality economic and social development and the realization of the dual carbon goals are highly consistent in both their concept and targets. In order to win this tough battle, the government, enterprises, civil society, and ordinary citizens must work together with unprecedented effort. Through the synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction, we will promote the construction of an ecological civilization that places improving the quality of the ecological environment at the center. We will promote green, circular, and low-carbon development; actively respond to climate change; fight the battle against environmental pollution; and steadily promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to support the

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high-quality development of energy, industry, transportation, and construction and ultimately promote the realization of carbon neutrality.

Hou Li’an environmental engineering expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, winner of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Award. Yao Hong head of the Outstanding Young Scientists in Colleges and Universities in Beijing project, local strategic scientific and technological talent in Beijing, first-prize winner of the Science and Technology Award of the China Society for Environmental Sciences.

China’s Energy Technology Innovation and Industrial Development Under the “Dual Carbon” Goals Wei Chang

Abstract In the joint action with the international community to fight against climate change, China set the goal of achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. This is not only China’s response to the international community to tackle climate change, but also a great driver for the high-quality development of China’s economy. However, to achieve the dual carbon goal, China faces dual challenges in time and difficulty. To address these challenges, the priority is to vigorously develop low- and zero-carbon energy sources, especially renewable energy sources, including photovoltaic, wind and hydropower, as well as new types of renewable energy sources, such as geothermal and solar thermal energy. The key to the development of such energy is technological innovation, through which we can transform and upgrade traditional industries, accelerate the development of emerging industries, and truly achieve the dual carbon goals. In this chapter, we will discuss the current status, challenges and development trends of the industries and technologies related to renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen energy and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Keyword Dual carbon goals · Climate change · Renewable energy · Energy storage · Hydrogen energy · CCUS

The past century has seen a significant increase in the proportion of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere due to industrialization and economic activities. Taking carbon dioxide as an example, its concentration has risen from 250PPM before the industrial revolution to more than 400PPM at the present time. The increase of greenhouse gases has led to the rise of the earth’s average temperature which is now at least 1.1°C higher than before the industrial revolution, and the temperature rise has brought about extreme climate disasters, such as the extreme rainstorms in Europe and China in 2021, the extreme high heat in Middle East countries and the California

W. Chang (B) Midea Group, Guangdong, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_16

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wildfires, causing huge losses to human life and property, and greatly injuring the economy. If this trend continues, it will bring a devastating disaster to mankind. The international community is working together to respond to climate change. The UN Climate Change Conference held in UK in 2021 clearly requested phasing out the use of fossil energy, especially coal, and called for joint efforts by all nations around the world to limit the increase of the earth’s average temperature by the end of the twentieth century to 1.5 °C. China also announced its target to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 in September 2020. This is not only China’s efforts to deal with climate change as a member of the international community, but also a vital driver for the high-quality development of its economy in the future. However, to achieve the dual carbon goals, there’s not much time left, but a lot of work to do. In terms of the time span, the European Union has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, more than 70 years after peaking its carbon footprint in the 1980s, and it will take more than 40 years for the United States to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 after realizing carbon peak in 2000. By contrast, China’s goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 are to be completed within a shorter span of time. In terms of the total amount of emissions, just taking the power generation industry as an example, the United States and the European Union are expected to emit about 400 million tons and less than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, respectively, while China is expected to emit ten times more carbon dioxide than either of them (nearly 5 billion tons), as its carbon emissions will continue to rise in the coming years before peaking in 2030. From this, we can see how enormous the challenge is. According to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global carbon dioxide emissions rose by 6% to 36.3 billion tons in 2021. As we can see in Fig. 1, carbon dioxide emissions mainly come from the use of fossil energy, especially coal which generates more than 40% of the total carbon dioxide emissions. Figure 2 shows carbon dioxide emissions of the world’s major economies in 2021, with China topping the list, emitting twice and three times more carbon dioxide than the US and the EU, respectively. This illustrates from another perspective that China, as a country with coal as the main energy source, is faced with greater challenge in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality. In response to the challenges, the first priority is to vigorously develop low-and zero-carbon energy sources, particularly the renewable energy sources, including established photovoltaics, wind power and hydropower, as well as new renewable energy sources such as geothermal and photo-thermal energy. With the scale development of photovoltaic and wind power industries, energy storage technology will be a key to solving the intermittency of renewable energy. As a medium for energy storage, hydrogen will play an important role in energy stability and carbon emission reduction in the energy mix in the future. While developing renewable energy, energy storage and hydrogen energy, we must also make efforts to promote the low-carbon transformation of fossil energy, give full play to its “supporting” role in the energy system, and carry out carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)

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Fig. 1 Share of carbon dioxide emissions by fossil fuels in 2021 (Source International Energy Agency)

Fig. 2 Carbon dioxide emissions of the world’s major economies in 2021 (Source International Energy Agency)

China

US

EU

India

Japan

on an economically feasible and large-scale basis. The key driver for such industrial progress is technological innovation, especially the original innovation in core fields. Only through technological breakthroughs, can the traditional industries be transformed and upgraded, can the emerging industries be pushed forward, and can the dual carbon goals be truly achieved. In this paper, we will discuss the current status, challenges and development trend of the industries and technologies related to renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen energy and CCUS.

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1 Renewable Energy Technology 1.1 Current Status At the present time, renewable energy technologies mainly refer to hydropower, wind power and photovoltaic (PV) technologies that generate no carbon dioxide in the process of power generation. Among them, hydropower technology is the earliest and also the most mature. However, since it relies heavily on geographical conditions, the newly installed capacity of hydropower is relatively limited. Wind power and PV power have developed rapidly in recent years and become the mainstream renewable energy. According to the latest data of the National Energy Administration, China’s wind power and PV power capacity had both surpassed 300 million kilowatts by the end of 2021, accounting for more than 25% of the national total. Specifically, the newly installed capacity of the both in 2021 exceeded 100 million kilowatts with wind and PV sharing 47.57 million kilowatts and 54.88 million kilowatts, respectively. As a result, China ranked first in the world in terms of both the total installed capacity and the newly installed capacity of wind and PV power. It should be noted that, in the aspect of wind power, the year of 2021 saw the sudden rise of offshore wind power, with newly installed capacity reaching nearly 17 million kilowatts, an increase of more than 450%. Figure 3 shows the changes in China’s total installed wind power capacity, annual newly installed wind power capacity and offshore wind power capacity from 2017 to 2021. In terms of PV power, distributed photovoltaics developed rapidly in 2021, with the newly installed capacity increasing by 87% to more than 29 million kilowatts, accounting for about 55% of total newly installed PV capacity. Figure 4 shows the changes in the installed PV capacity, the annual increase of PV capacity and the newly installed capacity of distributed PV from 2017 to 2021. Despite the rapid growth of renewable energy and the significant drop of the cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) for PV and wind power in recent years, renewable energy just takes up a small part in the total installed capacity. It is imperative for us to further promote the scale development of renewable energy. However, that is a big challenge. One of the major reasons lies in the uncertainty and intermittency of the energy. For example, photovoltaic installations can generate power in the daytime but not at night because of its reliance on sunshine, and weather condition also matters with more power generated on sunny days, but less on cloudy or rainy days. The same is true for wind power which is stochastic in nature and greatly affected by the wind strength. Another reason is that the flexibility of the grid system and its compatibility with renewable energy sources are to be improved. To meet these challenges, we need, on one hand, to strengthen technological innovation, such as the development of low-cost, long-duration, large-scale energy storage system for the integrated application of wind and PV energy storage, through which we can reserve the excess energy in power generation and supply when needed, thereby realizing the continuous and stable energy output. On the other hand, we need to provide stronger policy support to facilitate the reform of electricity market, and encourage the development of emerging industries like energy storage.

China’s Energy Technology Innovation and Industrial Development … Total Installed Capacity (10,000 Kilowatts) Offshore Wind Capacity (10,000 Kilowatts)

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Newly Installed Capacity (10,000 Kilowatts)

Year

Fig. 3 Installed capacity of wind power in China from 2017 to 2021 (Source National Energy Administration) Total Installed Capacity (10,000 Kilowatts) Newly Installed Capacity (10,000 Kilowatts) Newly Installed Capacity of Distributed PV Power (10,000 Kilowatts)

Year

Fig. 4 Installed capacity of PV power in China from 2017 to 2021 (Source National Energy Administration)

1.2 Development Trend of Renewable Energy Technology and Industry 1. Offshore wind power Offshore wind power will remain a bright spot for growth. Although China is still dominated by onshore wind power in terms of installed capacity, the growth of new installed capacity for such power is slowing down due to the limited land resources

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available for wind power installation. Offshore wind power can break that limit. And since the wind speed at sea is fast and stable, it can reduce the intermittency of wind power and improve the utilization efficiency of wind turbines. Moreover, large-capacity wind turbines can be adopted for offshore wind power as it is less limited by the transportation of large components on land, which can effectively increase the power generated by a single turbine. Along with the rapid development of offshore wind power, the development of pelagic wind power has also drawn more and more attention in recent years. The pelagic wind is much stronger and less-polluted than the offshore wind closer to shore, and occupies a broader usable area. But the development of such wind is challenged by such problems as difficult installation of turbines, large transmission loss and high maintenance cost. Floating offshore wind power is regarded as an important approach for the development of wind power at the open sea. It is to install the turbine on an anchored or moored platform, saving the trouble of installing seabed in the deep sea. Though floating offshore wind power is still in the trial and demonstration stage, many countries are actively deploying the application of such technology in the deep-sea area. China is rich in offshore wind energy resources, but the development of such energy is still at an early stage. Thus, it is necessary for us to strengthen the development of floating wind turbines and supporting technologies, and to promote the expansion and upgrading of the local industrial chain. 2. Distributed PV The year 2021 witnessed the rapid and dramatic development of the distributed PV, with its newly installed capacity exceeding that of the centralized PV for the first time, marking that the distributed PV became the mainstream PV power. Although the centralized PV technology has grown relatively mature with large-scale application and competitive cost, its application scenarios and further development are confined due to the large demand for land resources and the great impact on the environment, especially in economically advanced urban agglomerations where land resources are so precious. In contrast, the distributed PV technology holds greater promise for the development, as it is only applied on a small scale and can be adapted to different scenarios. Taking the building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) as an example, BIPV is to replace the curtain walls with photovoltaic panels. According to a preliminary estimate, if 5% of the existing buildings are installed with BIPV, the total installed capacity can reach 400GW. In addition, there will be about 150 million square meters of new building area that can be installed with BIPV all across the nation every year, equaling to more than 20GW of installed capacity per year. Judging from this, the distributed PV like BIPV has great prospects for application. In the long run, mobile PV for transportation (mobile integrated photovoltaics) will also be valued and applied. In terms of technological innovation, while continuing to improve the efficiency of PV, we also need to accelerate the development of lightweight and flexible PV, so as to meet the application needs of PV for buildings and transportation. 3. Emerging renewable energy

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In addition to the extensively used PV and wind power, there are some other renewable energy sources still in development, but with great potential. One is geothermal power. It is to take advantage of the underground heat sources, especially the hot dry rock. China has recoverable resources of hot dry rock equivalent to ten trillion tons of standard coal, with the temperature reaching more than 600°C. This is the only stable and sustainable renewable energy in China at present. However, since the domestic R&D of hot dry rock is still at the early stage, it is necessary for us to speed up the technological development and systematic demonstration of such resource as soon as possible. Another one, which is not strictly new, is photothermal power. Different from PV power, photothermal power is to collect and store the heat from solar energy, and then convert it into electric energy through steam or carbon dioxide. It can also generate electric energy in the form of thermal photovoltaics through high temperature thermal radiation. Compared with PV power, photothermal power is an organic combination of energy storage and power generation, which can reduce the cost of the system. Currently the mainstream technology of photothermal power is based on molten salt. Due to the relatively low temperature for thermal energy storage, photothermal power is still challenged by low power generation efficiency and high system cost. Thus, it is imperative for us to push forward the development of photothermal power based on high temperature thermal energy storage. One more is biomass power. Biomass is also an important renewable energy source which generally comes from agricultural and forestry waste, livestock and poultry waste, and household waste, with a productivity scale up to billions of tons every year. At present, only a small amount of biomass energy has been utilized, and there’s much potential to tap. Biomass energy is mainly used in biomass power generation and biomass gas production, and the coupling of biomass energy and carbon capture technology will achieve low carbon emissions. At the moment, we need to strengthen technological innovation in this field, promote the industrial application of core equipment and process technology, and accelerate the construction of biomass distributed energy system.

2 Energy Storage Technology In order to pursue the dual carbon goals, China has pledged that it will bring its total installed wind power and solar energy capacity to more than 1.2 billion kilowatts by 2030. The rapid development of renewable energy will inevitably drive more urgent demand for energy storage, and pose higher requirements for energy storage technologies and industries. These are mainly reflected in the following two aspects. First, energy storage can reduce the impact of renewable energy on the stable operation of the power grid due to its discontinuity, and promote the consumption of renewable energy. On one hand, new energy systems such as wind power and PV power have obvious volatility and intermittency in the process of power generation. The coupling of energy storage system and renewable energy utilization can realize the stable output of renewable energy, and improve the security of power grid. On the

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other hand, there is a spatial mismatch between the distribution of renewable energy resources and the demand for power. For example, renewable energy resources are relatively abundant in Northwest, Northeast and Southwest China, but the power load centers are concentrated in economically developed regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, as a result, a considerable part of wind and solar resources cannot be consumed in real time. The utilization of energy storage system can greatly reduce the waste of wind and solar energy, and improve the system efficiency of renewable energy. Therefore, increasing the proportion of energy storage in China’s electricity mix can maximize the use of renewable energy. Second, energy storage can facilitate the coupling of renewable energy and fossil energy power generation systems. The further promotion of the dual carbon goals will inevitably give rise to a large-scale grid-connection of renewable energy, which will lead to the change of the role of fossil energy in the electricity mix (China mainly use coal for power generation). The coal, a key player in power supply in the past, will turn to be a support for frequency and peak load regulation, which will throw down a challenge to the flexible transformation of coal power. The main reason for this is that coal-fired power generation has poor performance in peak load and frequency regulation. On one hand, the response speed of coal-fired power generation is slow, unable to meet the temporal requirement of frequency regulation. On the other hand, it is difficult for coal power to operate effectively under a low load, thus it is impossible to realize deep peak regulation. Moreover, the frequent switching of the power of thermal power units will greatly affect the efficient operation and the system life of the units. The coupling of coal-fired power generation and an appropriate energy storage system can not only greatly improve the performance of peak load and frequency regulation, but also maintain the stable operation of the units, increase the safety of the units, and more effectively utilize China’s huge coal-fired power generation assets. In order to drive the rapid development of energy storage industries, the national and local governments have rolled out a series of policies for the demonstration and application of energy storage technologies. For example, the Guidance on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage issued by the National Energy Administration in 2021 has specified the development goals for China’s energy storage industries, and provided policy support for technological innovation, market mechanism and business model cultivation to encourage the healthy and orderly development of energy storage industries. In addition, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the LongRange Objectives Through the Year 2035 has proposed to strengthen the consumption and storage of clean energy, and to accelerate the large-scale application of energy storage technologies. Up to now, more than 20 provinces have issued policy documents to encourage or mandate the development of energy storage technologies for new energy resources. Therefore, it is of great strategic significance to study and develop energy storage technologies and corresponding business models that are adapted to the Chinese context.

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2.1 Current Status of Energy Storage Technology Energy storage technologies can be divided into electrochemical energy storage, physical energy storage and chemical energy storage. Table 1 shows the performance of relevant energy storage technologies. Electrochemical energy storage refers to the conversion of energy through electrochemical reactions. The most typical examples are lead-acid (carbon) battery, lithium-ion battery and flow battery. The well-developed lead-acid battery/carbon battery technology is the world’s most widely used electrochemical energy storage technology, but it has low energy density and short service life, and also imposes pressure for environmental protection. The lithium-ion battery has developed rapidly in recent years, especially as power battery in electric vehicles that has been applied in large amounts. China takes the lead in the field of lithium-ion battery technology. According to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the production of lithium-ion battery in China in 2021 exceeded 320GWh, accounting for more than half of the global market share (560GWh), with a year-on-year growth of 106%. Among them, power battery and energy storage battery increased by 165% and 146%, respectively. It has kept a strong growth momentum in 2022. But the cost, cycle life and safety of lithium-ion battery are to be further improved. Another electrochemical battery is flow battery, especially all vanadium flow battery, which has drawn more and more attention. The main feature of this battery is its intrinsic safety, suitable for long-duration, large-scale energy storage, but it is still in the demonstration stage. Physical energy storage mainly includes pumped energy storage, compressed air energy storage, flywheel energy storage, thermal energy storage and so on. Among them, pumped energy storage is a type of gravity energy storage with the most mature technology, low cost and long service life, and it has been utilized on a large scale. In terms of installed capacity, pumped energy storage is the most widely used energy storage technology in China, but its further development is limited by geographical locations. The new gravity energy storage technology based on the same principle can changes the energy storage medium from water to solid material, which makes the application of gravity energy storage more flexible and has attracted plenty of attention. Thermal energy storage is another kind of physical energy storage. It is to store electric energy or thermal energy in the form of heat, and then use the stored heat directly or convert it into electric energy through heat exchange. Thermal energy storage technology based on high temperature molten salt is widely used at present, but the high corrosion and low heat storage temperature of molten salt remain huge challenges to us. Chemical energy storage is to store energy in the form of chemicals, and the most important storage of this kind is hydrogen energy. Hydrogen energy can be used as secondary energy to power fuel cell vehicles or directly generate power. The most important feature is that it can store energy for a long time and can be applied on a large scale, but it is a must for us to produce and supply green hydrogen at a low cost.

Energy storage time Minutes-Hours

A few hours

Minutes-Hours

Minutes-Hours

A few hours

Energy storage technology

Lithium ion battery

Flow battery

Sodium ion battery

Lead acid battery

Sodium-sulphur battery

Type of energy storage

Electrochemical Energy Storage

Table 1 Comparison of energy storage technology

100 ms

100 ms

100 ms

100 ms

100 ms

Response time

2500—4500

1000—4500

(continued)

It has high specific energy and specific power, but it is costly, and is not utilized on a large scale

It is cost-effective, and can be applied on a large scale, but it has a low energy density, and can impose pressure for environmental protection

It has a low cost, a low specific power, and a short service life

It is intrinsically safe, and can be deeply discharged 100%. This environmentally-friendly technology is suitable for combined use, but currently is not utilized on a large scale

≥12,000

1000—3000

With a high specific energy and a large capacity, it can be utilized on large scale, but the safety performance needs to be improved

Pros and Cons

1000—5000

Cycle life (Hours)

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Minutes-Hours

New gravity energy storage

Minutes

Seconds

Minutes

Seconds-Minutes

A few hours

Compressed air energy storage

Minutes

Supercapacitor

Minutes-Hours

Thermal storage

Minutes

Milliseconds

A few hours

Pumped storage

Physical Energy Storage

Response time

Flywheel energy storage Seconds-Minutes

Energy storage time

Energy storage technology

Type of energy storage

Table 1 (continued) Pros and Cons

It can store energy for a long time, and can be applied flexibly, but it has not been applied on a large scale due to the high temperature for thermal storage

It responds fast, and has high specific power, but with low energy density

≥50,000

(continued)

Unlimited during the service It is environmentally friendly, life of the device highly safe, and has long service life, but it is still in the R&D demonstration stage

It has high specific power, but low energy density

≥20,000

Unlimited during the service It has long service life, life of the device suitable for large-scale utilization. Though it has low maintenance cost, its energy storage efficiency is low

Depending on the specific thermal storage technology

Unlimited during the service It is suitable for large-scale life of the device utilization with mature technology, but limited by geographical location

Cycle life (Hours)

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Energy storage technology

Chemical Energy Storage Hydrogen energy

Type of energy storage

Table 1 (continued)

Hours-Months

Energy storage time Seconds

Response time Long service life

Cycle life (Hours)

It can store energy for a long time, and can be applied in a diversified way, but the cost of green hydrogen is high

Pros and Cons

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There is no doubt that energy storage is crucial to the development of the lowcarbon energy industry, and it is getting more and more attention. However, whether it is in the power system or in the transportation sector, energy storage takes up only a small part, and it requires more technological breakthroughs, industrial development and policy support.

