Summer talking points

Source: China Daily

Update: Jun 22nd, 2026  7:08 PM

WANG XIAOYING/CHINA DAILY

China’s next chapter of development emphasizes new quality productive forces and innovation at scale

China’s advanced technology is being applied in the real economy as it enters the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period. The electric vehicle sector provides insight into China’s next chapter of economic development which emphasizes innovation at scale.

Innovative suspension solutions, hydraulically operated and coordinated with software in China’s EVs smooth out the ride faster than any comparable mechanical system. The cars are loaded with advanced smart features. But not just the cars are smart — they are embedded into smart manufacturing which rests on relentless innovation. The relationship between these forces is what drives innovation at scale. China has already embarked on this chapter of economic development.

The move beyond smart resets the economic landscape with what China calls new quality productive forces. The focus goes beyond advanced industries such as clean-energy manufacturing, semiconductors and biotechnology. An intelligent digital and technological society feeds into every level of economic activity, changing the nature of work in ways not yet fully understood. Exploring these is likely to be one of the topics discussed at the World Economic Forum’s 2026  Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos. This forum is expected to showcase China’s achievements in high-quality economic development, convey the country’s firm confidence in opening-up and share the broad opportunities brought by Chinese modernization.

As China is becoming the “smart factory of the future”, fixed asset investment in manufacturing has a strong focus on the industrial application of robots and the integration of artificial intelligence.

It is estimated by the Robotics Center of Silicon Valley that robot density in Chinese manufacturing surged to 392 robots per 10,000 workers in 2024. According to the World Robotics 2025 report released by the Frankfurt-based International Federation of Robotics, Chinese robot makers sold more units at home than foreign competitors, with their domestic market share rising to 57 percent in 2024.

China is also accelerating the integration of AI into manufacturing as part of its efforts to move up the global value chain. For instance, last August, Shanghai unveiled a three-year “AI+manufacturing” implementation plan, which introduced measures aimed at achieving breakthroughs in industrial intelligence technologies.

Such measures helped unleash the application of new quality productive forces that will change the economic and social landscape in China and beyond.

The new productive forces prioritize high-tech, high-efficiency and high-quality development driven by scientific and technological innovation rather than traditional labor and capital. This is different from the Silicon Valley’s philosophy of “move fast and break things” because the policy objectives include social outcomes rather than just profit. Understanding and managing the way these forces will change the social relationship between labor and capital may also be a focus of the Summer Davos.

The new quality productive forces come from AI, quantum and other high-end technologies that are empowering the digital economy to be a new paradigm, which includes innovating at scale and speed. The multiple applications already found in the low-altitude economy can show how this process develops. China can see this approach as the next chapter where these changes also serve positive social development.

A key facilitator of technology in China’s real economy is the development and adoption of universal technical standards in almost every aspect from the design of physical connector plugs to the distribution of advanced AI tools and setting behavior parameters for android robots. Lack of agreement on standards is not just about software and AI. Simple things such as differently shaped and incompatible charging ports for EVs or phones drag down productivity and hinder digital advances.

Over the past few years, China has linked its standardization practice closely to industrial policy and long-term innovation goals. Along with China’s development of new quality productive forces and the standardization of some important technological applications, China has become a “standard maker” that increasingly writes the rules in key technology fields.

Besides, China’s rapidly developing digital ecosystem, of which DeepSeek is a part, also drives an AI and big data hyper-personalized consumer experience stretching from robotics to green energy and smart cities.

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan lays out arrangements for high-quality development that are echoed in the theme of the Summer Davos — “Innovating at Scale” — which is about the way the digital economy is growing. More specifically, it’s a question about how to balance competition and cooperation to promote AI for good, expand digital payment platforms for more Global South countries, enrich safety features on EVs and innovate other aspects of the digital universe in a more effective and environmentally friendly way.

How China responds to the various challenges will ripple well beyond its borders and help shape supply chains, business strategies and cooperation among countries. The Summer Davos provides an opportunity for global business and political leaders to exchange ideas on how to leverage the seismic shift in economic and industrial relationships triggered by global innovation at scale to create new development opportunities.

The author is an international financial technical analysis expert and a former national board member at the Australia China Business Council.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.