[Li Pumin] Good morning,各位 journalists. Welcome to the regular press conference of the National Development and Reform Commission. Today, I’m joined by Mr. Qi Chengyuan, Director of our High-Tech Department, and Mr. Meng Xiantang, Deputy Inspector, to brief you on the “Overall Plan for Systematically Promoting Comprehensive Innovation and Reform Trials in Selected Regions.” To help everyone better understand the key aspects of this overall plan, let me first provide a brief introduction. 2015-09-15 09:25:03

[Li Pumin] The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to innovation-driven development. Last August, General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired the seventh meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group, specifically to study and deliberate on the innovation-driven development strategy. The meeting called for accelerating research into systematically promoting comprehensive innovation and reform pilot programs in selected provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Together with relevant departments, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology have jointly drafted this “Overall Plan,” which is now in your hands. This document was jointly issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council. In addition to this document, since the beginning of this year, the NDRC, together with relevant departments, has researched, drafted, and submitted to the Party Central Committee and the State Council for promulgation a series of policy documents related to innovation-driven development. Under the guidance and support of these policies and measures, China’s efforts to drive development through innovation have been further intensified, the pace of economic transformation and upgrading has accelerated further, and the innovative and entrepreneurial vitality of the entire society has surged even more vigorously. New technologies, new industries, and new business models are rapidly developing. In the first eight months of this year, the value-added of high-tech manufacturing increased by 10.4%, a growth rate 4.1 percentage points faster than that of the overall industrial value-added. This leading edge has remained above 4 percentage points for nine consecutive months. 2015-09-15 09:27:16

[Li Pumin] Today’s press conference focuses on introducing the key details of the “Overall Plan for Systematically Promoting Comprehensive Innovation and Reform Trials in Selected Regions.” In line with the principles of abundant innovation achievements, a solid institutional foundation, leading-edge transformation efforts, potential for short-term breakthroughs, and coordinated regional planning, the Overall Plan has identified eight pilot reform zones—covering central, eastern, western, and northeastern regions. These include one inter-provincial administrative region: the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area; four provincial-level administrative regions: Shanghai, Guangdong, Anhui, and Sichuan; and three core areas at the provincial level—primarily Wuhan, Xi'an, and Shenyang. The content of each pilot zone has its own specific focus. For instance, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei pilot zone is primarily geared toward fostering coordinated regional development; Shanghai is focused on taking the lead in innovation and transformation within the Yangtze River Delta core region; Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta is aimed at deepening innovation cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao; Anhui’s Hefei-Wuhu-Bengbu and Wuhan are designed to facilitate the “from east to west” transfer and adjustment of industrial clusters; Sichuan’s Chengdu-Deyang-Mianyang and Xi'an are dedicated to accelerating the deep integration of military and civilian sectors; and Shenyang is focused on advancing the process of new industrialization. 2015-09-15 09:29:47

[Li Pumin] The “Overall Plan” is an implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on carrying out the innovation-driven development strategy, as well as an implementation of the Party Central Committee and the State Council’s major decisions and deployments on innovation and reform. The Overall Plan consists of four parts, and its main contents can be summarized as “three close ties,” “four steadfast commitments,” “two overarching goals,” and “four effective measures.” 2015-09-15 09:32:24

[Li Pumin] The “Three Closely Aligned” approach is the overarching requirement for comprehensive innovation and reform trials: First, closely align with the major strategic plans laid down by the Party Central Committee and the State Council on innovative development and reform, using these trials to swiftly implement reform tasks, achieve breakthroughs in key areas, and develop a batch of significant reform initiatives that can be replicated and scaled up. Second, closely adhere to the fundamental requirements of comprehensive innovation, taking scientific and technological innovation as the core and comprehensively advancing reforms in related fields such as economy, science and technology, and education. Third, closely focus on the goal of driving development through innovation, emphasizing reliance on innovation to propel growth and leveraging reform to foster innovation, and through these trials, enabling certain regions to serve as models and leaders.

The “Four Principles” are the guiding principles for the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program. First, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, closely focusing on development and emphasizing that addressing the most prominent contradictions and challenges hindering innovation-driven development should serve as both the starting point and the ultimate goal, thereby identifying key breakthroughs for reform. Second, we must uphold systematic design and coordinated planning, stressing that achieving innovation-driven development ahead of others should be the fundamental objective. We need to strengthen top-level design and promote the reform pilot program in a systematic, holistic, and collaborative manner. Third, we must embrace comprehensive innovation with targeted breakthroughs, emphasizing that technological innovation and institutional mechanism innovation should be pursued simultaneously as dual tasks. We should focus on major reform initiatives that are most urgent, impactful, and feasible, and carry out pilot programs first. Fourth, we must prioritize strengthening incentives for talent, placing the motivation of innovators at the forefront of all reform policies and fully unleashing the innovative vitality of the entire society.