2.2 Development Trend of Energy Storage Technology and Industry The energy storage industry is still at the early stage of development. As the dual carbon goals have unleashed the market demand for new energy vehicles and electric energy storage technology, the next five to ten years will be a critical period for the development of the energy storage industry, during which we must put more efforts in technological innovation, industrial application and business models. 1. Electrochemical energy storage In the field of electrochemical energy storage, lithium-ion battery is still the mainstream technology. With the rapid development of electric vehicles, the demand for lithium-ion battery will increasingly grow. Future lithium-ion battery will be made with more capacity and higher efficiency but lower cost and more safety. It is an important step to control the cost of lithium resource and related industry chains. Recently, sodium-ion battery has drawn more and more attention, providing a new way to reduce the cost. In addition, while focusing on the application of electric vehicles, we must also develop related energy storage technologies for the electric energy storage market. Compared with electric vehicles, the application of electric energy storage requires lower initial cost, longer cycle life and better security, but allows loose restrictions on the volume, energy and density of the energy. In the coming years, the large-scale application of lithium battery in electric vehicles will drive continued advances in lithium-ion battery technology and continued cost reductions, which will facilitate the application of lithium-ion battery in the field of energy storage. Another electrochemical technology, the flow battery which has a long duration and is intrinsically safe will also have a promising application in the field of energy storage, with accelerated industrial demonstration and large-scale application. 2. High temperature thermal storage As mentioned above, thermal storage is a form of energy storage, which, compared with electrochemical energy storage, features low cost, easy mass production and multi-scenario application. However, the thermal storage technology based on high temperature molten salt that has received greater attention currently is still challenged by the low thermal storage temperature (550°C - 600°C) and high cost, and fails to be applied on a large scale. In the next few years, thermal storage technology will move towards high temperature storage (>1000°C). The US, Europe and Australia are all

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promoting the demonstration and application of different types of high temperature thermal storage technologies. High temperature thermal storage system can directly provide high-quality heat energy for chemical industry, metallurgy, cement and other industries which need high temperature steam (>300°C) or high temperature heat source (>600°C). It can be coupled with thermal power to convert the “off-peak” electricity into heat energy to realize peak regulation of thermal power and to reduce the coal consumption at the same time. It can also be coupled with solar energy to achieve high efficiency photoelectric conversion through high temperature thermal storage system, such as the photothermal technology based on supercritical carbon dioxide power generation and the thermal photovoltaic technology based on high temperature radiation. Therefore, it is imperative for China to devote greater efforts to push forward technological innovation, application and demonstration in the field of high temperature thermal storage. 3. Application-driven energy storage solutions Energy storage technology is diversified, and different technical routes correspond to different applications. Relevant demonstrations should be implemented as soon as possible according to the needs of different industries. For example, in the field of new energy, energy storage systems with proper capacity should be equipped for the grid-connection and consumption of PV and wind power, so as to achieve the stability and high efficiency of the systems. This application requires both high power and long-term storage. A single energy storage technology may not be able to meet the large demand for wind and solar energy, so it is more advantageous to adopt a hybrid energy storage technology (such as the combination of high-power lithium-ion battery and long-duration flow battery). However, the coupling between energy storage and thermal power plants requires different technical routes. In order to buffer the impact of new energy installations on the stability of the power grid, coal-fired generating units should be used for deep peak load regulation, and the coupling of coal-fired units with large-scale long-term energy storage systems can greatly improve the flexibility and peak load regulation capacity of thermal power plants. In such context, thermal storage technology has more advantages. Hot water can be available through electric boilers or relatively low temperature solid heat storage, and in the future, high temperature thermal storage system will provide high temperature steam (350°C – 650°C) that can not only satisfy the demand in industrial application, but also realize high-efficiency power generation.

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3 Hydrogen Energy Technology 3.1 Opportunities for Hydrogen Energy Industry Under the Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals Just as the term suggests, hydrogen energy is to use hydrogen as a carrier to provide energy. As a form of chemical storage, hydrogen energy is typically used to power fuel cell vehicles, or to directly generate power through fuel cells or even hydrogen turbines. The biggest advantage of hydrogen energy is that it only emits water in the application, but no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. However, hydrogen is a secondary energy, and it must be produced by other primary energy. For example, hydrogen can be produced by electrolyzing water through PV or wind power and other low-carbon energy. In this process, no carbon dioxide will be emitted, and the produced hydrogen is called green hydrogen. Besides, it can also be made by electrolysis through thermal power or gas-fired power generation, or directly by the gasification of coal or the cracking of natural gas. This kind of hydrogen is known as grey hydrogen, as there will be carbon dioxide emitted in the production process. Under the dual carbon goals, the development of hydrogen energy industry based on green hydrogen is an important approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and driving the transformation of the energy industry. The huge opportunities for hydrogen energy industry are reflected in the following aspects. First, hydrogen energy can be coupled with renewable energy to produce green hydrogen that can be used in fuel cell vehicles or hydrogen power generation to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transportation and power production. Specifically in the field of transportation, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) are more competitive in the road transportation system with large load, long driving duration and high intensity, due to the short filling time and long driving range. Compared with battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) also have less influence on the established habits of end users. Equipped with green hydrogen, HFCVs and BEVs will play a key role in propelling carbon reduction in road transport. Second, as an energy carrier, hydrogen can be used as a large-scale long-term energy storage tool to effectively solve the intermittency of renewable energy. When there is a surplus of renewable energy, electricity will be stored in the form of hydrogen, and when there is a shortage of electricity, the hydrogen will be used to generate electricity. In this way, the large-scale development of renewable energy can be advanced. Hydrogen energy can be stored from kilowatts to megawatts and then to gigawatts for hours to months, and can be complementary to other energy storage systems (such as electrochemical energy storage) to maintain stable power output from seconds to seasons. In addition, due to its transportability, hydrogen can be used to regulate and optimize energy distribution in different regions, for example, to meet the energy demand of remote areas through hydrogen transport. Moreover, green hydrogen can also be used as a raw material for chemical industry, metallurgy, steel and other industries, effectively promoting the deep decarbonization of areas “difficult to reduce carbon emissions”. For example, replacing coal

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with green hydrogen in the existing blast furnace ironmaking process is the general direction for the green and low-carbon development of iron and steel industry; the ammonia synthesis process based on green hydrogen can produce green ammonia which can be used as a transport carrier of hydrogen, as well as a fuel or chemical raw material to reduce carbon emissions; green hydrogen can also replace gray hydrogen that is widely used in the coal chemical industry to produce green methanol and other basic chemical raw materials, which will be an important way to achieve carbon neutrality in the chemical industry.

3.2 Challenges Facing Hydrogen Energy Industry The hydrogen energy industry is still at the early stage of development, with incomplete industrial chain layout, insufficient infrastructure (such as hydrogenation stations), lacking key technological breakthroughs and inadequate national policies. Moreover, the cost of hydrogen energy is to be reduced significantly. These are reflected in the following aspects. In the field of hydrogen production, since China’s hydrogen mainly originates from fossil fuels, the hydrogen source structure lags behind that of developed countries, and is even lower than the global average. Hydrogen in China comes mainly from coal, natural gas and industrial by-product, accounting for 98.5% of the national total, according to the China Hydrogen Energy Alliance Institute. In fact, China has a strong capacity to produce hydrogen from coal, but these hydrogen sources do not contribute to carbon dioxide reduction and won’t serve the dual carbon goals. On the other hand, the cost of green hydrogen stays high, and it must be resolved by technological progress and mass production. In the field of hydrogen supply, hydrogen produced in China is mainly transported as compressed hydrogen. The mainstream technology in this field is 20 MPa long tube trailer, while the pressure of the same mode of transport in other countries is 50 MPa. Liquid hydrogen technology is still confined to the space sector, and the scale of pipeline transportation is much smaller than that of the US and Japan. In the field of hydrogen refueling, 218 hydrogen refueling stations had been built in China by the end of 2021, far from meeting the demand for the large-scale application of FCVs. In terms of core technologies, new breakthroughs are required for core equipment of fuel cell hydrogenation stations, green hydrogen manufacturing equipment and liquid hydrogen technology. Although the technology of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis cell used for hydrogen production has made remarkable progress, it still falls behind the advanced countries. Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) technology is still in the experimental verification stage. In terms of vehicle-mounted hydrogen storage tank, China’s Type IV tank is only preliminarily available for mass production. In terms of storage and transportation, there’s still a big gap between China and advanced countries in transportation technology and equipment of liquid hydrogen, solid hydrogen storage and 50 MPa compressed gas. As for technology

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and equipment of hydrogen refueling station, the valve, flow meter and other key components are still dependent on imports.

3.3 Development Trend of Hydrogen Technology and Industry 1. Green hydrogen technology The clean development of hydrogen energy is an irresistible trend, and the coupling of hydrogen and renewable energy is an important way to produce green hydrogen. At the production link, the cost of green hydrogen depends mainly on the electricity price of renewable energy, hydrogen production system and hydrogen production efficiency. Judging from the general trend, the kilowatt-hour cost of PV and wind power will continue to fall down, which will effectively reduce the cost of hydrogen production. In addition, the scale development of the industry will reduce the cost of hydrogen production systems, and technological advances will improve the efficiency of hydrogen production, which together will significantly reduce the cost of green hydrogen. Moreover, the energy-carrying fuel of green hydrogen synthesis should also be emphasized, such as green hydrogen synthesis of ammonia or methanol. The synthesis of green ammonia is a relatively mature technology that can be used as an energy carrier for large-scale production, storage and transportation. Green ammonia can be used in fertilizer, combustion power generation, or used as a fuel after dehydrogenation to drive the decarbonization of chemical industry, electric power, transportation and many other fields. 2. Liquid hydrogen technology At present, the hydrogen transport and filling in China are basically high-pressure gas hydrogen with relatively high cost. In order to further reduce the cost of the hydrogen industry chain, it is imperative to promote liquid hydrogen technology, as the volume and energy density of liquid hydrogen is 3 times that of 35 MPa hydrogen and 1.8 times that of 70 MPa hydrogen, which holds an obvious cost advantage in liquid transportation and liquid storage. In fact, liquid hydrogen has been predominant on the supply side in the US, Europe and Japan. In the refueling stations, the demand for liquid hydrogen storage is also increasing, and the refueling speed, capacity and safety of liquid hydrogen are much higher than high-pressure gas. Though the cost of hydrogen liquefaction is currently higher, it will be greatly reduced by taking advantage of the low-cost electricity and applying efficient liquefaction technology. Taking hydrogen liquefaction, liquid hydrogen transportation, storage and refueling into consideration, the cost of the whole industry chain can be reduced by about 50%. Therefore, it is imperative for China to improve its hydrogen liquefaction technology and liquid hydrogen filling technology. 3. Large-scale industrial clusters to promote core technology breakthrough

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On one hand, with the rapid development of hydrogen energy industry, energy companies, gas companies, core equipment manufacturers and automobile enterprises have been engaged in this sector, and a close integration of the upstream and downstream industrial chains of hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogen use are coming into being. The leading enterprises emerged in this process have strongly promoted the development and progress of the industry. On the other hand, under the incentives of national and local policies, the hydrogen energy industry distributed in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta has gradually given full play to its role in industrial conglomeration and regional development. And these regions are also creating the driving forces for the development of hydrogen energy industry. The forming of leading enterprises and the establishment of regional advantages will promote the scale development of hydrogen industry chain to further reduce the cost, and promote the breakthrough of core technologies to improve the competitiveness of hydrogen energy industry.

4 CCUS Technology While vigorously developing renewable energy, energy storage and hydrogen technology, we should also actively propel the low-carbon application of fossil energy. On one hand, fossil fuels will continue to be the main support of economic development in the short term. On the other hand, renewable energy will be supplemented by low-carbon fossil energy to maintain a stable energy supply in the long run. The biggest challenge here is how to achieve large-scale and low-cost carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by fossil energy.

4.1 Significance of CCUS Technology for China to Achieve Carbon Neutrality First, the large-scale application of CCUS technology is the only route for China to develop its energy mix where coal serves as the ballast depending on the feature of China’s energy resource endowment. Despite the rapid growth of installed renewable power capacity in 2021, China’s installed capacity of coal-fired plants increased by 2.8% and generating capacity grew by 8.6%. With the increase of wind power and PV power supply, the limitations of intermittency and uncertainty have been further prominent. For the sake of energy security and grid stability, fossil energy will be used at a certain proportion while being gradually reduced, and the zerocarbon application of that portion relies on CCUS technology. In addition, rigid carbon emissions existing in industrial processes such as cement, steel and chemicals can also become carbon neutral through CCUS technology. According to the

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International Energy Agency (IEA), CCUS will contribute about 14% of emission reduction globally under the goal of the Paris Agreement to keep global warming well below 2°C. CCUS’s contribution to China’s emission reduction is likely to be even greater because of the huge differences between China’s energy endowment and the world average. Second, the large-scale application of CCUS technology can prevent a large number of high-carbon energy assets from being stranded. Due to historical development, China currently has a large amount of high-carbon energy assets which are at the risk of being stranded in the process of carbon neutrality. Taking thermal power as an example, the average service time of coal power generation units in China is 12 years. Among them, 50% of the installed capacity has been put into operation in the past decade, and 85% in the past two decades. By contrast, most of the stored coal power assets in developed countries have been in service for more than 40 years, so they has been generally decommissioned. If these high-quality coal power assets in China cannot go through low-carbon transformation in a timely manner, they may be forced to withdraw from the process of carbon neutrality, resulting in a huge amount of stranded assets, involving trillions of yuan. These assets are expected to be leveraged by the development and the large-scale application of CCUS technology. Furthermore, CCUS technology can promote the development of green technology globally. The instability of renewable energy power must be compensated by supporting energy storage systems. The larger the share of renewable energy, the larger the scale of new energy storage systems and the investment in fixed assets, and the greater the pressure on the supply of key mineral resources for the energy storage technology such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. In this regard, the low-cost and large-scale deployment of CCUS can reduce the overall cost of low-carbon transformation of the energy system, promote the development of green energy technology, and enhance China’s competitiveness in the field of new energy technology and raise China’s voice in global climate cooperation.

4.2 Current Status and Challenges of China’s CCUS Technology Over the past decade, China has made great progress in the research and demonstration of CCUS technology. In 2011, China National Energy Group built up the first CCUS demonstration project of 100,000 tons/year relying on the coal-to-petroleum chemical plant in Ordos. The project, with a cumulative input of carbon dioxide exceeding 300,000 tons, initially verifies the safety of carbon dioxide storage in saline aquifer. In the late 2021, the National Energy Group, relying on Jinjie Power Plant, launched the flue gas CCUS demonstration project of 150,000 tons/year, and completed 168 h of operation test. The project has become the largest flue gas CCUS device in China. Meanwhile, the National Energy Group is building a flue gas CCUS demonstration project of 500,000 tons/year in Taizhou Power Plant, which is expected

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to be put into operation in 2023. In addition, Sinopec, Huaneng Group and other enterprises have also carried out a number of CCUS related researches and demonstrations. But generally speaking, there is still a gap between China and the advanced countries in the application of CCUS technology. According to the statistics of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, as of September 2021, China had five commercial CCUS facilities in service, or under construction and planning, with a total capture capacity of about 2.5 million tons per year. During the same period, there were 135 commercial CCUS facilities in operation, under construction and planning worldwide, with a total capture capacity of nearly 150 million tons per year, of which the capacity of the operational facilities was 36.6 million tons per year. Judging from the scale, China accounts for less than 2% of the total, and there is a big gap in the application and demonstration, especially it has no one-million-ton whole process integration demonstration. In contrast, the US has five commercial one-million-ton full-process integrated facilities under construction and in operation, and Canada has three. A number of countries are planning to build CCUS industrial clusters, but China has not yet launched any relevant plans. In terms of policies, since 2011, China has introduced a series of policies to focus on and support the emission reduction and pilot application of CCUS, but the incentives and effect of the policies are to be strengthened. In contrast, the US revised its 45Q policy in 2018, providing subsidies of US $50 and US $35 for each ton of carbon dioxide stored in the saline aquifer and reduced by the enhanced oil recovery (EOR), respectively, which has greatly mobilized companies to carry out CCUS projects. The number of planned CCUS projects in the US is close to 50.

