Innovation has become a highlight in China’s economic and social outlook, industrial statistics for the first half of 2019 showed.

The added value of hi-tech manufacturing increased by 9 percent year-on-year, 3 percentage points faster than that of industries above designated size. Output of new energy vehicles and solar cells rose by 34.6 percent and 20.1 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

China currently has more than 200 digital workshops and smart factories, with over 140,000 industrial robots produced. The penetration rate of digital research and design tools in industrial enterprises has reached 68 percent. And the market size of China's smart manufacturing is projected to exceed 1.9 trillion yuan this year.

In the first half of this year, dozens of national and provincial manufacturing innovation hubs have been established, focusing on key areas such as new materials and integrated circuits.

The investment for research and development by Chinese enterprises has taken over more than 70 percent of the total input in this field by the whole society. And more than 40 percent of industrial enterprises above designated size have carried out technological innovation activities.

China took the lead in issuing commercial 5G license globally in June. Shortly after, the first full-process 5G intelligent manufacturing production line in the country was built in Wuhan of Central China’s Hubei province. The system allows clients to place orders via 5G network and it will finish the whole process of manufacturing, monitoring, and delivering through 5G-based cloud transmission.

The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to China’s economic growth has reached nearly 60 percent, prompting emergence and development of cutting-edge fields such as unmanned driving, telemedicine, and intelligent connected vehicle. Continuous and intensive R&D work has been conducted in infrastructure construction, new energy, marine creature research and digital economy.