The “two major goals” aim to achieve significant breakthroughs in at least two key areas through three years of effort. First, the pilot zones must attain important reform breakthroughs in several critical sectors and crucial links, and then promote these achievements nationwide. Second, the pilot zones must take the lead in transitioning to innovation-driven development and play a demonstrative and leading role.

“The ‘Four Effective Measures’ are the primary tasks of the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program. First, explore effective mechanisms for leveraging both market and government roles, further clarifying the boundaries between the market and the government and defining their respective functional roles in driving innovation. Second, explore effective approaches to promoting the deep integration of science and technology with the economy, thereby further smoothing the channels between scientific and technological innovation and economic development. Third, explore effective measures to stimulate the motivation and vitality of innovators, making better use of the leverage of benefit distribution so that innovative talents and entrepreneurial innovators can reap tangible rewards. Fourth, explore effective models for deepening open innovation, fully harnessing global scientific and technological achievements and high-end talent to carry out higher-level international innovation cooperation.” 2015-09-15 09:33:18

[Li Pumin] The “Overall Plan” also outlines a schedule for implementation, specifying three key milestones. The first is in the fourth quarter of 2015, when the eight pilot regions are to develop specific pilot reform plans tailored to their local conditions. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with relevant departments, will establish an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism to conduct in-depth research on the pilot policies, approving them one by one as they mature. The second milestone is in 2016, when the eight pilot regions will fully advance and implement the reform pilot programs. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with relevant departments, will organize phased summary and evaluation efforts, promptly promoting mature reform measures nationwide. The third milestone, after 2017, will involve rolling out annual reform pilot tasks, conducting mid-term evaluations of the pilot regions, and timely promoting major reform initiatives as appropriate.

Next, our commission will work together with the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as relevant departments and local authorities, to organize and implement the overall plan effectively. We will establish coordination and support mechanisms, strengthen supervision, evaluation, and promotion, and, in the spirit of reform and innovation and through solid, effective measures, successfully complete all tasks related to the innovation trials.

I’ll briefly conclude my overview here. Now, please feel free to ask your questions. As per our usual practice, each journalist who wishes to ask a question should pose just one question at a time and kindly state the media outlet you represent. 2015-09-15 09:36:34

[Tencent Finance Reporter] Could you please tell us what specific safeguards are in place to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the document and the full-scale advancement of innovation and reform trials? 2015-09-15 09:38:17

[Meng Xiantang] Thank you for your question. To be precise, the overall plan for the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program systematically lays out the key tasks and methodological steps for all aspects of the reform pilot—including timelines and roadmaps—and puts forward a series of priority tasks and important initiatives. We believe that fully implementing this “Overall Plan” is both a specific component and an essential requirement for advancing our innovation-driven development strategy. Therefore, in the next phase of our work, we intend to focus on the following areas to ensure the swift implementation and effective rollout of the “Overall Plan.” 2015-09-15 09:39:36

[Meng Xiantang] First, under the leadership group for reforming the national science and technology system and building an innovation-driven system, we need to establish an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism. This coordination mechanism will be chaired by the National Development and Reform Commission, with the Ministry of Science and Technology serving as the co-chair. It will also bring together relevant departments of the State Council and the provincial people's governments in the regions undertaking the pilot tasks, working jointly to guide the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot efforts. As we all know, this initiative is highly exploratory in nature. The goals set forth are very clear—just now, Secretary-General Li Pumin elaborated on them: one goal is to generate replicable and scalable experiences and outcomes that can be widely adopted; the other is to help certain regions take the lead in achieving a transformation driven by innovation. Given that these tasks must be accomplished within a relatively short timeframe, robust organizational support is essential. Establishing such a mechanism is precisely aimed at fully leveraging the strengths of various ministries and localities, providing strong organizational guarantees for implementing the “Overall Plan.” In the course of previously advancing various reform initiatives, different ministries and localities have already accumulated rich experience. As you may have noticed, over the past period, in response to the implementation of the national innovation-driven development strategy and the drive for mass entrepreneurship and innovation, the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and various government departments have successively introduced a series of policy measures—all of which are linked in various ways to our deepening of the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program. Therefore, we aim to make full use of the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism as a platform, building upon the work already underway in each ministry and giving full play to the important roles that localities are playing in this reform pilot effort.