4.3 Development Trend of CCUS Technology and Industry In order to play the due role of CCUS in China’s carbon neutrality, it is imperative to make efforts in the three aspects: technological innovation, policy driving and industrial cultivation. 1. Technological innovation In this respect, R&D and demonstration of CCUS technology should be vigorously promoted. First, we must accelerate the demonstration of the one-million-ton CCUS project. The next five to ten years will be the golden period for the development of CCUS technology in China, during which we should give full play to the leading role of large energy enterprises, orderly promote the demonstration of several mature technological routes, such as oil displacement, storage of depleted oil and gas field, saline aquifer storage, and comprehensively master the complete technologies of core equipment manufacturing, system integration and operation control for large-scale CCUS. Second, we must focus on the upgrading of CCUS core technologies. We need to work together with superior technical teams to make collaborative innovations on key technologies such as low-energy solvent capture,

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adsorption capture, membrane capture, bulk chemical utilization, storage site selection, and safety monitoring, so as to continuously reduce energy consumption and investment costs of CCUS technology, and improve its reliability and safety. Third, we must actively push forward the basic frontier research of CCUS. By encouraging outstanding young researchers to participate in the research of CCUS and to conduct basic research on direct air capture, artificial photosynthesis, carbon storage and mineralization, and system intelligence, we should promote relevant original innovations and tap the potential of the long-term CCUS application. 2. Policy driving In this connection, we must accelerate the introduction of CCUS incentives and supporting policies. First, we must study and introduce subsidy policies for CCUS projects. We can take measures like direct tax credits, incentives based on power generation time, and incentives for carbon emission quotas, roll out reasonable subsidy policies, and make use of market mechanisms to encourage high-carbon energy enterprises to actively implement CCUS projects. Second, we must establish a mechanism for sharing emission reduction benefits. We need to take advantage of administrative and legislative means to clarify the benefit sharing mechanism for joint implementation of carbon storage and carbon emission reduction projects by thermal power enterprises and by oil and gas enterprises occupying high-quality carbon storage resources, and promote the matching of sources and applications. Third, we must study and improve supporting policies. We need to improve the environmental impact assessment, approval and other systems for CCUS projects, formulate a long-term risk sharing mechanism, and include CCUS projects in the scope of green finance support, so as to remove the non-technical barriers to the CCUS projects. 3. Industry cultivation In this aspect, we must put our focus on the cultivation of emerging CCUS business forms. First, we must study and plan the regional intensive CCUS bases. Based on the scientific matching of sources and application, we will plan several regional CCUS bases nationwide to satisfy the stable expectations and to guide the orderly development of CCUS industry. Second, we must study the layout of carbon dioxide transport infrastructure. Carbon dioxide transport pipelines and the network are the key infrastructure to implement large-scale CCUS application, and its planning and construction are of great significance to the formation of CCUS industry in the long run. Third, we must actively support enterprises in the CCUS ecological chain. The market scale of CCUS is expected to be 100 billion to one trillion yuan, and it will see the rise of many emerging enterprises. We need to make full use of capital, market and other means to actively support the development of relevant enterprises, so that the CCUS industry can be the new driver of economic growth while serving the goal of carbon neutrality. At last, it need to be noted that CCUS, as an indispensable technology for lowcarbon use of fossil energy and an important approach to achieving carbon reduction

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and carbon neutrality, requires overall planning and policy support of the state, investment in scientific research and continuous technological innovation. Besides, it also relies on the cultivation of industrial chain and the large-scale application to further reduce the cost. Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality are a grand and systematic project requiring both policy guidance and technological breakthrough. It involves not only the scale development of renewable energy industry including wind power, PV power, hydropower and biomass, but also the healthy development of emerging industries such as energy storage and hydrogen energy, and the clean application of fossil energy including coal, oil and natural gas. What should be specifically pointed out is that: First, it is not a problem that can be solved by a single technological breakthrough. Instead, it requires the coordination of multiple fields and industries, as it is not a pure technical problem, but the construction of an ecosystem which needs the support of policies, regulations and financial means. Second, there is no established solution to carbon neutrality. In fact, different countries have different or even entirely contrary approaches to carbon neutrality, which reflects the complexity of the problem from another perspective. Third, technological innovation is an important way to achieve carbon neutrality. Technological innovation requires strategic layout, forward-looking thinking and long-term investment. Only through continued and all-round technological innovation, will the goal of carbon neutrality come true. Fourth, the carbon neutrality goal is not only to deal with climate change, but also the internal requirement for China’s own development. It will serve as an opportunity to boost technological progress and industrial upgrading, and a solution to realizing energy self-sufficiency and safeguarding energy security, thus driving the sustainable and high-quality development.

Wei Chang CTO of Midea Group, previously serving as president of National Institute of Cleanand-low-carbon Energy (NICE) and executive business program manager at GE Global Research.

Communications

Chapter 17 China’s Communication in the Changing World Chapter 18 Build China’s International Discourse System in the New Era Chapter 19 Metaverse: A New Form of Communication Integrating Reality and Virtuality Chapter 20 New Global Communication Ecosystem Calls for Construction of New International Communication Philosophy Build China’s International Discourse System in the New Era

China’s Communication in the Changing World Zhang Xiaoying

Abstract Both the world and China are undergoing a scale of change unseen in a century. Along with the enhancement of its overall national strength, international status and global influence, there is an urgent need for China to have a strong voice and guide public opinion in the world that is compatible with its status. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, President Xi Jinping has delivered important speeches on strengthening international communication on several occasions. How should China strengthen its capacity and discourse in international communication? What policies and measures should China adopt to make itself heard around the world? With these questions in mind, this article explores the ways to display a true, multidimensional and panoramic view of China and present an admirable, amicable and respectful image of China to the world based on a communication concept with “value communication” as the core. Keywords Information dissemination · International communication · Changes · Discourse

Based on their profound understanding of the historical and global trends, the CPC Central Committee, led by Xi Jinping, came to an important and strategic conclusion that, “The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century.” This important judgment accurately captures the overall picture of the international situation, reveals the essence of world development, and clarifies China’s historical position and future development direction, playing a significant role in guiding us to correctly define the relationship between China and the world and make good use of the important period of promising historical opportunities. China is now in a world undergoing tremendous changes, and serves as a key factor driving world changes. In addition to enhancing its overall national strength, international status, and global influence, there is an urgent need for China to have a strong voice and guide global public opinion consistent with its status. Z. Xiaoying (B) Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_17

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1 Changing World and Information Dissemination The last 100 years since the early twentieth century have witnessed the most important changes in human history as well as in Chinese history. The revolution in the field of information dissemination is not only a significant manifestation of the once-in-acentury global changes, but also an important driving force in this process. The two factors are intertwined and mutually influential, creating today’s global landscape full of complexity and fluidity.

1.1 Global Changes Over the Past Century The world and China are both undergoing a scale of change unseen in a century. In terms of China, the country is experiencing shifts in its power, status, and influence. From the 1911 Revolution to the May Fourth Movement in 1919, from the founding of the CPC to the establishment of the PRC, from the socialist revolution and construction to reform and opening-up and socialist modernization, and particularly to the great practice after the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China was closer than ever to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and showed more confidence and capacity to realize it, which allows it to gain ground on the center stage of the world. In terms of the world, we are seeing shifts in its layout, order, and system. Today, the world is experiencing a new round of significant developments, reforms, and adjustments; competition between the great powers is escalating, and the international system and order are undergoing significant adjustments. The maladies of the international order, dominated by Western countries and represented by the United States, which gradually emerged after the two world wars, are becoming increasingly evident. In this context, China offers the world a new path of development to get rid of its reliance on the Western development mode. With the new international landscape and global governance system taking shape, the development of human civilization is now confronted with numerous new opportunities and challenges, which can be interpreted from the following various perspectives: First, the global economy’s center of gravity is moving eastwards at an accelerated speed. At present, the world economy is shifting from a single center to multiple centers, and this shift has become more prominent especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic unseen in a century. The different countermeasures and policies adopted by different countries have different effects on business and market confidence. In the middle and long term, the once-in-a-century pandemic has accelerated the shift in the world’s economic center of gravity to Asia. The current global layout reflects a historical trend characterized by “the rise of the East and the decline of the West”. Second, the trend towards political multipolarity is irreversible. The economic pattern determines the political pattern. After the collapse of the bipolar world, economic strength plays an increasingly decisive role in forming a new world order.

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All countries are working to achieve long-term, stable, and sustainable economic development, hoping to gain a favorable foothold on the international arena. In this context, relations between the major countries are constantly adjusting, forming multiple centers of power. It is certain that de-westernization and multipolarity have become an inevitable trend in international politics. Third, the globalization process faces numerous challenges. Globalization is a long-term process. It is also an objective prerequisite for the development of social productivity and an inevitable result of scientific and technological progress. Over the past few centuries, economic globalization has significantly advanced human development and civilizational progress. Globalization has become an irresistible trend in the progression of human history. It is worth noting that signs of deglobalization began to emerge after the 2008 international financial crisis, particularly when some major countries lost the motive to advance globalization. Many Western countries have introduced protectionist policies on trade and investment. For example, the United States has rescinded a number of international treaties and conventions, and many countries have tightened their policies regarding refugees and immigration. Deglobalization began to cast shadows across the world, which drew global attention after the outbreak of COVID-19. In general, the deglobalization mentality cannot be reversed in the short term; on the contrary, it is likely to continue to spread. Fourth, the technological revolution is the core driving force behind the changes in the world. Science and technology are the primary forces of production. The technological revolution plays a crucial role in propelling the once-in-a-century changes in the world, and is regarded as the core driving force. The new round of technological and industrial revolution, represented by the internet, has brought revolutionary changes to people’s ways of production and living. Emerging technologies accelerate their pace to be integrated into every aspect of the economy and society, and gradually become the pioneering force to lead economic and social development as well as important foundations for all countries to bring about economic and social transformation, foster new driving forces for economic growth, and construct new advantages in international competition.

1.2 China’s Changes Over the Past Century Since the dawn of modern times, China has experienced a history of over 180 years in fighting imperialism and feudalism and seeking national independence and rejuvenation, a century-old history of struggle since the founding of the CPC in 1921, and a history of development for more than 70 years since the founding of the PRC in 1949, and a history of reform and opening-up for over four decades since the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978. Especially in the past century, under the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have not only created the two miracles of rapid economic growth and enduring social stability, but also blazed a Chinese path to modernization and created a new form of human civilization. As a result, they have become a major driving force behind changes

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in the global layout. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed that the rejuvenation of the Chinese is a major reason behind the once-in-a-century changes of the world, which also bring great opportunities for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. First, China has risen, grown prosperous, and become strong. After the Opium War, China was forced to cede territory and pay indemnities to imperialist powers, thereby forfeiting its sovereignty and dignity, and reducing it to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country. Numerous noble-minded patriots sought to save the nation from peril, successively launching the Westernization Movement, the 1989 Reform Movement, the Yihetuan Movement, and the 1911 Revolution. It was until the birth of the CPC that China had found a correct path to survival. Today, the country has risen, grown prosperous, and become strong. Not only has it accomplished the remarkable transformation from a poverty-stricken country to a moderately prosperous society in every respect, but it has also embarked on a new path to becoming a modern socialist country. Second, China has gone from being “the sick man of East Asia” to being the world’s second largest economy. After more than 70 years of development since the founding of the PRC, especially in the past four decades since the beginning of reform and opening-up, the scale of China’s economy has doubled on average every eight years; hence the country’s status as the world’s second largest economy thus far. Its GDP surpassed the mark of RMB 1 trillion in 1986, and then exceeded RMB 10 trillion in 2000. In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the world’s second largest economy. In 2021, its GDP crossed the threshold of RMB 100 trillion. Since its manufacturing output surpassed that of the United States in 2010, China has been the world’s largest manufacturer for 11 consecutive years. China is also the largest trader around the globe. In 2021, its foreign trade volume exceeded USD 6 trillion for the first time. At present, China is a major trading partner for over 120 countries and regions around the world. With a contribution rate of 30%, it has been the primary engine for global economic growth for years. Especially after the outbreak of COVID-19, China has become an indispensable driver for the recovery and sustainable development of the world economy. Third, China has shifted from a “follower” and “parallel runner” to a “forerunner”. Historically, China had been a world leader in many fields of science and technology. Later, for various reasons, it gradually lagged and fell into a passive, vulnerable position. The new round of technological and industrial revolution created strategic opportunities for countries lagging behind to catch up and even overtake the forerunners. In recent years, China has ranked among the leading countries in terms of R&D investment, number of patent applications, and published papers. It has led the world in fields such as high-speed railways, nuclear power equipment, telecommunications equipment, and quantum communications. Owing to its huge population and industrial scale, China has gradually occupied a dominant position in the development of emerging industries. It is becoming an innovation powerhouse with a series of technological innovation achievements in fields such as energy, eco-environment, and space exploration. As President Xi said in his speech at the General Assembly of

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Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2014, years of painstaking efforts have resulted in China’s great advances in science and technology and its status in the advanced echelons of the world in some important areas. In certain fields, China has become a “forerunner” or “parallel runner” rather than a “follower.” Fourth, China has grown from a country that has closed its doors to the outside world to one that is more confident in its commitment to opening-up. China adopted a closed-door policy in the past, particularly during the more than 200 years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). For 30 years, from the founding of the PRC to the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States, China had suffered from economic blockage by Western countries headed by the United States. From 1949 to 1978, China had almost no foreign trade, and Hong Kong was the only avenue connecting the mainland with the international market. Through introducing foreign investments and going global in more than 40 years of reform and openingup, China has transitioned from gradual reform to comprehensive opening-up and has been comprehensively integrated into economic globalization since its admission to the WTO. Initially, the country had only four special economic zones. To date, it has established 219 national economic and technological development zones, 168 national high-tech development zones, as well as numerous bonded zones, export processing zones, border economic cooperation zones, state-class new areas, and pilot free trade zones. In recent years, China has taken further steps to promote openingup, launching initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Hainan Free Trade Port. China has become a large country actively embracing opening-up.

1.3 Changes in Communication Over the Past Century Profound changes in the field of information dissemination are an integral part of the once-in-a-century global changes. On the one hand, information dissemination changes alongside the international layout, resulting in the most complicated international communications environment since the end of the Cold War. On the other hand, the rapid advance of science and technology lowers communication thresholds and costs, enriches communication contents and forms, and expands communication platforms and channels. The information revolution not only accelerates economic globalization, but also plays an increasingly important role in shaping the new world paradigm. In comparison to traditional means of communication, the current reforms in the field of communication are disruptive. First, the structure of the communicating entities is becoming increasingly complex. Today, “everyone has a microphone”. As of January 2021, among the world population of 7.83 billion people, there are 5.22 billion mobile phone users and 4.66 billion internet users, meaning that netizens make up nearly 60% of the world’s population. The development of information technology has significantly reduced the technological threshold and access cost of communication. Traditional

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restrictions on communicating entities have become meaningless. In particular, the boom of social media platforms and we-media allows anyone to publish what they see, hear, think, or do at any time. The emergence of whole-process media, multiform media, all-involved media, and full-effects media helps reshape the information production and dissemination chains. As “everyone has a microphone”, the world has now entered an omnimedia era. The communicating entities are complicated in structure, large in number, and diverse in personality. They also differ in political awareness and judgment, social status, living environment, capacity and conditions for acquiring information, educational background, media literacy, and others. As a result, they sharply contrast each other in terms of the awareness, motive, functioning, and impact of information dissemination. The complexity of the communicating entities directly results in and escalates the discordance of public opinion. Second, the boundaries of communication are becoming increasingly blurred. Information can now reach anywhere, no matter how far away; globalization is making countries more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. All humans live in the same space and time integrating history and reality, becoming a community of shared future in which individuals are intimately connected. The internet breaks the geographic boundaries and physical divisions of information dissemination. Under these circumstances, the line between international communications and domestic communications is becoming increasingly blurred, and even non-existent. With the increasing maturity of mobile, socialized, visualized information technologies, especially the rapid development of social media, they provide convenient platforms for the global dissemination of information. In addition, with the help of new technologies such as big data and AI, information can precisely reach any place and any person in the world. Due to the limitless and worldwide dissemination of information, internet communication plays an increasingly important role in international relations and the world order, and has gradually emerged as an important new means of international communications. Third, the means of communication are undergoing profound changes. Today, anything can be a medium of communication. Due to the unprecedented expansion of communicating entities, gathering, processing, and publishing information has never been more convenient than it is today. As a result, communication content is seeing explosive growth. Empowered by technologies such as big data, AI, cloud computing, and 5G, the carriers and channels of information dissemination have become unprecedentedly diverse. The boundaries between information producers, disseminators, and recipients are becoming increasingly blurred. The rise of wemedia and user-generated content (UGC) allows information to be spread without the need for the approval of authoritative institutions. Such changes make information dissemination increasingly “decentralized”. By January 2021, the number of social media users around the world hit 4.2 billion. In other words, half of the world’s population uses social media platforms. On average, each user spends two hours and twenty-five minutes on social media every day. The most popular social media platforms now are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the top three of which each see more than 1 billion monthly active users. Information dissemination

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has shifted from unidirectional, linear transmission featuring “You Speak, I Listen” to two-way communication, networked dissemination, and fission-like dissemination.

2 Top Priority of the Country: China’s International Communications in the Changing World Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, on several occasions, President Xi has delivered important speeches on strengthening international communications. He called for sparing no effort to establish a strategic system of international communications with distinctive Chinese characteristics, and constantly reforming China’s discourse and narrative to better tell Chinese stories, make Chinese voices heard, and present a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China, thereby forming a reliable, admirable, and respectful image of China, and creating a favorable external environment for the development of the Party’s and the country’s cause. President Xi’s important speeches described in depth the importance and necessity to strengthen and improve international communications, and have a greater say in the world, consistent with China’s international status in the event that the world undergoes profound changes. A large say in the world is not only a major indicator of a country’s national strength and global influence, but also an important basis for a country’s participation in global governance. Facing profound changes unseen in a century, China needs to better present its development concept, path, and achievements to the world and strengthen communication with other countries. In fact, the world has greater expectations of China in the face of the increasingly complicated international environment and global challenges. Strengthening and improving China’s international communications has been the “top priority of the country” and an urgent task in safeguarding the fundamental interests and stances of the Party and the country.

2.1 Presenting the World a Comprehensive and Accurate View of China Even today, with the ubiquity of the internet, many Westerners still do not have a comprehensive and accurate understanding of China due to insufficient access to information that reflects a true, objective China. This is partly due to the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and, more importantly, the incessant attacks and stigmatization of China by some Western politicians and media organizations. Today, the relationship between China and the world has undergone historic changes, and China’s identity, role, strength, and contribution are being redefined. The world needs to better understand China, and China needs to fully and accurately present itself to the world in aspects as follows:

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First, the values of Chinese civilization. For the world to truly understand China, first of all, we familiarize the world with the cultural traditions and values of the Chinese nation. China is a great civilization with a history of more than 5,000 years, and has made indelible contributions to the advancement of human civilization. Chinese civilization is the only uninterrupted civilization in the world. In particular, the Chinese nation has produced unique cultural icons different from those of other nations, such as the people-centric doctrine that “the people are the foundation of a state”, the reform concept that “reform is heaven’s will”, the recruitment concept of “appointing people according to their merits”, the governance idea that “a country governed by laws is strong”, the ecological concept of “harmony between man and nature”, the international exchange concept of “seeking harmonious coexistence with all countries”, and the lofty ideal of “achieving universal peace”. All of these are essences of the splendid culture that generations of Chinese have created across millennia. The Chinese nation has always advocated peace, harmony without uniformity, the doctrine of mediocrity, modesty, equality, inclusiveness, universal harmony, and other lofty ideals, strived to sought to build friendship with all countries and achieve universal peace, and adhered to principles such as “do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you” and “uphold the beauty of every civilization and the diversity of civilizations around the world”. For over the past 5,000 years, the Chinese nation has pursued for peace, friendship, and harmony. They do not support invasion and hegemony. All aforementioned values and concepts convey the spiritual strength for China’s rise, and provide endless inspiration for the country to build international relations characterized by harmony without uniformity and peaceful coexistence. Only by understanding these values and concepts can one fully and accurately understand China. Second, the tremendous progress of contemporary China. Today, China has seen rapid economic and social development after more than 40 years of reform and opening-up, especially as a result of the great practice after the 18th CPC National Congress. The Chinese people have been freed from absolute poverty, and the country has completed construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. With the constant progress and development of its social civilization, China has embarked on a journey towards becoming a modern socialist country. China has seen its international status has been raised to an unprecedented level, and its achievements along the path to the Chinese modernization recognized by more and more people around the world. At a crucial moment in the reform of the international system, in particular, China rides the trends of the times and actively promotes the building of new international relations and a community with a shared future for humanity. It works to make the global system of governance more just and rational, becoming a key stabilizer in this chaotic world. The Party’s great practice aimed at ensuring that the Chinese people lead a better life and that its proposals and efforts to improve the well-being of human society are illustrative examples to present China to the world, thereby enabling the people of the world to better understand China. They are also powerful weapons to refute the attacks and slanders of Western politicians and media. Third, secrets behind China’s successful development. China is becoming strong rapidly, and this is not just a result, but an ongoing process. As the world marvels at

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China’s speed of growth, it also wonders how the country can change so drastically. The root reason for China’s success lies not only in that it has chosen the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, upheld the people-centric concept for development, and adhered to the policy of taking economic development as the central task and unswervingly pursuing reform and opening-up, but also in the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee led by Xi Jinping and the hard work of all Chinese people with one heart. In 2018, UK-based The Economist conducted a questionnaire survey in 50 countries. When asked about their confidence in their country’s future development, 91.4% of Chinese respondents said they are strongly confident, the highest proportion among respondents of any country surveyed. In July 2020, the Harvard Kennedy School announced the results of a survey it had followed for 13 years, which indicated that Chinese citizens’ satisfaction with the government reached 94.1%. The underlying factors behind China’s development are not only secrets of success, but also a golden key for people from all other countries to better understand China. Fourth, the rise of China and the world. China is a major country in the world, and an important variable in global changes. As people focus their eyes on China’s achievements in development, they are also more concerned about what impact China’s development would have on the world and how a rising China would define its relations with the world. The changes in the international layout and the fluctuations in a country’s national strength are the key factors affecting a nation’s image. Likewise, changes in a country’s image will considerably affect its external environment and foreign strategies. Currently, the United States sees China as a strategic competitor, and is trying by all means to curb China’s rise. In this context, clarifying the impact of China’s development on the world is crucial. China’s path over the past century, especially its development over the four decades of reform and opening-up, has emphatically proved that China cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world, nor can the world enjoy prosperity without China. China is a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order. In fact, China’s development can not only benefit itself, but also exert a positive influence on all countries in the world, and make great contributions to global development. The country has long been an important engine of global economic growth and a development paradigm for other developing countries, and contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions in major issues such as global poverty reduction, climate governance, and pandemic control. In addition, the CPC has been committed to making new and greater contributions to mankind, and has given deep thought to issues of great importance to mankind’s future, such as “What kind of a world should we build and how to build such a world”. Following the principles of “extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits”, China actively participates in global governance and proposes building a global community of shared future, demonstrating its mission and responsibility as a “responsible major country in the international community”. As President Xi pointed out, China seeks peace, not hegemony; it is an opportunity and a partner, not a threat nor a rival. There has been consensus in the international community that China is a key advocate for peace and stability in the international order and plays an indispensable role in addressing global challenges.

