China should cultivate a new competitive industrial system during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, as a proactive and strategic way to face the new round of global industrial competition, according to Vice-Premier Ma Kai.

To that end, the country should modernize the manufacturing industry, accelerate development of the service industry, foster and support emerging industries with strategic importance, alongside moves to update and optimize traditional industries, the vice-premier said in an article published in the People’s Daily on Nov 10.

Industries lay the foundation for a country’s strength and prosperity, the vice-premier said at the beginning of the article. The world’s industrial technologies and divisions will undergo profound changes during China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period — a crucial time for China to improve the quality and efficiency of its economy — which poses opportunities and challenges to China’s industrial transformation.

To build the new industrial system, the vice-premier stressed the six principles of innovation, green development, integration of information technology and industrialization, optimization of industrial structure, opening-up and cooperation, and talent.

The vice-premier continued to elaborate on the major tasks in this regard, prioritizing the role of a modernized manufacturing industry, which feature intelligent, green, and service-oriented development.

The government should promote opening up the service industry by expanding market access, and reduce institutional barriers to involve different market entities in this field. The service industry will also open to foreign investors in an orderly manner, Ma added.

China will take visionary actions to foster emerging industries with strategic importance, of which, the vice-premier highlighted that the country should grab a leading position in the fields of aerospace and maritime technologies, information technology and cyberspace, life sciences, and nuclear technology.

As for traditional industries, they will utilize new technology, technique, equipment and materials to offer quality products. The vice-premier encouraged mergers and acquisitions in this field to forge a group of conglomerates with core competence. He also pointed to using the market and economic approach to solve the problem of overcapacity in these industries and generate a mechanism for enterprises to make exits.

The vice-premier also put importance on the government’s role in the process of building the new industrial model, and encouraged industries to further advance in terms of exporting quality products as well as tapping the global market.