Second, in response to the deployment and requirements of the reform pilot tasks, we will establish a mechanism to ensure the implementation of supporting policies and measures. Relevant departments under the State Council are required to actively study and develop policy measures that support the reform pilots, and to make appropriate arrangements and deployments for related work. At the same time, localities are urged to formulate targeted policy initiatives based on their own specific conditions and realities in conducting the reform pilots. Some of these policy measures can be addressed within the scope of local practices and will be advanced through local reform agencies and coordination mechanisms; others, which require authorization from the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and relevant departments, must be proposed by the localities themselves. We will leverage the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism, working jointly with various departments to conduct thorough research and propose concrete implementation measures, thereby ensuring that subsequent reform efforts proceed smoothly.

I think the most important aspect here is how we can stay firmly oriented toward problem-solving and truly forge a synergistic approach to policymaking. After all, the purpose of these reform experiments is to explore viable pathways. Judging from the four key tasks outlined in the “Overall Plan,” each one targets specific, pressing contradictions and challenges currently facing comprehensive innovation and reform. This calls for creatively launching a series of initiatives. In the course of this process, we may encounter policy issues that are either currently unaddressed by existing policies, or whose direction is only gradually becoming clearer and still requires further refinement. All these require local authorities to formulate concrete reform directions and specific implementation plans tailored to their own realities. The role of the inter-ministerial coordination mechanism is precisely to ensure, at the national level, that reforms across different regions are well-coordinated, with each region focusing on its own strengths and advancing relevant reforms in targeted areas. 2015-09-15 09:51:17

[Meng Xiantang] Third, we must leverage the role of inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms, strengthen supervision, evaluation, and promotion of reform experiments, organize annual inspections and third-party assessments of pilot regions, promptly identify and address issues, and publicize and promote exemplary practices. We emphasize that reform itself is not an end in itself; rather, its primary purpose is to explore a viable path—one that holds reference and promotional value for reforms across all sectors and localities nationwide. Therefore, these eight pilot regions are serving as “vanguard” forces in the reform effort, conducting pioneering exploration and practical implementation at the front lines. Through such rigorous supervision and evaluation, coupled with enhanced publicity—supported by media friends including all of you—we can ensure that progress and outcomes from various aspects of these reform experiments are promptly disseminated and widely adopted, playing a crucial role in driving forward related reforms. 2015-09-15 09:59:26

[Reporter from China Economic Herald] Why was the “Overall Plan” introduced? What is its background? And what is its significance? 2015-09-15 10:04:41

[Meng Xiantang] Thank you for your question. As we all know, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed implementing an innovation-driven development strategy—a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee after a comprehensive analysis of domestic and international development trends and based on an overall perspective of China’s development. The most crucial task in implementing this innovation-driven development strategy is to deepen reform and accelerate innovation in systems and mechanisms. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the most fundamental aspect of implementing the innovation-driven development strategy is to enhance our capacity for independent innovation; the most urgent task is to remove institutional and systemic barriers, thereby fully unleashing and stimulating the enormous potential inherent in science and technology as the primary productive force, and effectively creating the necessary systems, mechanisms, and favorable environment for implementing the innovation-driven development strategy.

Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that to achieve sustained, healthy economic development and continuous social progress, we must rely on innovation-driven growth, integrate reform into every aspect of the economy, enhance the efficiency of scientific and technological innovation through institutional innovation, let the market determine the allocation of innovation resources, fully unleash the creative potential of all types of innovation actors, and foster a vibrant environment characterized by mass entrepreneurship and widespread innovation.

Innovation-driven development must rely on the dual-engine approach of scientific and technological innovation and institutional and systemic innovation. Over the past few years, our country has continuously increased its investment in science and technology, and remarkable progress has been made in scientific and technological innovation. However, the role of science and technology in supporting the transformation of economic development models still has room for further enhancement. The main reason behind this lies in the lack of effective coordination between institutional and systemic innovation and scientific and technological innovation. Many of our current economic systems and policies remain tailored to traditional development approaches, thereby stifling the motivation of innovation actors. This includes distortions in the prices of key factors such as resources, energy, land, and labor, which fail to create an effective “push” mechanism for innovation-driven development and leave enterprises lacking sufficient incentives to innovate. For example, the imperfect order of market competition, along with industry monopolies and market segmentation, also inhibit innovation. Moreover, judicial protection of intellectual property rights urgently needs to be further strengthened. We also need to further reinforce our concepts and systems for cultivating innovative talent; the enthusiasm and creativity of scientific researchers have yet to be fully unleashed. 2015-09-15 10:05:34

[Meng Xiantang] To address these issues, it is imperative to advance comprehensive innovation and reform. Comprehensive innovation and reform emphasizes technological innovation as its core, but it must simultaneously promote innovation in institutions, management, organization, and business models. Building the institutional environment must also be closely integrated with economic and social reforms. Without addressing the persistent distortions in factor prices, breaking the deadlock where intellectual property rights are easily infringed upon yet difficult to protect, reversing the situation where it’s easy to profit from monopolies but hard to reap benefits from innovation, and adjusting the allocation of ownership, usage, disposal, and revenue rights over scientific and technological achievements, it will be extremely challenging to effectively implement an innovation-driven development strategy. 2015-09-15 10:21:14

[Meng Xiantang] In response to these issues, we are promoting comprehensive innovation and reform trials. This initiative itself is an important component of the overall implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy; it serves as a key lever and platform for reforming the systems and mechanisms underpinning innovation-driven development, and also represents a crucial step in putting the innovation-driven development strategy into practice. The formulation and issuance of this “Overall Plan,” I believe, particularly highlights “two key areas of implementation.”