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2.2 A Long Way to Go For China’s International Communications against the Backdrop of Once-in-a-Century Global Changes Soft power is an integral part of a country’s overall national strength and a major factor that makes a nation truly strong. After China has grown strong, its voice needs to be heard. China’s rise requires a compatible increase in its capacity in international communications and its discourse power in the world. We must realize that China’s say in global governance has long been at odds with its position in the world economy, and it has remained in a passive and reserved position in the international discourse. The drastic changes in China-U.S. relations, the raging COVID-19 pandemic, and complicated geopolitical situations all pose unprecedented challenges to China’s international communications. First, the West is stronger than China in terms of international discourse. Compared to Western mainstream media, Chinese media’s capacity in international communication and discourse domination remain relatively weak. Although Chinese media’s comprehensive strength and China’s voice in the world have both improved notably in recent years, they still lag far behind Western mainstream media. At present, most people around the world rely on Western rather than Chinese media coverage for access to information about China. Although the majority of people in most countries acknowledge that China’s influence on the international stage is increasing drastically, this is not enough to turn their negative perception of China. For its deficiency in international communications, China has an international image largely shaped by others, rather than itself. Second, Western countries, including the United States, oppress China in terms of international discourse. Due to ideological differences and the Cold War mentality, Western countries have never stopped blackening China’s image through their media. Particularly in recent years, Western countries, represented by the United States, have intensified their strategic containment and blockade of China in an attempt to slow down the country’s development and rise, out of their anxiety, depression, and envy of China’s rapid development. Accordingly, Western media continue to stigmatize China with their stances and viewpoints based on Cold War mentality, so-called “political correctness” based on ideology, agenda-setting techniques, and a communication orientation focused on reporting negative news. For a long time, Western media organizations, including those from the United States, have adopted double standards and a selective and differentiated reporting approach, reporting only negative news about China while ignoring positive news. Some media outlets simply “oppose any thing China does”, and even deliberately slander and stigmatize China through fake and distorted news. Especially since the China-U.S. economic and trade war and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Western media have increased criticism and stigmatization of China. Their biased reports on China, in nature, are parts of Western countries’ strategy to “westernize” and “split up” China, which will continue for years to come.

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Third, it is imperative to improve China’s influence and capacity in international communications. We must realize that improving China’s international communications is crucial not only to change the situation that China is often “criticized” by Western media, but also to make the world realize, understand, and recognize China’s image as a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of international order to create a more favorable external environment for China’s development and create more opportunities for China to play a greater role in global affairs. In the face of new situations and circumstances, Chinese media must stand by the country, foster a global vision, help tell China’s stories well and ensure China’s voice to be heard, and continue to strengthen their voice and initiative in the international discourse, thereby serving the country to implement the overall plans of the Party and the country more effectively and efficiently.

2.3 Empowering International Communications with New Technologies The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially big data, AI, cloud computing, and 5G, not only enhances the efficiency of international communications of different countries, but also puts the communicating entities in an increasingly equal position and enables them to gain a stronger voice. We need to take advantage of new opportunities created by technological innovation during the information revolution to enrich communication contents, diversify communication means, and expand communication platforms and channels, thereby empowering China’s capacity in international communications with new technologies. First, accelerating the iteration of media forms. The internet reshapes the relationship between information disseminators and recipients. As a result, disseminators and recipients integrate into one. Today, the internet is a combination of ancient interpersonal communication and mass communication, represented by traditional media, and includes one-to-one communication, one-to-many communication, many-to-one communication, and many-to-many communication. It has currently become a major platform for countries to publish their respective foreign policies and statements. Online communities have also become important platforms for government, the public, and individuals to send forth their voices. We need to attach great importance to the iteration of international communication media, fully respect and leverage social media, that is, the most prominent feature of the new media era, and deeply integrate media communication and interpersonal communications. Second, improving the audiences’ experience through digital means. The high degree of digitization and informatization of ICTs gives communication practices more vitality, imagination, and freedom, and offers disseminators more space to express themselves. Meanwhile, digital technologies can help audiences have a stronger immersive experience in realizing real society. Especially with the rise of

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concepts such as metaverse, the virtual world and the real world show a trend of high-degree of integration, which can remedy foreign audiences’ regret of not being able to visit China in person for objective reasons. This provides new opportunities to stay close to the audience and present an admirable, amicable, and respectful image of China. Third, advancing the formation of new communication ecosystems through intelligent communication. With AI as the core and leveraging mobile internet, intelligent terminals and others, intelligent communication is disrupting the existing modes of communication. First, it helps improve the capacity to produce China-related contents and substantially increase the supply of information about China to the international community. Second, it notably improves the international audiences’ ability to acquire information about China. The AI-based customized information recommendation service enables intelligent communication to achieve highly efficient matching between information demand and supply. Third, it helps reduce the phenomenon of information mismatching. The rapid development of intelligent communications can constantly remove barriers for information dissemination. Consequently, information transmission between disseminators and recipients is increasingly shifting to a “two-way” communication, which is helpful for Chinese media to shape a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China on their own, thereby changing the situation in which Western media distort and stigmatize China’s international image, and anchoring an admirable, amicable, and respectful image of China in the minds of Western audiences. Fourth, achieving targeted communication with a user-centric approach. The new media have given unprecedented importance to user participation, experience, and interaction. The application of new technologies such as AI, big data, recommendation algorithms, and UGC has transformed “user-centric” communication from concept to reality. Targeted communication methods such as customized communication, private communication, and intra-circle communication have provided new avenues for increasing the international arrival rate and the implementation rate of China-related contents. In recent years, the CPC Central Committee has invested more resources in international communications and formed an “integrated media matrix”. As the official media organization in China’s international communications, China Global Television Network (CGTN) gathers CCTV’s news resources and information from more than 25,000 online media outlets and 70 mainstream media outlets. Seamlessly connecting television and new media, it has evolved into a global media platform that offers “multi-form information collection, one shared platform, and multi-channel and multi-terminal dissemination”. By the end of 2021, CGTN’s overseas following had surpassed 188 million people, while the new media portals of China Daily, People’s Daily, and Xinhua News Agency have also amassed 95 million, 84 million, and 81 million followers, respectively. In the new round of technological revolution and informatization, China has taken further steps to advance integrated media development and enhance its capacity in international communications. As a result, the

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overall strength and capacity in international communications, influence, and credibility of Chinese mainstream media have significantly been improved. New technologies offer opportunities and possibilities for Chinese media to overtake forerunners in international communications.

3 Mission to Tell China’s Stories Well, Have China’s Voice Heard, and Shape a Good Image of China At present, profound global changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, both on a scale unseen in a century, present opportunities and challenges for China’s international communications. China has realized historic achievements and witnessed historic changes in economic and social development. In this context, the world is more eager to learn the reasons behind the success of Marxism, the CPC, and Chinese socialism. China’s economic strength and market potential increase the willingness of various countries to expand cooperation with China. In addition, the inclusiveness and modesty that China shows towards other civilizations and the sense of responsibility that it demonstrates in the face of crises arouse the international community’s interest to listen to Chinese solutions in global affairs. At the same time, as Western countries, including the United States, continue to decline, the world is showing a greater willingness to learn from China’s successful experience. The priority of strengthening China’s capacity in international communications is to tell China’s stories well, have China’s voice heard, present a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China, and create an admirable, amicable, and respectful image of China. We need to cross barriers between different histories, cultures, social systems, and ideologies, and let the world better understand China’s culture, values, and path. Against the backdrop of the once-in-a-century global changes, we need to make the world clearly aware of China’s proposals, wisdom, and solutions in the process of building a community with a shared future for humanity. Given that some still harbor prejudices against China, we need to better explain China’s governance, contributions, and responsibility to the world. At present, to improve China’s capacity in international communications for greater influence of Chinese culture, more affinity of China’s image, and stronger voice in world opinions, we must strengthen design and planning at the highest level, and build strategic communication system with distinctive Chinese characteristics. We should expedite tasks as follows:

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4 Building the Communication Concept with “Value Communication” as the Core Power in international discourse should not be confined to the right and competence to express oneself in the international flow of information. More importantly, a nation needs to persuade the audiences to accept its viewpoints through such expression, and even ensure that its stance exert tangible influence. Therefore, information dissemination is merely the basic function of international communication, and “value communication” should be a higher requirement and the ultimate goal. Building a strategic communication system with distinctive Chinese characteristics must take “value communication” as its core and demonstrate the common values of humanity when telling China’s stories to enable China’s voice to resonate in the international community and the world to better understand and recognize China. First, we need to explain the practical value of China’s stories. The 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization, the CPC’s century-long struggle, China’s remarkable achievements over the past more than 70 years, the drastic changes that the country has experienced in the four decades of reform and opening-up, and the CPC’s great practice since its 18th National Congress are all vivid Chinese stories reflecting the great practice of the Chinese people. These “stories” not only mirror the Chinese people’s perseverance for happiness, but also have practical value for other nations, especially developing countries. Through telling these stories of China, we disseminate the Chinese people’s values and aspirations; through understanding these stories, other countries can unravel the “secrets” behind China’s rapid development. Second, we need to explain the value of China’s stories in theoretical innovation. Great practice depends on guidance from correct theories. The miracles that China has achieved stem from our steadfast upholding of Marxism, ceaseless innovation of Marxist theories, and Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era that interprets how we should uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics today. Essentially, the development predicament that Western countries face today arises from their chaotic and confusing theories and guidelines. This further highlights the glory of recent achievements in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context. As China’s stories spread, more people around the world will devote themselves to the studies of Marxism and the Chinese modernization. Third, we need to explain the value of China’s stories to the world. China has always upheld win–win cooperation and advocated the principles of extensive consultations, joint contributions, and shared benefits. In addition to the development of their own country, the Chinese people stand ready to seek common development with people from all other countries in the world. China has never sought only its own development, because “seeking common prosperity of the world” is the essence of traditional Chinese culture. On January 18, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech entitled “Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Mankind” at the UN Office at Geneva. In the speech, he gave an in-depth, panoramic, and systematic interpretation of the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity and called for building an open, inclusive, clean,

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and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity. The concept of building a community of shared future for mankind answers a number of important questions, such as how to understand China’s foreign policy, how to build a solid international order, and where mankind should go in the future. It also demonstrates China’s determination to live up to its responsibilities as a major country and contribute its wisdom and solutions to global governance in this rapidly changing world. Fourth, we need to explain the common values of humanity hidden in China’s stories. Despite the fact that each country has its own values, there are still some commonalities. A touching story must reflect the commonalities in the values of different countries, that is, the common values of all mankind. The values, cultural spirit, and ethical norms of Chinese civilization are the spiritual power to create good Chinese stories, which is of great importance in addressing the challenges humanity is facing. Amid global changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, both on a scale unseen in a century, the values embedded in Chinese civilization not only make it easier for China to gain rational and emotional recognition from the international community, but can also foster a new, non-Western discourse system with extensive international foundation. To tell China’s stories well, we must take the values of Chinese civilization as the foundation, engage in sincere dialogue with the world, strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and promote mutual emotional recognition among different countries and nations. Only when a Chinese story reflects the common values of humanity can it touch the heartstrings of audiences.

4.1 Advancing the strategy to build diversified communication platforms and channels The improvement of China’s discourse and narrative cannot be completed in near future, as this requires not only the guidance of advanced concepts and theories, but also rapid improvement in the strength of Chinese media. To maintain international discourse, China must foster a number of powerful, influential communication platforms and channels. Therefore, strengthening the construction of international communication platforms and channels of Chinese mainstream media is the foundation for fostering a strategic communication system with distinctive Chinese characteristics. First, we need to foster world-class new mainstream media. In 2018, President Xi sent a congratulatory letter on the 60th anniversary of the CCTV and new China’s television sector. In the letter, he set out clear requirements for China Media Group to build world-class new mainstream media with strong guidance, coverage, and influence. Later, he also put forward requirements for the Xinhua News Agency, China International Communications Group, China Daily, and other media organizations. The goal of “building world-class new media” charts the course and provides guidance for mainstream media organizations engaged in international communications

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in the new era. In recent years, China has accelerated its pace to promote in-depth media integration, further improving its overall plan and capacity in international communications. Online international communications, in particular, has experienced a boom. These state-class media outlets such as People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, and China Radio International have continued to voice China’s stance on internationally popular social media platforms. They use a variety of channels to introduce China’s national conditions and the lives of Chinese people to overseas audiences, enabling more people to understand and become familiar with China. However, we must recognize that there is no shortcut to building new world-class mainstream media with strong guidance, coverage, and influence, which is a complicated, systematic project. To this end, we must seize the opportunities presented by the information revolution and the rapidly expanding new media and, and make full use of new technologies such as 5G, AI, big data, and cloud computing to achieve leapfrog development of communication technology and institutions. Second, we need to adhere to the strategy of diversifying communicating entities. With the age of the mobile internet comes a world with diversified communicating entities. The diversification of the communicating entities means more information can be provided with unique angles, giving the audiences more options. We need to make good use of diversified communicating entities to in multiple scenarios promote international communication and forge a multi-entity and multidimensional communication paradigm. All entities, including government, enterprises, media, international students, and tourists, can serve as active forces to tell the world about China’s stories in this new era. Besides, we need to give full play to official mainstream media’s guiding and leading role while making good use of engaging and touching individual narratives about their own experiences and the narratives of foreign institutions and individuals, which foreign audiences are more likely to believe and recognize, thereby forming a harmonious voice.

4.2 Maintaining the Right Political Direction While Improving Communication Capacity Through Innovation Communication is a science and an art. On the surface, it is about technology, but in nature, it is about culture and affection. To tell China’s stories well, we need not only to produce attractive content, but also to seek breakthroughs in methods of expression and capacity of information production. First, we need to tell China’s stories based on patient and precise efforts. The 5,000year-old Chinese civilization, the century-long struggle against national humiliation in the early modern times, the arduous construction after the founding of the PRC, the glorious achievements since the beginning of reform and opening-up, and the happy life of Chinese people in the new era are all living Chinese stories. However, given the vast and rich content, it is impossible to tell China’s stories well in one fell swoop, which is a long-term task that requires patient and precise efforts. At present,

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the most wonderful Chinese story is about the progress of the Chinese modernization and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, with “development” and “change” as the keywords. To tell today’s Chinese stories well, we need to articulate the historical achievements of the Chinese people and the historical changes that are happening in the country under the leadership of the CPC. We need to tell the vivid, touching stories that reflect China’s actual conditions and ordinary people’s daily lives and true feelings to present the world with a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China. Second, we need to tell China’s stories to target audiences. Research shows that almost half of the world’s more than 5 billion mobile phone users were registered after 2012. The 2.5 billion users registered before 2012 are “influential individuals”, that is, middle-class individuals and elites, the majority of whom live in Western countries, whereas the remaining 2.5 billion are mainly spread across non-Western countries and regions, with the majority made up of grassroots and young netizens who are “easily influenced”. This group of people is characterized by younger age, diversity, and multipolarity. Their participation in global communication exerts a great influence on the reshaping of the international order. International communication requires us to garner support not only from “influential people”, but also from those “easily influenced”, and make rational use of “strategic audiences” to create a combined impact in international discourse. Third, we need to use the most appropriate methods to tell China’s stories. Essentially, international communication is intercultural communication, and communication methods can directly affect communication results. To better implement the “global expression, regional expression, and targeted expression” proposed by President Xi, we need to study cultural backgrounds, information access habits, and mentalities of different audiences, and find out the topics that can arouse curiosity, match interests, and revoke emotional resonance among different audiences in different countries and regions, thereby gradually achieving precise communication. We also need to make good use of mainstream mobile communication channels such as social media, strengthen the exchange and interaction in the course of communication, expand the reach, and ensure effective reach and acceptance of the information disseminated. We also need to take advantage of short videos, the most popular form of communication today, to reach young audiences. In addition, we need to strengthen the integration and innovation of means of communication, give full play to technology’s role in empowering communication, and use new techniques, means of expression, and modes of communication to improve communication effectiveness.

