Since Premier Li Keqiang took office, topics regarding economic transformation and upgrading have been discussed at State Council executive meetings at least 35 times.

Premier Li stressed that China should step up efforts to foster new growth drivers while transforming and upgrading traditional ones, to phase out backward production capacities, and to continuously optimize China’s economic structure.

Accelerated shift from old to new drivers of growth

Revolving around the supply-side structural reform, China has fostered new drivers of growth by accelerating the development of new technologies, industries and business formats.

Through the mass innovation and entrepreneurship strategy, traditional industries were integrated with new growth drivers to better meet market demands.

Enterprises that failed to meet standards on environmental protection, energy consumption and safety, especially those in the steel and coal sectors, were closed down to eliminate outdated production capacities.

In addition, a range of measures were taken to ensure proper staff resettlement.

Fields involved in economic upgrading

To promote agricultural industrialization, China has encouraged the development of scale breeding, agro-product processing and rural service industries, as well as the establishment of a complete industry chain covering production, processing, logistics and marketing.

China has shifted its focus from “made in China” to “intelligent manufacturing in China” and urged State-owned enterprises to improve quality and efficiency through reforms and innovations.

Efforts also were made to upgrade consumer goods, stimulate information consumption, and propel the coordinated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, as well as enterprises of different sizes and sectors.

Thanks to these efforts, more than 100 million tons of excess steel and 400 million tons of excess coal were eliminated, and over 1 million employees were resettled within just two years.

New drivers of growth contributed to over 30 percent economic growth and helped create 70 percent of new jobs in urban areas.

Over the past five years, China’s economy, mainly driven by consumption and innovation, has contributed to over 30 percent of global growth every year on average.