First, we must fully implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping. At present, China’s economic development has entered a “new normal,” characterized by three key transformations: a shift in growth speed, optimization of economic structure, and a transition in growth drivers. As traditional growth drivers continue to weaken, downward pressure on China’s economy is intensifying. Faced with prominent contradictions and challenges, it has become imperative to transform China’s economic growth model and urgently necessary to shift our development drivers. To this end, the Central Committee has made major strategic decisions to implement an innovation-driven development strategy. In particular, on August 18 last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the seventh meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group and issued important instructions on implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, calling for systematic promotion of comprehensive innovation and reform trials in selected provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. To thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions, our commission, together with the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant departments, has, based on in-depth research and analysis of various aspects of the situation, systematically formulated this “Overall Plan” in accordance with the overall framework and key priorities of the innovation-driven development strategy.

Second, we must implement the major decisions on innovation and reform issued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. In March of this year, the Party Central Committee and the State Council released the "Several Opinions on Deepening Institutional and Mechanistic Reform and Accelerating the Implementation of an Innovation-Driven Development Strategy"—commonly referred to as the Central Document No. 8. This document lays out a series of strategic plans and decisions for institutional and mechanistic reforms related to innovation-driven development, with particular emphasis on four key areas: First, it highlights comprehensive innovation and systematically deploys various reform measures aimed at driving innovation. Comprehensive innovation is the core essence of innovation-driven development. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that implementing an innovation-driven development strategy means promoting comprehensive innovation centered on scientific and technological innovation, thus achieving dual-wheel drive through both technological innovation and institutional innovation. Second, it underscores the role of the market, making the market the decisive force in allocating resources. The market is the source of动力 for innovation-driven development; the main thread of innovation-driven reform is to fully leverage the market’s decisive role in resource allocation, with a particular focus on creating an institutional environment that can fundamentally stimulate the innovation drive and vitality of the entire society. Third, it emphasizes a people-centered approach, using the lever of benefit distribution to unleash the vitality of every innovator. Talents are the fundamental driving force behind innovation-driven development; essentially, innovation-driven development is talent-driven. We must not only inspire innovators’ courage and perseverance through career opportunities but also attach great importance to necessary material incentives, enabling them to achieve both fame and fortune. The current system for distributing rights and benefits from scientific and technological achievements does not adequately reflect the value and contributions of creators, and researchers lack the motivation to conduct market-oriented research and development and technology transfer. Fourth, it highlights financial innovation, focusing on addressing the long-standing challenges of difficult and expensive financing that have constrained innovation. Finance is the lifeblood of the modern economy and an essential condition for innovation-driven development. Without strong capital support, it is extremely difficult for scientific and technological achievements to complete the “three-stage leap” from scientific research and experimental development all the way to widespread application and commercialization. 2015-09-15 10:21:48

[Meng Xiantang] Therefore, from the perspective of reform planning, Document No. 8 has made comprehensive arrangements around these key areas. Among these reform initiatives, some have clearly defined their basic directions; however, fully rolling them out across the board still carries relatively high risks, necessitating that local authorities be authorized by the central government to carry out pilot programs first. This calls for coordinated planning and systematic deployment—selecting certain regions that meet the necessary conditions and, while firmly upholding bottom lines and guarding against risks, boldly launching these pilot programs. In this way, we can achieve breakthroughs in key areas and play a leading and exemplary role. It is precisely within this context that we, together with the Ministry of Science and Technology, have taken the lead in organizing various departments to jointly study and propose the “Overall Plan.” 2015-09-15 10:21:59

[Reporter from China News Service] At present, we are promoting many different types of reform experiments. How should we properly manage the relationship between comprehensive innovation and reform experiments and the various existing experiments? 2015-09-15 10:23:42

[Meng Xiantang] Thank you. This is a question that has drawn widespread attention. As reform continues to deepen, pilot reforms in various areas—national-level, sector-specific, and regional—are being carried out extensively. Now, the proposal has emerged to launch comprehensive innovation and reform trials. Could I explain the relationship among these different initiatives?

The comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program—just now, Secretary-General Li Pumin mentioned that its main tasks are strategically organized around four key areas. Judging from the specific reform measures designed, these cover market access, using factor prices to drive innovation, implementing stringent intellectual property protection, promoting the transformation of government functions and reducing administrative interference in the market, advancing financial reforms, reforming research institutes and universities, facilitating the capitalization and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, boosting enterprises’ innovation incentives, effectively leveraging the mechanism of benefit distribution to ensure innovators reap rewards, fostering talent mobility and incentivizing innovative talent, perfecting mechanisms for ownership and benefit-sharing of intellectual property rights, establishing deeply integrated and open innovation systems, deepening reforms in the management of foreign investment and outbound investments, and promoting the “going global” of domestic technology brands—all of which reflect the systematic and holistic nature of the comprehensive innovation and reform initiative. 2015-09-15 10:24:10

[Meng Xiantang] What is the relationship between these reform initiatives and the experiments we’ve already been conducting? To further deepen reform, many regions have launched various pilot programs—such as the establishment of National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zones, National Comprehensive Reform Pilot Zones, Free Trade Pilot Zones, National New Areas, Patent-Navigation-Based Industrial Development Pilot Zones, and Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones. Most of these reform experiments are designed as pilot demonstrations aimed at specific sectors or particular objectives. These reforms have laid an important foundation and accumulated valuable experience in certain areas, thereby creating favorable conditions for comprehensive innovation and reform. As we systematically advance these comprehensive innovation and reform experiments, we will continue to leverage the role of existing reform initiatives while emphasizing both their interconnectedness and their distinctiveness, which is particularly evident in three key aspects:

First, the comprehensive innovation and reform trials will leverage existing pilot zones as a foundation, with a particular emphasis on driving reforms rather than relying solely on policy provisions, thereby avoiding the creation of “policy havens.”

Second, the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot programs emphasize the systematic, holistic, and coordinated nature of reform. Currently, various existing pilot zones primarily undertake specific, function-oriented reform tasks.

Third, the comprehensive innovation and reform trials emphasize a phased approach. A three-year master plan is drawn up, with annual breakdowns and rolling implementation; the reform tasks in different pilot zones reflect differentiated priorities.

Overall, the various reform initiatives are closely linked to the comprehensive innovation-driven reform. As you’ve noticed, the “General Plan” specifically emphasizes that in aspects such as task deployment and selection of pilot zones, these efforts are effectively aligned with ongoing reform trials and related pilot demonstration projects already underway, thus forming an integrated whole. We describe the comprehensive innovation-driven reform trials as being driven by two key engines: technological innovation at its core, coupled with the seamless integration of institutional innovation, organizational innovation, management innovation, and other dimensions—all of which inevitably involve close coordination with a wide range of other reform tasks. Therefore, in the next stage of implementation, we will make even better use of the experiences, measures, ideas, and practices from various reform efforts to further advance the comprehensive innovation-driven reform trials more effectively. 2015-09-15 10:32:10

[Reporter from China International Radio] Just now, you introduced the details about selecting eight regions to carry out pilot innovation and reform initiatives. Could you elaborate further on the considerations behind this selection? Also, could you tell us about the progress made so far in getting these eight regions approved by the State Council? Thank you. 2015-09-15 10:37:50

[Meng Xiantang] It was no easy task to select these eight regions—each of them is tasked with important reform missions. The next step, then, is how to truly leverage these regions to take the reform efforts to a deeper level; this, too, is a highly significant issue. On what basis were these regions chosen? The Comprehensive Innovation and Reform Pilot Program is a crucial lever for implementing the innovation-driven development strategy. The pilot program itself emphasizes achieving an innovation-driven transformation as its overarching goal, taking technological innovation as its core focus, and using exploration of institutional and systemic reforms as its main direction. It seeks to coordinate reforms across various sectors—economic, social, and scientific and technological—while simultaneously promoting innovation in areas such as technology, management, branding, organizational structures, and business models. Moreover, it aims to advance integrated military-civilian innovation and to foster coordinated cooperation both in attracting foreign investment and in going global. Thus, these key principles and fundamental orientations serve as an important prerequisite for selecting these regions. Each of these regions will assume distinct responsibilities in carrying out their reform tasks and ensuring that reform measures are effectively implemented. 2015-09-15 10:39:22

[Meng Xiantang] At the same time, considering that the reform pilot work involves a wide range of areas, presents significant challenges, and entails arduous tasks, in order to better promote the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program and ensure that this effort truly achieves satisfactory results across all fronts within the established three-year timeframe, we have placed particular emphasis on “four key principles” in selecting the pilot regions:

First, we must adhere to the principle of keeping the number of pilot regions small. Everyone is highly motivated to carry out reform, and many localities already have a solid foundation for reform. However, given the systemic nature and high complexity of comprehensive innovation and reform trials, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have explicitly called for selecting just a few regions to launch these comprehensive innovation and reform trials. Moreover, the experience from the free trade zone trials has amply demonstrated that focusing on a limited number of regions and concentrating our efforts on reform can more easily lead to breakthroughs and yield tangible results—meaning that reform requires concentrated effort. The policy measures outlined in Document No. 8 cover a wide range of areas, encompassing 30 different sectors and over 100 specific policy initiatives. Many of these initiatives will require the development of detailed implementation rules or even the amendment of existing laws and regulations before they can be truly put into practice. Therefore, further implementing these reform tasks at the local level will demand a certain degree of focused effort; we cannot afford to spread our resources too thinly across the board. This approach is essential if we are to achieve breakthroughs in the key areas and critical sectors of our reform agenda.

Second, we must insist on achieving key breakthroughs within a short period of time. Given that reform tasks cannot be left indefinitely in limbo, it’s crucial to generate practical experience and tangible results as early as possible so that these gains can be scaled up across the board. Therefore, the selection of pilot zones has focused on regions that already possess strong foundational conditions for reform and innovation and are well-positioned to transition into an innovation-driven development phase through reform and experimentation. By accelerating the pace of innovation-driven transformation in selected regions, we aim to lead the way and set an example for others—a distinctive feature of this reform effort. This initiative is not merely about adopting a few isolated policies or achieving single-point breakthroughs in specific areas; rather, it carries a critical overarching mission: these pilot regions must take the lead in realizing their own innovation-driven transformations. As we all know, many of today’s most pressing economic challenges and contradictions stem from our ongoing transition—from an economy driven by factors of production and investment toward one driven by innovation. Truly achieving this shift to an innovation-driven model is no easy feat. Drawing on the experiences of other countries, we see that this transition process is fraught with risks. Indeed, the reason why many nations have fallen into the “middle-income trap”—remaining stuck in a state of stagnation, facing acute contradictions, and experiencing persistent economic bottlenecks—is closely linked to whether their innovation-driven transformation can be successfully implemented. Thus, we believe that this reform effort must remain highly focused and carefully select pilot regions that are best positioned to achieve the goal of leading the way in innovation-driven transformation. 2015-09-15 10:40:45

[Meng Xiantang] Third, we must uphold the strong role of demonstration and leadership. The reform trials comprehensively take into account the different regions’ foundations, advantages, and characteristics, and reflect differentiation in the design of trial tasks. For example, they explore coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, accelerate the pioneering transformation of the Yangtze River Delta core area, deepen innovation cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, promote the east-to-west transfer and adjustment of industries, speed up the deep integration of military and civilian sectors, and advance the process of new industrialization—all of which drive transformative development across various types of regions. This is also a salient feature of this reform effort: it reflects that each region has its own strategic focus in terms of spatial layout, rather than pursuing uniform advancement across the board. Moreover, the approach emphasizes problem orientation—identifying each region’s specific developmental positioning and reform direction and objectives by addressing the most pressing contradictions and challenges encountered during the innovation-driven transformation process. Thus, based on these key priorities and in conjunction with the nation’s overall development strategy and regional layouts, we have arrived at this carefully chosen approach.

Fourth, we must uphold coordinated development among the eastern, central, and western regions. China’s regional development is uneven, with distinct differences in the development conditions of the eastern, central, and western regions. Nevertheless, all regions face the same imperative to drive transformation through innovation. Therefore, the “Overall Plan” has selected qualified regions in the eastern, central, western, and northeastern areas, systematically planning and arranging them to carry out reform trials aimed at promoting transformative development across different regions. We emphasize that achieving innovation-driven development is a nationwide “unified strategy.” Although there are still significant disparities among regions in terms of economic development levels, per capita GDP, technological strengths, and industrial advantages, the selection of pilot regions must be highly representative and applicable across various regions, capable of driving progress everywhere. Thus, when choosing pilot regions, we have taken into account our current situation of unbalanced development and carefully selected several regions that are particularly representative and can play a leading, exemplary role in regional development.