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4.3 Strengthening Construction of the Discourse System and Cultivation of Capable Talents for International Communications The promotion of international communications requires all-out efforts in various fields and concerted cooperation of various parties, the key of which is academic and personnel support. First, forming a system of Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative. To realize a transition and upgrade from “information dissemination” to “value communication”, we must quicken our pace to construct China’s own discourse and narrative, interpret China’s practices through its own theories, improve China’s theories through its own theories, and foster new concepts, domains, and expressions that integrate both China and the outside world. Bold practice and academic support are the “two wings” of promoting work related to communication. Only when the “two wings” are equally strong can our international communications be effective. We would not get far if we focused only on practical operations and ignored the study and enrichment of the law of international communications. Today, we need to conduct in-depth studies on the narrative, discourse, and communication methods to better tell China’s stories with focus on the Chinese spirit, values, and strength from different angles including politics, economy, culture, society, and ecological civilization, thereby providing academic support for effective international communications. At the same time, the information technology revolution has brought about profound changes in the field of communication and has placed new demands on innovative theories of information dissemination. In this context, we must seize the opportunity to take the lead in the new “racetrack”, strengthen theoretical research on information dissemination, and gain a say in the circle of communication academia. By doing so, we can change the previous situation that communication practices mainly depended on guidance of policies and experiences to improve communication results with theoretical achievements. Second, strengthening the cultivation of capable professionals in international communications. In his speech at a central conference on talent-related work, President Xi emphasized that we need to cultivate a group of professionals good at viewing and studying China issues and spreading excellent Chinese culture in the field of social sciences. Based on the current actual needs of international communication, we need to further strengthen the team of international communication professionals to meet the demand for targeted communication for different regions, countries, and audiences. We need to pay special attention to improving the capacity of professionals in international communication, including the ability to uphold their country’s stances, the ability to disseminate information in a timely manner, the ability to spread Chinese culture, and the ability to utilize various media and communication channels. We also need to continuously improve the overall quality of professionals in international communications and increase the appeal and effectiveness of China’s international communication. In particular, we must train a group of high caliber and pioneering professionals in international communications, especially those with

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“the capacity for high-level dialogue” with industry insiders. Through close cooperation with key media outlets and universities, we plan to cultivate international communication professionals on a large scale, and strive to train a number of interdisciplinary talents in international communications, who have insight into both Chinese and Western cultures, are proficient in foreign languages, and boast of strong communication ability and media operating capacity. Third, expanding the circle of friends who understand China. Global changes and the COVID-19 pandemic both unseen in a century have made all countries a community with a shared future. Today, China is a participant and builder of the international system, striving to become a forerunner. President Xi pointed out that we should make more friends, unite and win the support of the majority of people, and further expand the circle of friends who understand and are friendly with China. We need to urge more overseas Chinese and foreigners in China to tell China’s stories through their own experiences, which can be understood and accepted by more overseas audiences. Upon a thorough analysis of the ongoing global changes, we can conclude that the root reason for such changes lies in that the Western worldview, values, and governance system are facing an unprecedented crisis, and as a rising nation, China needs to view its development and influence on the world from the global perspective. In this sense, global changes offer a great historic opportunity for China to promote international communication. We must gain a deep understanding of the connotations of global changes and the trends of history, seize great opportunities arising from the convergence of the once-in-a-century global changes and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and interpret the original aspirations and founding mission of the CPC and the century-long journey it has taken though more vivid stories of China. By doing so, we can enable foreign audiences to see that the CPC is working for the well-being of the Chinese people, and to understand the reasons for the success of the CPC, Marxism, and Chinese socialism. We can also present China’s stance, wisdom, and solutions to the world with louder voices, and show that China has the capacity and responsibility to play a larger role in global affairs and make greater contributions to addressing problems of mankind together with other countries. In addition, we can fully expound on China’s views on development, civilization, security, human rights, ecological progress, international order, and global governance forged on the basis of its 5,000-year-old civilization through more vivid and heartwarming narratives, thereby displaying a true, multidimensional, and panoramic view of China and presenting an admirable, amicable, and respectful image of China to the world.

Zhang Xiaoying Director of the Publication Bureau and the Press Bureau of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and President and Editor-in-chief of Economic Daily. She is now a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a member of the Economic Affairs Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, and First Vice Chair person of the China Public Relations Association.

Build China’s International Discourse System in the New Era Cheng Manli

Abstract At present, the international landscape is changing drastically. China now faces an increasingly complex international communication environment, and various pressures and challenges are emerging one after another. However, these problems and challenges also provide new opportunities for the country’s discourse construction in the new era. What challenges does China face in international discourse? How should China build its discourse system to tell Chinese stories well in the new era? The article first analyzes the problems and challenges facing China’s international discourse from the historical and political perspectives, and then explores the ways to strengthen China’s discourse system for international communication from the theoretical and practical perspectives. To promote the innovative development of Chinese discourse in the new era, it concludes that efforts should be made to provide an adaptive discourse for Western society to understand China’s development and offer Chinese solutions to global problems. China’s discourse system for international communication should be open, inclusive and innovative. Keywords International discourse system · New era · International communication · Innovation

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, attaches great importance to the construction of China’s international discourse system. He has delivered speeches on this subject on many occasions. In these speeches, he stressed greater efforts to construct China’s own discourse and narrative, interpret China’s practices by its own theories, and enrich China’s theories with its own practices. He also called for using new concepts, domains and expressions to better tell China’s stories and fully show the spiritual strength behind the stories.

C. Manli (B) Peking University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_18

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1 New Goals in the New Era The 19th CPC National Congress made the political judgement that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new stage. What does this mean? Whether in his speech at the opening ceremony of a study session attended by officials at the provincial and ministerial level on July 26, 2017, or in the report he delivered to the 19th CPC National Congress, Xi interpreted this subject from three aspects: From the perspective of national rejuvenation, this means that the Chinese nation, which had endured so much for so long since modern times, has stood up, become better off, and grown in strength, which is a tremendous transformation, and it has come to embrace the brilliant prospects of rejuvenation; from the perspective of socialist practice, this means that scientific socialism is full of vitality in China in the twentyfirst century, and that the banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics is now flying high for all to see; from the perspective of Chinese socialism’s contributions to developing countries, this means that the path, the theory, the system and the culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics have kept developing, which offers a new option for other countries and nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence, and also offers Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to solving the problems facing humanity. The three points, with rich theoretical and practical connotations, not only stress the essential feature of Chinese socialism and its contributions to developing countries, but also emphasizes the universally recognized leap forward and historic transition achieved by the Chinese nation that it has stood up, become better off and grown in strength. During the “cultural revolution” (1966–1976), China fell into political chaos, and its economy was almost stagnant and even on the verge of collapse. In 1978, China’s GDP was merely 364.5 billion yuan. In terms of per capita GDP, China was one of the poorest countries in the world at that time. Over the past four decades since the start of reform and opening up, China’s economy has maintained steady, rapid growth, and the rankings of its economic indicators in the world have continued growing. After nearly 30 years of accumulation and reserve, in 2010, China’s GDP surpassed that of Japan for the first time, becoming the world’s second-largest economy. Despite the fact that it still faces many problems and challenges, China’s economy maintains an obvious trend of steady progress. While achieving leapfrog economic development, Chinese society has moved from seclusion to openness: The nation used to turn its back to the world, but now it is actively integrating into the world. Especially after the 18th CPC National Congress, the new central leadership with Xi Jinping at the core walked to the forefront of China’s political stage, and led China to move closer to the center stage of the world, drawing wide attention from the international community. A series of new ideas and concepts based on regional and global strategies, including the “new Asian security concept”, “new-type of major-country relations”, “a community with a shared future for mankind”, and “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), were put forward, which not only reflect China’s self-transcendence after more than four decades of reform and opening up, but also go beyond Western ideological system and development pattern that have long dominated the international community. In

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objective practice, this transcendent development paradigm requires China’s international communication entities to seek innovation, build corresponding narrative system and discourse system, and carry out in-depth interpretation and widespread communication. Meanwhile, it reflects the key purpose that Xi called for using new concepts, domains and expressions to better tell China’s stories and fully show the spiritual strength behind the stories. Therefore, the aforesaid three points determine the basic trend and characteristics of China’s international communication in the new era. Furthermore, they point out the direction for the construction of China’s international discourse system in the new era. To this end, first of all, we should clarify our standpoint of discourse construction. What kind of country is China and what differences are there between China and Western countries? What superiority does China have? This is the theoretical foundation for discourse construction. Lenin once discussed about the “superiority” issue. He held that the superiority of socialism lies in the fact that it represents a regime characterized by new-type democracy and dictatorship. The Constitution of the Communist Party of China clearly states that the CPC represents the fundamental interests of the greatest possible majority of the Chinese people. That is to say, the Party represents the fundamental interests of the people, instead of the interests of the ruling class or a certain political clique. For this reason, the CPC attaches great importance to the people’s aspirations and demands in terms of discourse, and works hard to balance the interests of all parties as much as possible and solve the main social contradictions, enabling the Chinese people to strive to pursue the same goal—realizing national rejuvenation, building a strong nation, and achieving world peace. This is essentially different from the US pursuit of individual freedom and “America first”. Second, discourse construction should give full consideration to the ongoing changes of the international landscape. A series of China-related “public opinion polls” by the US and other Western countries show that since 2019, Western cognition and evaluation of China has dropped drastically, which can even be called a fundamental change. The reasons are complicated, but in the final analysis, this is an inevitable result as the US takes China as a strategic “rival”, and sets agenda and makes global communication on China issues under such a framework. This reveals that the US government is adjusting its international communication strategy related to China according to the changes in major-country relations and global power comparisons, which is an inevitable choice of the US in the new historic period. We must hold an accurate understanding and full judgement of this.

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2 Challenges and Problems Facing China’s International Discourse As far as the concept of “discourse” is concerned, French philosopher Michel Foucault is an inevitable topic. Foucault is a key figure in the history of discourse studies. He creatively introduced the term “discourse” and bestowed on it special philosophical connotations. Foucault held that discourse is essentially a systematic, historical and continuous process of aggregation and construction. In this sense, the international communication environment that China faces is just a result of such a systematic, historical and continuous process. First, from the historical perspective, in the early colonial expansion, Western powers seized all sorts of resources from around the world, including information communication resources, on the basis of “first come, first served” principle. Consequently, the majority of developing countries, which didn’t achieve independence from colonial rule until the end of World War II, are in an inferior position in terms of international discourse. For a long time, international communication has been characterized by information flowing from the center to the periphery, from developed countries to developing ones. Developed capitalist countries, especially the United States that caught up from behind, leverage their advantages in language, dissemination channel, and communication technology to achieve secondary and multiple dissemination of their information and signals via the media of other countries. In this way, they spread their news products alongside their values worldwide, affecting and restricting the global audience’s views on certain topics, incidents, and even countries. The cognition, judgement and evaluation of the international community on China have been formatted in the process of this historical construction. Over the years, the majority of developing countries have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the imbalanced international flow of information, and put forward the idea of building a new international order in news dissemination. Moreover, some countries and regions including China have taken measures to enhance their international communication capacity. However, the general situation that China still lags behind the West in international communication hasn’t changed radically. Second, from the perspective of political construction, China’s image and discourse in the eyes of Western countries especially the United States directly manifest the “power of discourse” defined by Foucault. To be specific, it is a result of the inequal relations between “seeing” and “being seen” and between “gazing” and “being gazed” from the perspective of Orientalism. Based on their religious belief and “Holy Mission” mentality, Americans consider themselves God’s chosen people and saviors of mankind, and believe their democratic system is the best system in the world. Since the founding of the United States, they have fostered a strong desire to spread their democratic system, religious belief, culture and values across the world. In the nineteenth century, some Christian and Protestant missionary visited China to preach. When they discussed whether they should disseminate Western knowledge, they reached a conclusion: “We are

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dispatched by the Savior and missions to China, not to enrich its people’s secular knowledge, but to teach them the truth of Christianity. We come here to save the soul of humans and rescue people from their sufferings. This is the special mission we shoulder.” This statement demonstrated the sense of superiority of Western civilization, and clearly displayed their intention to incorporate other political entities into their political framework. It is just for this reason that since its establishment, the PRC has faced constraint from Western countries, especially the United States, as the latter take China as an opposite of their value system and development mode. Over the past two decades, with China’s rapid economic growth and expanding international exchange, such constraint becomes more involved with the clash of interests. It is safe to say that as a superpower, the United States cannot tolerate other countries especially China to challenge its system and mode, let alone its hegemony. Given that containing China is an inevitable choice of the United States, it is natural that the United States, which holds superiority in international discourse, incorporates the construction of topics related to China into the entire Western discourse framework, which has been widely recognized through long-term dissemination. Many issues related to China hotly discussed in the international community in recent years, such as RMB exchange rate, foreign exchange reserve, trade, and virus sourcing, are results of this construction. In recent international discourse related to China, some Western scholars emphasize the “Thucydides Trap” theory by referring to a few words in history, based on outdated theories on international relations, and conclude that a rising state will inevitably challenge an existing great power, and the latter will also respond to such a threat, so the two nations will be likely to go to war. Based on this presupposition, China’s own development and its investment and construction projects in Africa and other countries and regions are considered threats, casting a shadow over the prospects of China-US relations. Especially after Donald Trump took office as the US president, the first National Security Strategy Report (2017) issued by the Trump administration called China a “strategic competitor”, and the report issued under the administration of his predecessor Obama defined China as a “cooperative partner or competitor”. In this context, the United States launched a trade war, science and technology war, diplomatic war, and discourse war against China. Although the current US President Joe Biden adopts a different strategy towards US allies and partnerships from that of his predecessor, he still sees China as the “most serious competitor” and declared that the United States would carry out “extreme competition” and “long-term strategic competition” with China, which was verified by his acts after taking office. It is predictable that after secondary and multiple dissemination by the media, such discourse reflecting post-Cold War mentality can definitely exert influence on other Western countries and even more other countries. This is perhaps the international communication environment that China has to face for now and in the years to come. So, what challenges does China face in international discourse? I once conducted a survey on the international discourse related to China’s BRI. The results show that the international communication efforts of key media outlets mostly focus on the start—constructive discourse, namely the publicity, interpretation and spread of key policies issued by the Party and the state. However, discourse

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related to the implementation of the initiative, including convertible, interpretative, and restorative discourse, is missing. First, convertible discourse. Convertible discourse emphasizes language conversion and cultural alignment. Language is an important carrier of culture. Due to differences in cultural background, various languages contrast with each other in terms of semantics, vocabulary, grammar, rhetoric, writing style, among others. Therefore, corresponding conversions between languages are needed to ensure the target audience receive disseminated information without barriers and then foster a sense of intimacy and recognition. A classic example in this regard is late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. In 1954, when Premier Zhou led a Chinese delegation to attend the Geneva Conference, the news division of the delegation organized a film broadcast event for foreign journalists. The film screened was a traditional Chinese opera named The Tragedy of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and the staff prepared a dozen-page program to introduce the film’s plots and lyrics and intended to translate into English for foreign journalists. Premier Zhou said, “Who would read a program as long as more than 10 pages? I wouldn’t if I were a journalist.” He then suggested to merely add a sentence on the invitation: “We hereby invite you to enjoy a color film adapted from a traditional opera, China’s Romeo and Juliet”. The staff accepted his suggestion, which was proven successful. When the tragedy film was screened, all spectators fell into silence due to grieve. At the climax depicting Liang Shanbo crying in front of Zhu Yingtai’s grave and the two lovers transforming into butterflies, some even burst into tears. When the film finished and the light went on in the theater, spectators remained intoxicated in its plots. After a minute’s silence, they burst into thunderous applause. In this case, Premier Zhou skillfully leveraged the classic drama familiar to Western audiences to make the story from an Eastern country to be interpreted with Western discourse. In general, China’s international communication needs such context (or discourse) conversion, which should be a basic skill of today’s international communication practitioners. Second, interpretative discourse. The proposal of the concept of “interpretative discourse” is based on the awareness of relevant problems. In recent years, China has put forward a series of strategic visions and initiatives that receive positive response from various countries and have been translated into tangible bilateral cooperation projects. The Chinese media cover many stories about such delightful outcomes. However, they fail to give sufficient response to some existing or potential problems, suspicions, misunderstandings and prejudices in the process of cooperation. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship BRI project, is a pristine example. In May 2013, China first proposed the initiative to jointly build the CPEC, which received an active response from the Pakistani government. At the time, the overwhelming majority of Pakistan’s mainstream media outlets gave positive comments to the CPEC. However, with the passage of time, newspapers such as Pakistan Today, The Express Tribune, and Pakistan Defence, began to express suspicions about the project. For instance, some media outlets argued that the investment of 46 billion dollars from China in the CPEC wasn’t “free lunch”, most of which were in the form of loans, and Pakistan would need to pay back both principals and

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interests. In view of the economic development level of Pakistan, it would be impossible for the country to pay off those loans. Besides, they said that China would earn high profits with the 46 billion dollars they invested in Pakistan, which would only benefit Chinese companies and workers, but leave heavy debts to Pakistan. Undoubtedly, such suspicions are mingled with the antigovernment mentality of minority groups and opposition parties. But in the meantime, we must ask ourselves: Have we properly carried out policy interpretation and public opinion guidance? In early 2016, during their visit to Pakistan, members of the National Institute of Strategic Communication at Peking University held two media breakfast receptions with the assistance and support of local partners, themed on the “BRI and the Construction of the CPEC”. Members of the institute tried their utmost to answer various questions raised by Pakistani media and political and economic representatives. Although some questions were beyond our capacity, our sincerity and goodwill were felt by the Pakistani media. All of their reports on this event the next day were positive. This implies the importance of interpretative discourse. Third, restorative discourse. Restorative discourse aims to emphasize views. As disseminators, we should not only tell today’s Chinese stories, but also finish and clarify past stories. Otherwise, perhaps we would be unable to tell today’s stories due to existing misunderstanding and hostility. The 2014 China National Image Global Survey Report released by China International Communications Group (CICG) can give us important insight in this aspect. The report indicates that of the eight surveyed countries, Russians were most familiar with Chinese culture and the Chinese Dream, and gave the highest scores on China’s image. However, as for the question “whether they are willing to make friends with Chinese people”, the survey shows that only 39% of Russians gave a positive response, only higher than Indians (36%). Obviously, there was an antilogy. Why? A result of the survey drew my attention: 54% of overseas consumers thought Chinese products were inferior in quality. Although this survey was not made by country, it still inspired my deeper contemplation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia as an independent state fell into economic recession, suffering extreme shortage of materials. Some Chinese dealers sold living necessities such as clothes, shoes and caps in Russia, relieving the country’s material shortage to some extent. However, the substandard quality of some products made Russians have the mindset that Chinese merchants were dishonest and Chinese commodities were inferior in quality. Krokodil (“Crocodile”), a famous magazine in Russia, once published a satirical cartoon to criticize the inferior quality of Chinese-made down jackets. An anchorman of the Russian national TV station once openly called on Russians to boycott Chinese commodities. For a long time, the Great Moscow Circus staged a warm-up performance: A clown who is tired of living commits suicide. He points a pistol at his temple and pulls the trigger, but the gun doesn’t shoot a bullet. Surprised, he checks the pistol, and finds the reason: “The gun is made in China!” At the moment, spectators would burst into loud laughter. This performance even evoked protest from Chinese in Russia. In recent years, high-quality Chinese products have been exported to Russia. However, the episode of history that individual Chinese merchants were objectively

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the main force of China-Russia trade around the collapse of the Soviet Union remains unsolved, which hasn’t even received any due response or explanation. In this context, it still affects Russians’ cognition and evaluation of China today. In fact, back then China was in the early stage of market economy, and lacked relevant domestic policies and regulations, let alone formal regulations on foreign trade. In fact, the Chinese government has attached great importance to cracking down on counterfeit products. China’s Consumers Right Day TV show, the “CCTV 3.15 Gala”, has been aired each year since 1991, which just evidences its endeavor in this regard. Therefore, to better tell China’s stories to Russian people, it isn’t enough to just stress the ChinaRussia comprehensive strategic partnership and today’s bilateral trade; we should also bear existing problems in mind, make clear interpretation on historical issues in a responsible manner, and regulate our own behaviors, so as to radically eliminate Russians’ misconceptions and prejudices of China. Of course, similar situations exist, more or less, between China and other global partners. Discourse is not only a kind of power but also a professional, regulated operation mechanism, which requires tangible efforts in implementation. Just as Chinese President Xi Jinping said, we need to “roll up our sleeves” and “show extreme patience like doing embroidery” to improve our international communication. Convertible discourse, interpretive discourse and restorative discourse have direct impact on the results of international communication, which are rational measures and key foundation for effective operation of discourse power. Nonfeasance in any aspect may be considered a dereliction of duty. In a word, construction of China’s international discourse is a systematic project. Only when we blend strategies and tactics and combine the macro framework with specific measures and methods, can we effectively avoid the abstraction, ambiguity and superficiality of our discourse system, so as to achieve targeted communication and the optimal results.

