Advancing new industrialization, modernization

"Bolstering the development of new quality productive forces is of vital importance to advance new industrialization and achieve Chinese modernization," Qu said, highlighting that sci-tech innovation serves as a key element in developing such forces.

"For traditional industries, the injection of new quality productive factors like data, and the innovative allocation of original factors of production can effectively promote the deep transformation and upgrade of industries."

Qu called for more efforts to step up investments in core technologies in key fields and solve bottleneck issues in areas like raw materials, critical components, core equipment and basic software, to boost the nation's self-reliance and strength in science and technology and speed up the building of a modern industrial system.

He also stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation in sci-tech, improve capabilities in basic research, accelerate the construction of new types of infrastructure like computing power centers and national laboratories, and deepen sci-tech system reforms to cultivate more high-quality talent.

The emphasis on strengthening sci-tech innovation, especially original and disruptive innovation, is an important part of China's broader drive to hone its science and technological prowess. China has risen to the 11th place on the 2022 Global Innovation Index of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and remains the only middle-income economy in the top 30.

Chinese high-tech manufacturing companies are playing an increasingly pivotal role in ensuring the security and stability of industrial and supply chains, strengthening the country's capacity to buffer against external risks and shocks, and nurturing new quality productive forces.

The nation will launch an initiative to pursue high-quality development of key manufacturing chains, with focus on shoring up weak links, reinforcing strengths and fostering new capabilities, the Government Work Report said.

Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman and president of Chinese home appliance maker Gree Electric Appliances, and a deputy to the 14th NPC, said it is important for manufacturing enterprises to beef up independent innovation capacities in cutting-edge technologies and continuously improve the quality of products and services to foster new quality productive forces.

She said Chinese enterprises must master core technologies as part of a broader push to promote the high-end, intelligent and green transformation of industries.

"The new quality productive forces are a combination of various capabilities in the process of promoting high-quality development," said Li Dongsheng, a deputy to the 14th NPC and founder and chairman of Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL Technology Group.