We believe that these “four commitments” reflect the primary considerations behind the regional selection for the comprehensive innovation and reform pilot program. Moving forward, we will continue to advance our subsequent work in line with this approach. 2015-09-15 10:45:29

[Reporter from the China National Radio] Some people are concerned that innovation-driven development is something you can see but not touch. How can innovation-driven development be truly linked to economic growth and the cultivation of new growth engines? What specific measures has the National Development and Reform Commission taken in this regard? Thank you. 2015-09-15 10:49:19

[Qi Chengyuan] Thank you for your question. I’d also like to take this opportunity to brief you on some of the work our National Development and Reform Commission has been doing to implement innovation-driven development.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed implementing an innovation-driven development strategy, aiming to shift the engine of economic growth from being primarily driven by investment factors to being driven mainly by innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has also repeatedly emphasized that innovation must be genuinely translated into the creation of new growth drivers and turned into concrete industrial activities. Therefore, we are earnestly studying and comprehending the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speeches. Regarding the six-character phrase “innovation-driven development,” we understand that “innovation” is the focal point—through innovation, we must strive to achieve our goals and objectives. “Development” is the foundation—we must ultimately ensure that all our efforts contribute to the sustainable and healthy development of the country’s economy and society. As for the two words “driven,” we consider them to be the key. By leveraging innovative approaches—whether through scientific and technological innovation or innovation in systems and mechanisms—we must ultimately translate these innovations into our goal of sustainable development. There must be an organic link between these two aspects, seamlessly connecting your work with broader development efforts. This is precisely the crucial point: making sure that the transformation and connection of “driven” are effectively carried out. 2015-09-15 10:59:40

[Qi Chengyuan] Over the past few years, various departments, localities, and all sectors of society have been earnestly studying, implementing, and putting into practice the innovation-driven development strategy proposed at the 18th National Congress of the Party. They have also carried out a great deal of effective work and adopted measures across the board to accelerate implementation. It can be said that innovation-driven transformation and development are already well underway and have already achieved certain phased progress. For example, this year’s economic performance has shown a striking feature: the differentiation among industries and regions has become particularly evident.

In terms of industrial differentiation, as we can see from some data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to August this year, the value-added growth rate of high-tech industries remained in the double digits, exceeding the overall industrial growth rate by 4 percentage points for eight consecutive months. Among these, several new technologies, new industries, and new business models have been developing at a remarkably rapid pace—new growth drivers such as cloud computing, big data, Internet Plus, and e-commerce are emerging one after another. This clearly indicates that everyone is placing great emphasis on technological innovation, on innovating new business models and formats, and on mastering core technologies. In these industries and among these enterprises, the ability to withstand risks is relatively strong, and their role in stabilizing growth and adjusting the economic structure is particularly prominent.

In terms of regional differentiation, we can clearly see that the eastern coastal regions, due to the characteristics of their development stage, have earlier on laid out and implemented strategies for innovation-driven transformation and taken corresponding adjustment measures. As a result, under the current economic conditions, these regions have been able to maintain relatively high investment efficiency and good-quality development, with fairly stable economic growth. Moreover, from the current perspective, they also show strong potential for continued growth. Consequently, the overall development of these regions is moving forward on a healthy track. In contrast, during the same period, other regions—due to their specific development stages, such as an industrial structure that is heavily weighted toward resource-intensive and coarse industries and a strong reliance on natural resources—have encountered significant difficulties in their economic growth amid the broader economic trends. Their growth rates have slowed down, and both industry-wide and enterprise-level profitability have shown a downward trend.

Based on these two divergences, we conclude that innovation-driven development is a crucial strategy and an important task for us to transform our development model and achieve sustainable development. It’s fair to say that whoever plans ahead will take the initiative and be able to secure better and faster development. 2015-09-15 11:00:00

[Qi Chengyuan] The National Development and Reform Commission is also closely focused on implementing the strategic arrangements made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council regarding innovation-driven development, exerting simultaneous efforts in both reform and development. Just now, I highlighted the work being done to drive reform through innovation; next, I’d like to give you an overview of the work we’ve been doing on the development front.

To implement the innovation-driven development strategy, we are placing greater emphasis on three key areas of work in our development efforts.

First, we will place greater emphasis on fostering a market environment that is conducive to the development of emerging industries and fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation. As Secretary-General Li Pumin just mentioned, since the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission has taken the lead in drafting a series of policy documents aimed at nurturing new industries, new business models, and new forms of economic activity. These include, among others, policies introduced earlier this year on e-commerce, cloud computing, Internet Plus, and big data. All these documents represent concrete measures for implementing the innovation-driven development strategy. The formulation of these policies underscores the guiding principle of innovation-driven development, with a particular focus on creating a policy environment that encourages, embraces, and supports innovative development. They emphasize leveraging new technologies to spur the growth of new industries and expand new consumption patterns. To ensure effective implementation of these policies, we will also establish coordinated mechanisms involving relevant State Council departments, further clarify the division of tasks, develop roadmaps and timetables, and launch specific action plans and project packages. This will help create an even better development environment for the market, support demonstration projects for technological breakthroughs, and foster technological and business model innovations across various sectors. These are some of the key initiatives we’re taking to create an enabling environment.