3 Reflection on Strengthening China’s Discourse System for International Communication To strengthen China’s discourse system for international communication, we need to ponder from two perspectives: One is practice and the other is theory.

3.1 Practical Perspective Today, how to present China to the international community and build our country’s international communication capacity, especially building our discourse system for international communication, is an urgent issue we should solve. First, grasp the power of discourse. In the new international communication environment, it will take a long time for us to freely convey our voice worldwide and

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change the international discourse adverse to China. A major problem lies in how to grab the power of discourse. The power of discourse refers to the power to dominate discourse, which isn’t the grant of heaven but a result of competition between major countries and a manifestation of a country’s soft power. From the historical perspective, whether a country owns the power of discourse depends not only on its hard power, but also on whether its own values and discourse can effectively answer and solve major problems facing the world and whether its culture is a unique being respected by others. Therefore, we must explore our country’s agenda setting capacity and discourse system, strengthen non-government discourse building, and use the rich discourse library of Chinese experience to demonstrate China’s responsibility and duty as a major country from the perspective of human commonality and empathy, seek the greatest common ground in the world’s new development situation and diversified development pattern, and build discourse advantages based on universal human values. Second, turn passiveness into activeness. Since the start of China’s reform and opening up, we have focused on introducing and presenting China with the discourse understandable to Western countries, and thought that they would understand and recognize us if they understand the messages we send. Of course, this was the only choice for China when it remained underdeveloped and eager to catch up with developed countries and be accepted by the world in the early days after the reform and opening up. After China gradually developed and became strong, we realized that the Western world would only accept us on the premise that we change our own system and institution to seek development in the West-dominated world order. However, it turned out that Western countries didn’t see their expectation met, but only witnessed a situation which they didn’t wish to see. In this context, the Western world began to do all it can to expel China from the global system by frequently containing and suppressing China. This means that the current challenge facing China isn’t how to present itself to the world with understandable language, but how to overcome newly emerging barriers. We must have a clear idea of this, instead of following the agendas set by Western countries especially the United States and repeating the “attack-counterattack” mode. We should strive to break traditional mindsets and establish our own foothold and discourse advantages. Moreover, we should further study and analyze the new environment for international communication and better understand the new trends of China-US relations, so as to grab discourse power and turn passiveness into activeness in future relations or competitions between major countries. Third, enhance international communication literacy. Currently, China’s international communication entities have been increasingly diversified. Against this backdrop, how to build the diverse entities’ international communication capacity and improve their communication literacy become a noteworthy issue that requires imperative settlement. To a certain extent, international communication literacy demands improving the communication literary of the general public. To be specific, the improvement of the quality of international communication entities is embodied in two aspects: “speech” and “action”.

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In terms of “speech”, first of all, President Xi has proposed building a community with a shared future for mankind on many international occasions and at many international conferences since 2013. From the perspective of information dissemination, this requires us to get rid of limitations in thinking and vision, and elevate our foothold and concern to a higher level—globalization. In reality, both the Chinese government and media are making efforts in this regard, and have realized remarkable achievements. However, there are still some problems. Specifically speaking, building a community with a shared future for mankind requires us to uphold the principle of equality and mutual benefits and speak the “same language” with others. However, some domestic disseminators still hold outdated traditional mindsets, and demonstrate “egoism” and self-entertaining discourse as if we were talking to ourselves, which doesn’t conform to China’s status and responsibility as a major country. For example, the reports on China’s overseas anti-epidemic aid by some media outlets sound arrogant. At a time when information is spreading globally, such discourse is not only tantamount to sending shells to those who attempt to stigmatize China, but may even cast a negative impact on China’s foreign policy and diplomatic efforts. Of course, this also goes against the principle of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Second, in terms of “action”, whether it is a Chinese enterprise that “goes global”, a dean or teacher of Confucius Institutes, or a medical expert team performing overseas aid tasks during the pandemic, they are engaged in transnational, cross-language and cross-cultural work, which requires an understanding of local religious beliefs, policies, regulations, and social customs, and establishing a sense of the connection between individuals and national image. At present, there are many shortcomings in this regard. Our deficiencies in knowledge and literacy in cross-cultural communication many result in deficiencies in action, which needs to be carefully remediated. Behavior and action are important fulcrums of discourse power, and we should pay sufficient attention to this aspect.

3.2 Theoretical Perspective The focus of theoretical thinking lies in the features of China’s discourse system for international communication. Determined by the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China’s discourse system for international communication should features open, inclusive and innovative. 1. Openness The construction of discourse has never been a closed-door process of conceptual abstraction and logical deduction, but a theoretical or thinking production activity based on specific material production and social forms, adapted to the needs of reality. Therefore, in the face of the new situation of China’s own development and the new pattern of international communication, it becomes inevitable for China to open up its discourse system to the outside world. At present, China has never been

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so keen on integrating into the world. It is playing an important role in the political, economic, scientific and technological fields and shouldering the responsibility to safeguard world peace, contribute to global development and defend the international order. For this reason, China should be wary of seclusion and isolation in its international communication and discourse, but reconstruct its international discourse resources guided by the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind: While adhering to principles, daring to speak out its voices, and showing its stances to the world, China should also keep a sober mind, use correct strategy and tactics, calmly deal with relevant issues as a major country, and win respect through maintaining peace and rationality. 2. Inclusiveness The world is complex and diversified, so are people’s perception and evaluation of the world (things). To “transform and reconstruct” seemingly unrelated or even contradictory ideas, viewpoints, and theories to make them compatible with each other and unify them into one is the essential purpose of inclusive thinking. The reason why the idea of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been adopted by the United Nations and the UN Security Council as the goal and vision of world peace and development lies in that China cares for the development of human society and provides its ideas, wisdom and solutions for global governance while sticking to its own development. Inclusive thinking helps us maintain inclusiveness and avoid talking to ourselves and self-repetition in international communication. This should not only be the starting point for the construction of China’s discourse system, but also the breakthrough and foothold of the country’s international communication theory. 3. Innovation The theory development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a process of Chinese Communists coping with challenges and seeking innovative development. The construction of China’s discourse system and theoretical system for international communication must also go through such a process. Frankly, China is facing an increasingly complex international communication environment, and various pressures and challenges are emerging one after another. From another perspective, however, these problems and challenges also provide new opportunities for our discourse construction. To promote the innovative development of Chinese discourse in the new era, we must make efforts in two aspects simultaneously: First, we must provide an adaptive discourse for Western society to understand China’s development, namely, tell China’s stories; second, based on our own experience, we need to provide Chinese solutions to global problems, namely, explain the truth of world development. This puts forward new requirements for the construction of Chinese discourse and narrative systems in the new era.

Cheng Manli Professor and director of the National Institute of Strategic Communication and executive chairperson of the Institute of Journalism, Peking University.

Metaverse: A New Form of Communication Integrating Reality and Virtuality Shen Yang

Abstract The year 2021 is called the “first year of the metaverse”. The year witnessed the concept of “metaverse” extending from industry insiders to the general public, and saw the basic formation of the metaverse industry paradigm as many giants entered the industry one after another. At present, the mobile internet has shown a solidified pattern and pervading monopoly. In this case, it becomes impossible for startups to break through the siege in the consumer market, and the interval between hardware updates is extended. What is indeed the metaverse? How should we build the metaverse? What opportunities and challenges will the metaverse bring to human society? This article focuses on finding answers to the aforesaid questions. In the face of the great historic opportunities brought about by the metaverse, we should drive a new round of technological innovation and industrial iteration, foster new-type leading enterprises and nurture new industrial clusters in the development of metaverses. At the same time, efforts are needed to guide platform enterprises to take the initiative to take social responsibilities and establish an open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and symbiotic metaverse governance ecology through comprehensive use of legal, market, regulatory, technological and other means. Keywords Metaverse · Technology · Reality · Virtuality · Platform enterprises

1 Metaverse Is a New Concept Incubated by New Technology As early as 1990, Qian Xuesen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, mentioned the concept of “virtual reality” in his letter to Wang Chengwei, in which he translated it as “Lingjing” (meaning “spiritual realm”) in Chinese. Qian stressed that the application of this conception in human–machine integration and human brain development would trigger some S. Yang (B) School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_19

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world-shaking changes and become an epoch-making event in human history. In 1992, in his science fiction Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson put forward two concepts— “metaverse” and “avatar” and linked the two together for the first time, laying the foundation for the spatial–temporal extensibility and human–machine integration of the metaverse. The “open world” formed by a large number of open multiplayer games that appeared from the 1970s to the 1990s, represented by “Social Life”, paved the early foundation of the metaverse. The year 2020 is considered the tipping point of the virtual world and the real world as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of new technologies and the formation of a contactless culture. In February 2020, for example, the average time that people spent on the Internet saw an exponential growth, reaching nearly eight hours a day. That is to say, except for the time for sleep, people spent most of their time in the virtual world during the 24 h of the day, which means that the virtual world becomes the main world of human beings while the real world becomes a subordinate one instead. The year 2021 is called the “first year of the metaverse”. The first half of the year witnessed the concept of “metaverse” extending from industry insiders to the general public, and the second half saw the basic formation of the metaverse industry paradigm as many giants entered the industry one after another. At present, the mobile Internet has shown a solidified pattern and pervading monopoly. In this case, it becomes impossible for startups to break through the siege in the consumer market, and the interval between hardware updates is extended. Without the emergence of the next-generation Internet, human beings will be “locked” in mobile phones. In addition, the mobile Internet represented by mobile phones is only a twodimensional expression, and human beings need to upgrade to a three-dimensional space featuring virtuality-reality symbiosis to greatly improve productivity. Moreover, the UGC model in the mobile Internet era exploits the digital labor of netizens, and it is difficult for high-quality content producers to truly control their digital assets and revenues. These problems cannot be solved under the existing Internet system, and a metaverse-based innovation and reshuffling is around the corner. The metaverse is a new type of Internet application and social form that integrates virtuality and reality based on the combination of a multitude of new technologies. It provides immersive experiences based on extended reality technology, generates a mirror image of the real world based on digital twin technology, builds an economic system based on blockchain technology, closely integrates the virtual world and the real world in the economic, social and ID systems, and allows every user to produce content and “edit the world”. The metaverse can help expand the dimensions of human existence, sensory organs and thinking space. Unlike traditional video games, it involves many fields such as industrial metaverse, cultural tourism metaverse, tourism metaverse, etc.; nor is it a virtual world independent of reality, but a new world formed through the intermingling of the digital and physical worlds. The metaverse itself is not a technology, but a concept that needs to integrate different new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), digital twin, blockchain, cloud computing, extended reality, robotics, brain-computer interfaces, 5G, among others. The core technologies it involves are as follows: Extended reality, which can provide immersive experiences and solve problems that cannot be solved

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by mobile phones, such as transforming the beautiful scenery of hometown in one’s memory into an immersive on-the-spot experience; digital twin, which can mirror the real world into the virtual world, for instance, enabling people’s consciousness to enter and control the body to achieve the materialization of the avatar; blockchain, which can be used to build an economic system in the virtual world. As a result, the virtual world and the real world are closely integrated in terms of economic system, social system, ID system and so on. The metaverse has created a world in which the human physical world, psychological world, and artificial world are integrated and unified, and achieved a dynamic combination of environment, brain, and body through the integration of virtual and real space. In his book No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior, Joshua Meyrowitz pointed out that electronic media break the traditional relationship between physical and social scenarios, and increasingly intervene in the scenarios divided into spatial structures. Big data, cloud computing and other technologies have broken the boundaries of physical space and reconstructed the pattern of regional communication. In the metaverse, people can use immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to realize digital twin, bridge the gap between body and mind in the traditional mind–body binary theory, reproduce embodied cognitive modes in physical space, and promote the penetration and interaction between body and mind.

2 How to Build a Metaverse Building a relatively perfect metaverse requires four steps: (1) Digital twin, namely, the real world is completely mirrored into the virtual world, and a simulated, dynamic “digital twin” including people, objects, environment and other elements is established in the virtual space; (2) virtual native, that is, people or objects in the virtual world can be automatically generated and operate (such as their own virtual avatars, items, etc.), without the need of the participation of real scenarios; (3) virtualityreality symbiosis, that is, information of the real world and the virtual world is integrated and coexists with each other. For example, photos taken in the virtual world can be sent to the circle of friends and printed in reality; (4) virtuality-reality interaction, that is, with the support of AI engines, humanoid robots and virtual humans can interact with natural persons in the real world. In addition, scenarios and assets also form extensive virtuality-reality interaction. Take the metaverse construction of Tsinghua University as an example: The first step is to completely mirror the real world of Tsinghua University into the virtual world; the second step is to ensure the operation of virtual humans in the virtual world, allowing everyone’s virtual avatar to read books and take photos with 20-year-old Qian Xuesen at the university’s library; the third step is to send the group photos taken in the virtual world to the circle of friends or print it out to keep it at home; the fourth step is that when people visit the library of Tsinghua University, they can see that a humanoid robot modeled after 20-year-old Qian Xuesen reading there and can communicate with him.

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The development of the metaverse can be preliminarily divided into three stages: “Pseudo-metaverse” application on mobile phones, “standard metaverse” application on VR and AR platforms, and “near-future metaverse” including robotics and braincomputer integration. So, how do we build a metaverse? The different paths to realize a metaverse can be summarized as follows: First, immersion and superposition. The representative of the immersive path is VR technology. For instance, if wearing a VR device, one can enter an immersive and exclusive scene wherein “everything is accessible to me”, but such a scene is both immersive and involuted. The representative of the superimposed path is AR technology, which is superimposed and extended on the existing conditions. For instance, creating humanlike appearances for and even injecting soul and emotions into ordinary robots to make them into humanoid robots. Second, radicalism and gradualism. Roblox is a representative of the radical path. Rather than games, it only provides a metaverse development platform and community and attracts users by introducing an incentive mechanism for content generators, thus creating a decentralized world built entirely by users. That means that anyone can enter this space to edit, write scripts, set game levels, etc. By contrast, Fortnite is a representative of the gradual path, which attracts users in the form of traditional games, and constantly adds metaverse elements such as socializing and economic elements on this basis. Third, openness and isolation. This relationship is more obviously manifested in the mobile phone market. For example, the Apple operating system is an isolated system, in terms of both software and hardware. This mode can be described as “I am the universe”. On the contrary, Google’s Android system features an open ecosystem allowing everyone to use, and such a state can be described as “the universe is me”. Huawei has also developed its own Harmony system and smart devices, which can be described as “the universe and I”. From 2 to 3D perspective, from a single-element to full-element intelligent scenario, the metaverse will innovate and disrupt existing cognitions and advance the upgrading of urban efficiency. We will be able to find the optimal solution after repeated deduction and continuous verification of real problems in the mirror world.

3 Virtuality-Reality Integration and Complementarity in the Metaverse The research of the metaverse often discusses about the integration and complementarity between virtuality and reality. Emphasizing virtuality-reality integration aims to distinguish between VR and AR. VR isolates users in a virtual space, and AR superimposes a digital information layer on real space to enhance insight into the real world. Whether the metaverse will eventually go virtual or feed back to the real society depends on which of the two technical routes of VR and AR develops faster. An ideal state is that virtuality and reality complement each other in the virtual world, instead of ending up with absolute virtuality.

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A metaverse that blends virtuality and reality can extend space and time of the real world in multiple dimensions, thus creating a new world that is infinitely close to, but beyond reality. In the metaverse, elements such as the subjects’ experience, socialization, production, and economy can be extended to the real world. This development trend can bring about four major expansions to mankind. First, the expansion of living space. After the advent of the metaverse, the living space of human beings expanded from real world to virtual space, removing the boundaries between reality and virtuality as well as between life and death. Second, the metaverse expands mankind’s vision. In the real world, people see the world from a firstperson perspective. In the metaverse, the detached interaction of virtual humans gives natural persons a third-person perspective and reconstructs the way individuals view their surroundings, enabling them to transcend their own visual ecology and thus experience the feelings of different ecological niches. Third, the metaverse expands mankind’s sensory experience. The various sensory experiences that people can acquire in the real world are integrated and mixed. In the metaverse, through the construction of the media environment, individuals’ senses are expanded to a wide array of sensory experiences including seeing, hearing, touch, temperature and many others, which can be edited, defined, enriched and extended through software almost infinitely. Fourth, the metaverse also expands mankind’s thinking practice. Before the concept of the metaverse was put forward, exploring the universe was the main goal of humanity. The emergence of the metaverse has expanded the thinking practice of humankind. Creating the “universe” and exploring it become equally important, and the two complement each other. Individuals’ thinking practice also tends to be “amphibian”. Research on virtuality-reality complementarity can start with studying the compensatory nature of short videos. The compensatory property of short videos include several layers of connotations: First, people tend to seek compensation in the virtual world for what they lack in the real world. For instance, everyone demonstrates his or her own preferences when choosing short videos to watch on TikTok and Kuaishou, both short video platforms in China. Such preferences just reflect what they lack in their daily lives. Second, the virtual world needs to back-feed the real world. Now that people spend more and more time in the virtual world, they will return to the real world if the virtual world fails to back-feed the real world. Therefore, virtuality and reality need to complement each other, and the importance of virtuality-reality complementarity is revealed. However, from the perspective of human development history, because people can enjoy greater freedom in the virtual world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain balance between virtuality and reality. Ultimately, the metaverse will become exclusively designed for a certain person. Once users log on, there will be virtual humans to accompany and chat with them, so that they can kill the time or fulfill their emotional needs. It will be even possible to upload your consciousness to the cloud. Although the above scenarios cannot be realized in the short term, at least some forms of rough, low-resolution, and low-interaction metaverse can be realized in the short term, such as completely real-time 3D avatar conference system. In addition, humans, more or less, have an

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impulse to “create the world”. When it is projected into the virtual world, virtual humans are NPCs for mankind, just like robots in the real world. The metaverse mainly has three types of human–machine integration: Intelligent natural persons, virtual digital persons, and humanoid robots. The first type reflects the integration and mutual construction of natural persons and intelligent equipment. Humans enhance their abilities in information aggregation, data processing, in-vitro memory and others with the help of machines. In this case, machines become compensation for human intelligence. The second type reflects that natural persons living in the metaverse society in the form of virtual digital humans, which enable them to break through the physical limitations of time and space, and even create virtual avatars to preserve their consciousness and emotions. The third type means that, through the use of intelligent technologies concerning perception, movement, emotion, etc., humanoid robots can assist or replace manual labor of natural human beings, and extend the reach of human body in reality. The deepening of human– machine integration has filled the metaverse with “lives”, which is gradually moving towards a place wherein “machines are becoming biological and the creature is becoming engineered”, just as what Kevin Kelly ever said. As a result, natural persons, virtual humans and robots have formed a pattern similar to “three in one”, in which virtuality and reality interact and complement with each other. Individuals carry out social activities in the metaverse through virtual or physical avatars, and interact, shape and influence each other with their avatars in terms of perception experience, identity, emotion, attitude, etc. Karl Popper put forward the “three worlds” theory, that is, there is “a physical world; a psychological world; and a conceptual, abstract world.” Although virtual digital humans and humanoid robots are products of human intellectual activities in the “third world” - the conceptual, abstract world, they also act on the physical and psychological worlds of human beings. It is believed that human–computer interaction in the metaverse mainly has three attributes: (1) Interactivity, that is, users produce high-realistic scenario experiences through virtual space, virtual devices, virtual avatars and other elements; (2) openness, that is, all users follow and implement the open agreement, data of multiple platforms can coexist in the same unit, and anyone can create contents that others want to see; (3) added value, that is, users can complement the economy in reality with the value of products, equipment, services and others in the virtual world through open production, collaborated tools, and the virtual economic system based on NFR, NFT, and cryptocurrencies, thus forming a closed loop of transformation between virtuality and reality. From the spatial perspective, the metaverse aggregates virtual and physical space. It not only includes “hard elements” of space such as mobile devices, social media, big data, sensors and positioning systems, but also covers “soft elements” such as behavior and psychology. Joshua Meyrowitz held that the wide application of new media would reconstruct scenarios on a large scale and extend the behavior of individuals to adapt to the new social scenarios, based on which he constructed a relationship model of “new media—new scenario—new behavior”. The metaverse achieves overlapping and coupling of many scenarios such as the traditional and the modern, the

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real and the virtual, public sectors and private sectors, etc., to form specific, experienceable composite scenarios, reflecting the core role of “human” in connecting the media and society. From the temporal perspective, there are two kinds of time in the metaverse: For the metaverse with time-series flow, its time is equivalent to the built-in system timer developed by the designer; for the metaverse where there are time shifts, interruptions, or even reversals, its time is applicable to the time felt by the experiencer. The time of the metaverse is rhythmic: The metaverse can simulate the changes of the four seasons and the day in the real world, and the time can be set by the platform or edited by the user. It can simulate not only the spring when the peach and the plum blossom in the breeze, but also the autumn when the leaves of phoenix trees fall in the rain. The time of the metaverse is expansive: Information can be freely extended in natural time and preserved for use by people in different time and space. For example, in the metaverse, to retrace and understand a family’s history, we can construct virtual humans based on deceased ancestors and create corresponding specific scenarios in which the virtualized ancestors tell the family’s stories while their offspring participate in person, thus achieving the extension of time. The time of the metaverse is resettable: The attribute of time in the metaverse, to a large extent, is determined by the designer. The metaverse may weaken the concept of time, and experience duration and psychological feelings are also variable, demonstrating resettable, disconnected, and non-linear characteristics. Virtual humans and humanoid robots can enable humans to experience the multiverse. Just as depicted in the movie Inception, users can start a sub-metaverse in a metaverse. The space of real activities that collapse as humans migrate from reality to virtuality will be replaced by intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) and robots. In the metaverse society, natural persons, virtual humans, and robots live in harmony. Virtual humans expand the capabilities of natural persons in virtual space, and robots expand the capabilities of natural persons in real space. Natural persons enter virtual space and present them as virtual humans. A natural person enters virtual space in the form of a real-time avatar, which is manipulated by the natural person himself or herself. In this case, the avatar is a one-to-one real-time mapping of the natural person’s behavior. For example, in the future, a natural person can create multiple virtual avatars: On behalf of the natural person, the avatars can either can meet with virtual friends in virtual space, deliver a report at an annual academic conference in a virtual lecture hall, or go shopping with a virtual girlfriend in a metaverse mall to fulfill emotional needs. A natural person can also have countless multithreaded doppelgangers. The natural person can design doppelganger behaviors in advance according to his or her own existing behavior patterns and communication methods or record the corresponding behaviors based on the avatar image for fixed Q&A communication. The natural person can take a rest or deal with other matters simultaneously, and data of doppelganger behaviors will be fed back to the natural person. The behavioral data of the avatars back-feeding the natural person can expand and enrich his or her cognition and memory. The existence of multithreaded doppelgangers and avatars can realize the simultaneous occurrence of multiple events and multiple scenarios. For the same subject, his or her real identity, doppelgangers and avatars adopt a unified “meta”

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human-driven engine of the metaverse, and the behavioral and memory data of the three forms are integrated and uploaded to the cloud, and AI assists the natural person to coordinate the overall situation, issue instructions, and guide actions. Thanks to the integration of the three forms, mankind’s production efficiency, perception ability, and execution effectiveness will be greatly improved. In general, the integration of virtuality and reality in the metaverse can further achieve triple satisfaction: (1) Existential satisfaction, that is, the restart of the second life in the virtual world, and the uniqueness of existence is broken; (2) material satisfaction, that is, the metaverse can reduce production costs, improve production efficiency, and replace some material needs; (3) social satisfaction, that is, virtual emotions compensate for the lack of real emotions, and virtual communities compensate for the lack of real social interactions. The metaverse achieves multiple extensions of space and time in the real world, providing a new world that is infinitely close to but beyond reality. Elements such as the subject’s experience, socialization, production, and economy in the metaverse can be extended to the real world. Natural persons enhance their abilities in perception, decision-making and action through integrating and interacting with the entire metaverse (ubiquitous computing).

4 Metaverse Reshapes Industrial Layouts of Countries In the years to come, the metaverse market is expected to boom. At present, there are four types of metaverse narrative, namely virtuality-reality integration, decentralized trading, free creation, and socialized collaboration. The four types of narrative reflect imagination on different aspects of the future picture of the metaverse, each corresponding to different product types, but they will also integrate with each other to create new product concepts. A representative of China’s metaverse industry, Tencent faces two paths ahead: One is to move towards the metaverse based on the path of game research and development, and the other is to upgrade its existing social media platforms to the metaverse. Benefiting from its acquisition of Chinese VR equipment company PICO, its advantages in the field of recommendation algorithm, and TikTok’s huge user base, ByteDance has also gained the upper hand in the metaverse development layout. “Genshin Impact”, a game developed by miHoYo, is popular all over the world, and its open map, editable world, and hidden games demonstrate certain features of a metaverse. In the metaverse industry in the US, Roblox known as the “first listed company in the metaverse industry” does not develop games itself, but launches a game development platform allowing users to design games. This UGC-style “meta-game” model helps it attract a large number of active users. Not long ago, Facebook changed its name to Meta. Based on the leading position of its Oculus VR device and social media, it has turned to exploring the metaverse in a high-profile way. However, it faces the fierce competition from TikTok in the field of social media, slowdown in global user growth, and public suspicion in terms of privacy protection and data security. Under

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multiple crises, the transition towards the metaverse may be its only way out. With its Windows operating system, XBOX game ecology and HoloLens’ exploration in MR, Microsoft has also laid a solid foundation in the arena of metaverse. The Japanese metaverse industry focuses on exploring virtual world + social media network, while emphasizing diverse participation and exerting the influence of Japanese anime culture. However, the development of the Japanese animation industry has begun to run out of steam in recent years. In the future, China may overtake Japan in the metaverse-based animation industry. The government of South Korea plays an active role in guiding the development of its metaverse industry, and the Korean Digital New-deal plans to give considerable financial support to metaverse-related industries. The government also led the establishment of the Metaverse Alliance, which includes Samsung, Hyundai, LG, NAVER, Lotte and other enterprises. ZEPETO, an online game featuring customized avatars, currently has 200 million users worldwide, and fashion brands such as Gucci, Dior and Ralph Lauren have released digital apparel in the game. On the whole, among the four countries of China, the US, Japan and South Korea, the US is in a leading position in both hardware and software. China has advantages in VR and AR device manufacturing. South Korea is characterized by governmentled development and has taken active action to explore metaverse-based governance. Japan boasts a profound accumulation in the anime industry, and the IP value of a large number of virtual characters hasn’t been tapped yet. In addition, once Tesla robots enter the market in 2022, the robotic industry will face explosive growth and bring new variables.

5 Metaverse Disrupts Media Ecology As a new form of communication, the metaverse will greatly impact the existing media ecology. At the physical level, on the one hand, the metaverse vividly simulates parts of spatiotemporal normativity in the real world, and on the other hand, it transcends and liberates some spatiotemporal normativity in the real world. For example, users can not only move in the metaverse by simulating real-world walking, running, jumping and other actions, but also fly or achieve instant geographical teleportation and even directly define various physical parameters. In addition, the metaverse is an open, editable world where users can buy or lease land, construct buildings on it, and even change the terrain. In games such as Decentraland and The Sandbox, users even initiate a “real estate speculation craze” in the virtual world. In such a metaverse, the connection between people is no longer through isolated pieces of information and videos, but occurs in highly immersive digital scenarios, greatly enriching the virtual interactive experience. To a large extent, the metaverse enriches the media experience of users. The application of virtual digital humans and humanoid robots extends human organs, thoughts and emotions, and becomes the “interactive finish line featuring recombination of talking and walking” of people in the real world. Whether it is Marshall McLuhan’s

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theory that “the medium is an extension of man”, Levinson’s idea that “the medium is, to some extent, the externalization of the functions of various human organs”, or Kevin Kelly’s statement that “technology is an extension of ideas”, these scholars agree that the media extends the functions of the human body. The biggest difference between virtual digital humans and traditional media lies in that virtual humans reproduce human memories, thoughts and emotions, so as to realize the convergent transmission of communication and transportation and the spiritual reunion between people by overcoming physical limitations. “From the perspective of the subsistence of the media, the ability of the media to accurately reproduce is more important than its reproduction range for the environment of the pre-technology era”. Through thinking files or thinking software, virtual digital humans and humanoid robots go beyond the biological boundaries of human perception of time and space, not only extending outward-oriented natural perception systems such as vision, but also extending internal psychological states of human beings such as memory, imagination, and emotions. In this way, they help expand mankind’s temporal consciousness and transcendent consciousness. Thus, human life is extended in the sense of time. The human world itself is composed of energy and information, which is the core of every major progress of human civilization and the indicator to evaluate the level of scientific and technological development. By this standard, the realm of human civilization is thereby expanded. The metaverse will also change the temporal and spatial patterns of existing media forms. The time and space in the metaverse, which are made up of data, are thus algorithmics-based. The space in the metaverse is infinite, and subjects can exist in the multiverse; the time is traceable, and the boundaries between past, present, and future can be crossed. The metaverse breaks the finiteness of space and the linearity of time, and the information such as currency, attributes, environment, and incidents can be mirrored to each other between heterogeneous space and homogeneous space, so as to realize information jumping and virtual spatiotemporal travel. At present, information updates ceaselessly on the mobile Internet, and the presentation of certain information only exists in a specific time window, demonstrating a certain degree of instantaneousness. In the metaverse, the flow of time and space is endless, and the information of different time and space can be juxtaposed simultaneously. It feels like “everything is prepared for me”. Individuals can also enter a specific spatiotemporal fragment to view the details of a specific scenario. In this sense, various senses are intertwined in the flow of time and space, and the synthesis and synaesthesia of the senses will bring more visual cognition. Therefore, the generation born in the metaverse era will have different feelings about virtuality and reality, time and space and other dimensions from other age groups. The metaverse reshapes the new value of communication and provides participants with new scenarios for knowledge dissemination. While completing the transfer of product ownership, the creator and the user can also realize transactions in terms of information traffic and communication power, thereby giving birth to new market segments and generating added value for communication. The ultimate goal of users to experience, create and disseminate in the metaverse is to achieve monetization, and the added value of the metaverse that can be monetized is manifested in the

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fact that user behavior itself can generate monetizable substantial value based on specific mechanisms. Experiential value is the basis of user participation. Unlike the traditional Internet economy, users enter the metaverse not to obtain information, but to voluntarily enter the virtual scenarios with great authenticity and social presence as virtual humans, in which users can express their emotions and participate in economic activities. The metaverse makes creative creation of information extremely important, and creative value is an innate added value from the perspective of supply. Unlike technological innovation of economic activities in the real world, the metaverse attaches greater importance to the creation of unique ideas and is thus more open. Moreover, this kind of creativity based on blockchain technology can be given exclusive property right, forming the foundation of scarcity. Creators in the metaverse use blockchain technology to improve the right authentication of digital content in the blockchain, so that the digital content they create has asset attributes and can generate progressive benefits based on smart contracts. The metaverse will also deepen the representation and embodiment of public thinking. As our experiential sense in the metaverse increases, in a general sense, our ability to use abstract symbols, especially the ability to pursue the real situation in the real world, will decline. At the same time, the metaverse will result in problems of authorization and right limitation by platforms. When designing their respective metaverses, many companies emphasize that they are decentralized, but the decentralized mechanism doesn’t always lead to decentralization. Most users are concentrated in several platforms, and the platforms have forged a stronger data insight ability, thus realizing platform monopoly and big data-based price manipulation. In one word, the communication landscape will undergo a major shift over the next 30 years, forming three major genres of metaverse. The first is represented by metaverse companies of America and Europe such as Meta, Apple, Google, and Microsoft; the second is the Chinese-style globalized metaverse represented by Chinese companies including Tencent, ByteDance, and Alibaba; the third is the cross-planet metaverse. For instance, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, is expected to create a cross-planet metaverse after networking Earth, the moon, and Mars.

6 Opportunities and Challenges for Metaverse Development In the future, the development of the metaverse may focus on exploring the following dimensions: Malleability of time and space; human–machine nature of virtual humans, natural persons, and robots; economic value-added based on blockchain. These three dimensions will become important directions to guide the development of the industry. Perhaps in the future all industries need to re-compete on the metaverse track in the spatial, human–machine, and economic value-added dimensions. If a certain field is closely combined with the three attributes of the metaverse, it may achieve faster development, among which games, exhibitions, education, design and

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planning, medical care, industrial manufacturing, government public services, etc. have the greatest potential. Based on current research, the metaverse will drive the development of six new types of economy: The first is facial appearance economy. Users can customize their images or even personalities for their avatars in the metaverse, and virtual humans may achieve equal rights in gender and appearance. The second is proelderly economy. In the metaverse era, humanoid robots and virtual digital humans will improve the quality of life of the elderly to a certain extent. The third is streetwear economy. At present, many streetwear companies have speeded up the exploration of metaverse market, creating a new form of streetwear transactions. The fourth is single economy. The metaverse provides more diversified ways and options to make friends, and the single group may become an important consumption force. The fifth is busy people economy. The metaverse allows people to perceive the world within doors, and provide convenience for busy people in both work and daily life. The sixth is anxiety economy. The metaverse can intelligently satisfy individual needs, which may reduce anxiety of users. In the field of industrial field, the application of the metaverse can greatly reduce manpower and time costs, and generate greater value in personnel training, equipment patrol, monitoring and maintenance. It is estimated that the industrial metaverse will drive the global smart manufacturing market to exceed US$540 billion by 2025, with a compound growth rate of 15.35% from 2021 to 2025. In terms of personnel collaboration, based on IoT data such as temperature and humidity, digital information carriers such as videos, and personal open data, metaverse-based remote collaboration platforms will enrich the connection between individuals, between people and information, and between people and space. In his book The Third Wave, Alvin Toffler put forward the concept of “industrial reality”, that is, the values, concepts, legends, and moral concepts of agricultural society collapsed one after another, so that God, justice, love, power, and beauty were all redefined, and the previous presumptions about time, space, quality, cause and effect were overturned. Based on this concept, the metaverse has established a new view of industrial reality: In a complex environment, the difficulty of human work is reduced, and information truly serves mankind. We also need to face up to and be vigilant against challenges brought by the metaverse which may bring a series of psychological problems. For example, the longer a person wears a VR headset, the more he may become accustomed to staying alone and even feel that dialogue with solitude is the normal state of life. This isn’t what people expect. To achieve healthy development of the metaverse, users also need to go through a transition from cognition to recognition: They need to deepen their embodied cognition of the metaverse environment through experiential interaction; they need to establish and maintain a sense of security in the metaverse through the avoidance of uncertainties; they need to clarify the boundary between virtual identity and real identity through continuously deepening the identification within the virtual world. In addition, we must confront ethical issues brought about by the metaverse, such as the spread of rumors, marriage ethics, reputation issues, etc. The metaverse may also cause capital exploitation. Most people in the real world are working and

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called “laborers”. In the metaverse era, however, most people won’t need to work, with a small number engaged in innovative creation and robot commanding. In this case, the majority of people will turn from laborers into “players” who generate economic value through “playing games” in the metaverse. Moreover, it is imperative to regulate numerous risks concerning the metaverse by means of legislation, such as privacy leakage, economic frauds, and even extremism and terrorism that may be caused by the metaverse. In terms of governance model, we need to strengthen forward-looking legislative research on the metaverse by drawing on the past governance experience in the development of online platforms, and pay close attention to issues such as regulatory review and data security. Metaverse blockchain technology helps form a kind of distributed autonomous organization that achieve the autonomous model of “decentralized organization + smart contract” as well as a distributed ledger mechanism in which information will be simultaneously recorded by and open to all nodes on the blockchain. However, a variety of problems in decentralized autonomy in the metaverse still require institutional intervention and regulation. In general, technology application, platform monopoly and data privacy risk regulation are vital to promoting the healthy and orderly development of the metaverse. We need to strengthen research on the risks in the application of key technologies like blockchain, and explore the formation of multiple regulatory paths that combine laws, markets, coding architectures, and social norms. We also need to guide platform enterprises to taken upon themselves social responsibilities and establish an open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and symbiotic metaverse governance ecology through comprehensive use of legal, market, regulatory, technological and other means. In the face of great historic opportunities, we should drive a new round of technological innovation and industrial iteration, scale the summit of science and technology, foster new-type leading enterprises and nurture new industrial clusters in the development of the metaverse. Following the overall requirements of the 14th Five-Year Plan, we should continue promoting the optimization of the metaverse governance model and make China’s voices on the development direction, technical standards, and governance models of the metaverse, so as to better spread Chinese culture and international image worldwide. Moreover, we need to improve the definition standards, interaction methods, and technical specifications of the metaverse in the process of constructing virtual and real space, strengthen the top-level design of big data platforms with “foundation building” as the core, and build a unified, open platform for metaverse data resources.

Shen Yang Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University.