Second, we will place greater emphasis on leveraging the government’s guiding role. At present, the government must continue to act proactively and take the initiative. This involves two key areas: First, in terms of governance, we are placing even greater emphasis on transforming government functions and delegating power to lower levels. Many new growth drivers emerging today represent entirely new business models and operational formats, and existing regulatory frameworks may no longer be well-suited to the development of these new formats, business models, and industries. Therefore, we need to proactively adapt through reforms in our governance systems. On the one hand, we are deepening reforms of the investment system and administrative structures; on the other hand, we are strengthening coordination among various institutional frameworks to better align with the development of emerging business models and industries. This includes further lowering barriers to market entry, adapting to the new characteristics of emerging industries, and fostering new growth drivers. In terms of investment, we are also intensifying reform efforts and enhancing our guiding role. By shifting from the previous investment approach—characterized by selective, top-down decision-making—to a model that relies more on fair market competition, the government can better steer the healthy development of our industries. On August 6 this year, the State Council officially approved the National Emerging Industries Venture Capital Guidance Fund, to be established jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance. This represents an important step in our shift toward a more market-oriented investment approach. The fund has a total size of 40 billion yuan and will attract capital from various sectors of society, with projected total investments exceeding 180 billion yuan. This fund will operate entirely on a market-based basis, entrusting market institutions to actively support the development of new technologies and business models according to the nation’s strategic priorities and directions. In particular, it will focus on supporting early- and mid-stage startups and innovative enterprises during their initial phases, laying a solid foundation for cultivating new growth drivers and adjusting our economic structure in the future. 2015-09-15 11:06:04

[Qi Chengyuan] Third, we must place even greater emphasis on stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of the general public for entrepreneurship and mass innovation. This is also how we can better leverage the role of market entities—enterprises. “Mass entrepreneurship and mass innovation” represent a vibrant force supporting innovation-driven development in the new era. The key to boosting the enthusiasm and creativity of the general public for entrepreneurship and mass innovation lies in “delegation”—a keyword that was prominently highlighted in the “Opinions on Vigorously Promoting Mass Entrepreneurship and Mass Innovation,” issued by the State Council in June of this year. Specifically, it involves “three types of delegation”: relaxing policies, easing market access, and liberalizing entities. Relaxing policies means loosening restrictive regulations and implementing universally beneficial policies. Easing market access primarily involves lowering barriers to entry into various markets and removing industry-specific restrictions. Liberalizing entities focuses on breaking down institutional and systemic obstacles, facilitating the free flow of innovation and entrepreneurship talent, and unleashing the dynamism of tens of millions of entrepreneurs, thereby pooling their energy into a powerful driving force for economic and social development.

The National Development and Reform Commission has also undertaken extensive efforts. We have established a robust coordination mechanism and formulated a three-year action plan. Under this action plan, we are placing particular emphasis on helping localities create favorable micro-environments in several key regions that foster mass entrepreneurship and innovation by all. These environments will include financing channels, service platforms, and advisory and mentoring support for enterprises—activities that will greatly facilitate mass entrepreneurship and innovation. After further refining this three-year action plan in the near future, we will release it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, in line with the State Council’s call to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation, we are actively working to build a nationwide innovation ecosystem that never closes—a platform that continuously connects entrepreneurs with investors, provides ongoing entrepreneurial advisory services, and offers comprehensive support in various other aspects. We are currently conducting in-depth research in this area. In this regard, we hope that media friends will offer us valuable suggestions. We will also solicit input from the general public and set up dedicated columns to gather their feedback.

Finally, I’d like to emphasize that the shift toward a development model driven by innovation is a process of transforming from old to new growth capabilities. Of course, this transition will take time and requires our collective, sustained, and ongoing efforts. The National Development and Reform Commission has an important role to play in this regard. We will continue to perform our duties in all aspects with unwavering commitment and persistence, steadily implementing our initiatives and continuously making progress in driving development through innovation—achieving tangible results. The key lies in ensuring effective implementation.

I’ll just answer these. Thank you. 2015-09-15 11:17:26

[Li Pumin] Due to time constraints, if you still have questions, please submit a request to our Press Office after the press conference concludes, and we’ll arrange for the relevant departments and bureaus to provide further answers.

Today’s press conference will once again be live-streamed by China.org.cn. Meanwhile, our National Development and Reform Commission has already launched official accounts on Tencent Weibo and WeChat, and they’re currently operating fairly smoothly. In addition, we’ve also successively launched client apps for the People’s Daily, Sohu News, and Toutiao. To further enhance our commission’s new-media news and publicity strategy—comprising “Two Webs and One Client”—today, our commission has also launched an official government Weibo account on Sina. If you’d like to gain a deeper understanding of today’s press conference and learn more about the National Development and Reform Commission, please follow our commission’s WeChat, Weibo, and client apps.

That’s all for today’s press conference. Thank you, everyone. 2015-09-15 11:27:24