New Global Communication Ecosystem Calls for Construction of New International Communication Philosophy Jiang Fei

Abstract Currently, the media landscape is undergoing unprecedented changes. The media world is witnessing a transition from professional journalists to “everyone being a journalist” as well as the restructuring of communication power, structure and ecosystem. In this context, what should China do to enhance its international communication capacity? How should we address the challenges brought about by media transformation? Along with the growth of China, the vast majority of Western countries still haven’t changed their Cold War mentality when viewing China. In this case, what kind of “photographic plate” and what kind of picture should we present to the world? The article analyzes the situation that China’s international communication face, and proposes solutions to strengthen the country’s ability to disseminate its voices around the world. It concludes that new communication ideas are needed in the future development of communication studies as well as international communication theory and practice. Chinese media organizations and Gen-Z ought to be important contributors to the construction of new communication philosophy. Keywords Global communication ecosystem · International communication philosophy · Media · Communication

1 Review of the Origins of “International Communication” from the Perspective of Current Problems One widely accepted point about the basic theories and practical orientations of international communication is that it involves the communication behaviors with states or governmental institutions and organizations as the disseminators to spread information across national and regional boundaries usually via the channels of mass media. From this perspective, all of these endeavors are practices of “international communication”, including the initiative of “Chinese culture going global” put forward by J. Fei (B) School of International Journalism and Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China © People’s Publishing House 2023 F. Li and L. Junkai (eds.), China’s Opportunities for Development in an Era of Great Global Change, Understanding China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1199-8_20

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China’s Ministry of Culture in 2000, the goal of “Chinese film and TV going global” set by the National Radio and Television Administration in 2001, the initiative of “Chinese media going global” initiated by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee in 2004, the establishment of the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) under the Ministry of Education in the same year, and the subsequent worldwide establishment of Confucius Institutes (also known as the Center for Language Education and Cooperation) and the China Culture Centers under the Ministry of Culture. If reviewing the origins of “international communication” beyond these consensus and practices, we can find an undeniable fact, that is, war is the DNA nurturing the birth of “international communication”, with the Cold War as the “delivery bed” and the United States as the “midwife”. Communication itself is a legacy of wars. During the two world wars, newspapers and television were considered as powerful as “Mauser rifles” and communication itself is an emerging battlefield—information warfare. The successful experience on wartime propaganda inspired people that tactical functions of media and its communication process could play a strategic role in the Cold War wherein military personnel/weapons didn’t directly contact with each other in the postwar era. Thus the theorized paradigm of “international communication” was derived as an extension of wartime propaganda. A further analysis from this perspective of communication revealed that local existing general information needs and publication processes were compiled and rectified across the borders of countries and regions, and the ideological flow of the disseminators’ country or region was strategically implanted into international communication to reconstruct primary ideology and dominate its development in targeted countries or regions, thus forming the so-called “development communication” from theoretical perspectives, and providing academic and theoretical support for the legitimacy of international communication practices, which plays a role even stronger than real weapons in the Cold War, the Cool War or all other forms of interest competitions without direct physical and weapon engagements. In fact, it was until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that international communication practices and theories based on the perspective of development communication had remained active. The international competitions in terms of values gradually evolved into communication practices. Those who justify their own systems can earn support from the majority of countries in the international community and then further reinforce such justification, and gain the conditions to spread their values worldwide and guarantee the expansion of their interests worldwide. Thus, the modern logic for the US version of international communication was established: The US is powerful; its journalism and communication system played a crucial role in building its strength; if you want to be as powerful as the US, just start with learning from its journalism and communication system. Under this syllogistic logic, the US media outlets are welcomed to other countries, resulting in the founding of America’s global media empire after World War II. As a matter of fact, the US and its allies are seeing their interests expand worldwide alongside their successful international image construction. This reality would not come true without the set of theories called “development communication”.

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Considering that communication and international communication theories contain considerable DNA of war, we need to ponder over how China learned from this and from which theoretical starting point it should cognize and view these backgrounds. From the perspective of theoretical starting point, it seems necessary to regress the American version of international communication theory back to the original “jigsaw puzzle” to make a clear, non-blurred interpretation: The international communication theory put forward and implemented by the US stemmed from the problem awareness and means in the context of the Cold War, which America applied in practical struggles. Today, while criticizing the US-led Western world’s hegemony in international communication and their Cold War mentality to contain its development, China proposed the goals of building a harmonious world and a global community of shared future. However, if it adopted the communication techniques and process (even the term “international communication”) by copying the American way of thinking and methods during the postwar period, China would incur criticisms of imitating others without its own individuality and maintaining the Cold War mentality, and even cause “indigestion” and be considered “ridiculous stupidity” like nicking the moving boat to seek a sword dropping into the water. If so, the country would be unlikely to achieve the goal of enhancing its international communication capacity.

2 Starting Point of Problem Awareness in China’s International Communication Planning in the New Era It seems that the path gone through by many Chinese people engaged in international communication, may it be theoretically or practically, in the past decade can be summarized into two points: First, they try to go global before gaining a mature thought; second, they forget where they started after going far. The first point means that in the face of the imbalanced global communication landscape and weak international discourse in the early twenty-first century, China sensed some problems plaguing its international communication. For instance, leveraging the “mouths” of foreign media outlets couldn’t effectively spread China’s voices around the world, so it is necessary for Chinese media and content to go global. After realizing this point, Chinese media went abroad immediately even before they were ready. By the time, however, the stage of history had changed. On this new stage, one couldn’t go far if still clinging to theories half a century ago, instead of criticizing and discarding them. The second point is about what kind of international communication theory China should adopt in its international communication practice or what kind of “original aspiration” and “mission” China should maintain to define the scope and thinking of international communication to ensure the stable realization of its next international communication objectives and going farther after 10 years of learning from Western communication theories and international communication philosophy. As we go far,

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we need to return to the starting point and original aspiration that a mature subject, vision or plan should have. That is to say, each nation must clarify where to start and where to go in terms of international communication. It is just like when one leaves home, he or she must have a clear destination to go. In this case, when China puts forward the policy on international communication, we must be clear where we should start, which channels of communication we should adopt, what we should disseminate, who we should speak to, and what effect we want to achieve. Therefore, we need to evaluate the current situation we face before going global. When reviewing the process, it seems unlikely for us to deny that the alteration of the following facts and the collapse of previous research hypothesis are the prerequisite for making a workable plan.

3 Communication Hypothesis on the Verge of Collapse Cannot Become Theoretical Basis of New Plan for Enhancing International Communication Capacity First, the world is undergoing a transition from professional journalists to “everyone being a journalist” as well as the restructuring of communication power, structure and ecosystem. In the long river of human history, before the emergence of journalists and modern media system, as a common demand of human beings, “information” already had its innate demand–supply law and growth law. Back then, information that could enter the communication system including books and official documents had been considered and selected by the time and social elites. The regional, occasional information was integrated and reproduced as “knowledge” or “knowledge information” (after the systematization, scientification and regularization of information). For a long period of time in history, there was an information flow system with high-degree controllability. In theoretical sense, it was an era that people could exert influence on others’ minds by means of creating or destroying physical information carriers. The crux of the problem lies in that with the development of modern media system, communication thinking and methods gradually turned to fossilization and consequently resulted in the birth of mass communication that corresponded to this situation (in other words, an appropriate understanding of mass communication is that it is an experience summarization of communication thoughts and approaches in the traditional media age). As a way of communication in the early stage, mass communication created dividends of information liberation, that is, professional personnel and equipment helped break geographical limits of information dissemination, so the value of information was maximally unleashed through breaking physical boundaries. In summary, after the birth of broadcasting means, whether the first message it disseminated was the emperor’s cough or a royal coup, its paramount value lied in the phenomenon that information could reach everywhere no matter how far it was. However, with the upgrading and iteration of new technologies for information dissemination and the development of global communication realities, negative

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effects of mass communication quietly emerged and proliferated: The media system revolutionarily lowered material costs of communication and broke the boundary of information flow. At the same time, a new landscape was created: The main bodies that processed information changed from traditional intellectuals to journalists, a “new group of intellectuals”, which opened Pandora’s Box for information dissemination and initiated the low-priced information operation mode. Consequently, large-scale supply of digitalized information confused and even replaced the traditional mode of knowledge production by elites, and even elite intellectuals were hijacked by the information system and found it difficult to maintain the traditional knowledge production logic, so they began to provide more and more segmented “infor-knowledge” for new information production and communication logic refitting. As a result, the supply of information and the production of knowledge enter a track of Brownian motion: With the prevalence of UGC/PGC/PUGC in the 4G and 5G eras and in a world where everyone gets a microphone and everyone is a “journalist”, professional journalists have been reduced to “professional” laborers producing information from their role as the “Fourth Estate” and “Uncrowned King”. Coerced by the explosive flow of information, traditional intellectuals who are regarded as “consciousness of society” are reduced to brokers of the media and information environment—unfortunately, they have only two choices: Either to give up parts of their discourse power amid the chaos of information dissemination due to their inability to deal with the sea in the field, namely, the sea of information and knowledge, or to leverage the power of emerging capital and go deep into the “sea” to study and use seasonal communication “currents” (major planned or institution-controlled communication), so as to generate new power and reconstruct power’s structure and ecosystem in the sea of information. As a result, over the decade since 2009, when the Chinese media went global with mass communication theories and experience of the 2G era, they sadly found that the 5G era demonstrates a communication ecosystem totally different from previous communication patterns and international communication landscape. Second, as information disintegrates into message, the information dissemination mechanism has faced an absolute imbalance. We cannot define China’s international communication planning by referencing to previous communication theories and international communication philosophy. Information defined by Shannon merely states the function of information, namely, the resolution of uncertainty. However, from the perspective of general definition paradigm (genus-differentia definition), he failed to give “information” a necessary attribute in the definition. However, we can improve the definition of information based on Shannon’s: Information is message that resolves uncertainty. That is to say, information is a kind of message, and its uniqueness (differentia) lies in resolution of uncertainty. For instance, information produced by news institutions is message produced to resolve uncertainty through professional, continuous dissemination. That means information doesn’t have innate efficacy to resolve uncertainty. For example, sometimes a message without clear time, location, and subject cannot

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revolve uncertainty, but may even increase uncertainty. This explains why any rumor without complete information may cause panic especially amid natural disasters. Thus, as traditional media is busy enhancing professional means to provide systematic, professional, complete information to help the audience resolve uncertainty, in reality, social media and other information platforms deriving from ICTs already take the lead to publish messages without 5Ws and snatch the first right of interpretation to the audience. In China, social media and platforms win over advertisement resources and audience, forcing traditional mainstream media to seek integrated development with emerging media and platforms, in hope of keeping a part of the audience base and market share with emerging media. Even some Chinese emerging social media platforms have the need to transform their communication thinking. The past glory and experiences of traditional mainstream media have urged new platforms that have just entered the field of communication to strive to copy the information supply mode of traditional media at the early stage. However, international mainstream emerging media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have mobilized the sea of messages produced by everyone by means of UGC/PGC, etc. This led to such a consequence: Traditional media and weak dissemination generates unattractive content that results in ineffective communication—the contradiction between increasing information platforms and relatively backward information production and dissemination capacity continues escalating. In reality, this is manifested as the audience only pays attention to overseas information and post UGC on overseas platforms. This is the “political economy” in the field of communication: In the context of the aforesaid communication structure and ecosystem, on the one hand, China’s “information GDP” depreciates absolutely, and on the other hand, the overseas information production system and content have seen an absolute appreciation in value (or with their value elevated). As a result of the changes, our existing information platforms, logics and policies that are praised as “traditional” and information dissemination law based on the mass media and mass communication era are heavily dwarfed by today’s messages, voices and videos and other unstructured messages with incomplete 5Ws, and various segmented messages in terms of content, dissemination mode, and communication effect. In this circumstance, we lack our own platforms and have to borrow foreign platforms. However, policies of external media platforms are gradually tightened. In 2016, the EU and the US consecutively adopted the “anti-propaganda” law, forcing China to decrease the number of journalists dispatched to Western countries. Meanwhile, the China-built overseas platforms were also forced to shrink. The rigid mass communication logic is grappling with the impact of emerging communication methods of overseas social media platforms. Both domestic communication and international communication of China face the same challenges. In this context, it is imperative to deeply study the profound transition of communication environment and factors. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the US reshaped its global communication pattern. In 2009, China began to implement its international communication plan. Over ten years have passed, and we have endured many hardships in the process. It’s time for us to think it over before restarting our journey.

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Third, “audiences” turn into “users” and “migrate” to new media on a large scale. The presumption that mass media may provide us sufficient information ends up in failure. From the traditional logic/perspective of knowledge and information production, the group of people constructed based on the traditional logic and the emerging group of people constructed based on segmented, random message dissemination have lost balance in terms of communication philosophy. The tension between individual’s way and ability to receive message continues expanding, so does that between worldview and values. As a result of such an expansion, the mastery and dissemination of “knowledge” could have crossed time and space, and made up for the gap in the dissemination of knowledge or information through time and space—even if you read the newspaper a month later, you can keep your mind up to date. But now that information is disintegrating into messages, which further disintegrate exponentially, the phased result of which is a phenomenon of impoverishment of mesage dissemination: The contradiction between the people’s growing demand for information and the relatively backward information dissemination channels and information management ideas keeps escalating, which has been a practical problem we have to face. The differences in knowledge reserves, cognitive methods, and information sources and channels play a decisive role in guiding the differences in the effect of receiving information. Take the following step-by-step logic as an example: In the same language and homogeneous cultural context, listeners in the same room may receive/feel the same words differently, but those with similar knowledge reserves and similar information collection channels will have less differences in receiving information. However, when we disseminate the same information/message in a larger “space” to audiences from various parts of the world, the diversity of their cultural backgrounds increases the tension and contradiction of mutual understanding between cultures. Due to the absolute treatment of “space”, that is, everyone is in a specific space at a certain time, even if there is an absolute difference in information cognitive ability and cognitive level between the subjects, the absolutization of specific space, time and information can still enable audiences to acquire information/message with their ears and eyes. By further analysis, when such information remains unchanged and the “space” is further enlarged to the entire world, both time and space are relativized and the diversified subjects from around the world can control time and space on their own. In this case, how much the possibility and how wide can particular information attract ears and eyes? One of the reasons behind this communication effect is the diversification of information/message transmission channels due to the absolute difference in effect brought about by the relativization of time and space. To put it more bluntly, the transmission effect of specific time (simulcast fixed time) and space cannot be achieved. Under many replacements and shifts (based on China’s reality): Spatial replacement—the mode of living determines the mode of interpersonal communication (residential compounds of an institution become commercial communities, and rural society evolves into commercial society); reserve replacement—knowledge is replaced by information, and information is replaced by message, resulting in the replacement of knowledge reserves;

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cognitive replacement—replacement of cognitive mode, with a certain homogeneous culture becoming a kind of history and imagination, and in the context of continuous fission of cultural heterogeneity, communication evolves into an extremely difficult practice. As a direct result, the presumption in the field of communication that certain equilibrium in the dissemination of information can be achieved through mass media has been frustrated, and alternative institutions have emerged, causing many to question the functions of mass media. If the absolute imbalance of mass media in information dissemination fails its responsibility in balancing the supply of information, then among the original attributes of mass media—“independence, freedom, immediacy, objectivity, authenticity, and professionalism”, it seems that “professionalism” is the only still firmly held by traditional media. That is to say, we use professional equipment, through professionally trained personnel with professional literacy to collect, transmit and distribute information, while the rest attributes such as “objectivity, immediacy, authenticity, independence, and freedom” have been ceded to message disseminators on social media and information platforms who do interviews and provide contents according to the hints (instructions) from the platforms in the chain of information dissemination. Thus, the role of mass media in the industry and society and the setting of their social responsibilities are worth meticulous consideration and repositioning. Fourth, the continuation of international communication theory and practice laid down during the Cold War in China today is no longer in line with the development trend of communication governance modernization under the logic of China’s modernization. Against the “Cold War” background of international communication, the rise of communication across countries and regions has liberated the role of the media and the presumption of communication. When we put forward the goal of “telling China’s stories”, it may be the time when we just gained a true understanding of communication. Previously, we had been listening to the stories of the world and the stories told to us by the Western media. We always believed that they were true, and even the textbooks of journalism and communication have always preached the tenets of “authenticity” and “objectivity”. The Cold War and the international communication that spawned during that period provided extremely vivid lessons: Communication between countries seems to break through national borders to allow us to see and hear another reality, but at the same time it seems to “create” some kind of reality. When a large number of international communication practices based on cross-cultural slogans or propaganda are proved to be nothing but makers of new borders/barriers, it does urge people to question whether such international communication is responsible, has social responsibilities and a sense of mission for the future, or serve as the media that can give us hope and expectation. The facts of the Cold War and a large number of literature reviews are enough to prove (even just analyzing any piece of message disseminated by CNN can also reveals the characteristics of such discourse) that a large number of Western media spread messages in the way similar to a “hamburger”—with a layer of vegetables (soft messages), a layer of meat (hard messages), a layer of sour cucumbers or peppers (opinions), and a layer of cheese (opinions/messages), so that consumers eat “messages” and “opinions” (peppers and sour cucumbers) together. In this case, the audience gets

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certain messages, but that isn’t important. What matters is how we should “digest” the perspective (point of view) of how to view the messages. From this point of view, the Cold War and the international communication system and practice based on it not only failed to eliminate cultural boundaries, but also constructed cognitive differences and information gaps between countries, and even new information understanding boundaries/barriers, which has become a very serious issue in the cognition of international communication. However, the label of the Cold War has not faded yet even today. We can see that through the two world wars, the West constructed an absolute, mass media-based global communication reality, and the transnational media industry established an absolute discourse space and power. Afterwards, when other countries, especially the Soviet Union, resisted or refuted the discourse power of the US-led Western world with another voice and tried to provide another kind of information and perspective to view information, they could not renew international communication with another possible background. As a result, in fact, everyone has the same “photographic plate”, and the only difference is that they choose different messages and shoot from different angles. No one manages to, or wants to get rid of the existing “negative film” of discourse competition based on economic and military strengths like in the past. Along with the development of China, the vast majority of Western countries still haven’t changed their Cold War mentality when viewing China. In this case, what kind of “photographic plate” and what kind of picture should we present to the world? After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the US re-established the Office of Global Communication two years after the abolition of the United States Information Agency (1953–1999) and then set up the Strategic Communications and Interagency Policy Committee in 2008 to comprehensively promote strategic communications. From an academic perspective, an irrefutable fact is that the Office of Global Communication has achieved a comprehensive return to the postwar propaganda ideas and models in the name of integrated marketing communication or strategic communications. That is to say, since 2001, the new round of information warfare has achieved a full return to “propaganda”, a concept that was demonized half a century ago, in the name of “strategic communications”. As China’s international communication theory and practice go to the international stage, constantly abandon propaganda ideas, replace propaganda practices with communication strategies, and strive to learn from international experience and Western “de-propaganda” ideas to tell its stories, some Western countries are returning to propaganda. Sadly, the presumptions that we have previously accepted, including the theory and logic of mass communication and communication taught in textbooks, have collapsed. Facing the rapid development of new media, existing mass communication theory and international communication philosophy are both in dire need of theoretical innovation. There is only one expectation for the construction of international communication theory: Whether is it possible to develop international communication theory with Chinese characteristics that conforms to the reality of international issues on the land of China? What the Chinese communication community needs to do is to transcend the imagination of strength and power and reshape their ideas—develop ideas that match

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their strengths and spatial ambitions, and shift toward the East, just as the rising Germany developed the concept of “culture” from the word “cultura” which originally referred to crop cultivation. This demonstrates the wisdom of German philosophy and Germany’s ideological effort to use the logic of “culture-civilization” to compete with the original “civilization-barbarism” binary opposition of Britain and France, laying the foundation for the country to integrate into the powerful discourse group in the following 200 years. Undoubtedly, new communication ideas are needed in the future development of communication studies as well as international communication theory and practice. Chinese media and Gen-Z ought to be important contributors to the construction of new communication philosophy.

Jiang Fei Dean and professor of the School of International Journalism and Communication, Beijing Foreign Studies University. He once served as a research fellow at the Institute of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.