China's market demand is gradually recovering according to a series of economic indicators released by the authorities, and the robust supply and demand is driving up growth in the high-tech, equipment and consumer goods manufacturing industries.
The data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.8 in September, up from 49.1 in August, marking the highest notch in the past five months.
Meanwhile, the PMI for high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors, as well as the consumer goods sector continued to lead the growth, with their readings at 53, 52 and 51.1 respectively, up 1.9, 1.9 and 1.0 percentage points compared to the beginning of this year.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.
At a high-tech manufacturing enterprise in Zhuhai City of south China's Guangdong Province, a batch of new production lines for circuit boards has just been put into operation.
One of the company's executives said the order volume saw a significant increase in the first half of the year thanks to the development of new-generation information industry technologies such as AI and big data.
"The newly added production lines are all up and running at full capacity. This year, the production capacity is basically at saturation, and the production situation is very promising," said Liang Dongbing, director of the production base.
At the same time, the production and operation vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to improve.
The data from the China Association for Small and Medium Commercial Enterprises indicated that the development index for SMEs in industry, information transmission and software, as well as wholesale and retail sectors reached 89.1, 88.4 and 88.3 in September, up 0.1, 0.3 and 0.1 points compared with August.
"The supply-demand situation for small and medium-sized enterprises continues to improve, and the endogenous drive and development vitality of these enterprises are continuously strengthening. With the continued efforts of macroeconomic policy mix, the confidence in enterprise development will be further enhanced, and the foundation for recovery and improvement will remain solid," said Liu Fang, director of the Market and Price Research Institute under the country's top economic planner National Development and Reform Commission.
Robust supply, demand drive growth in China's economy
China has made significant advancements in the development of intelligent connected vehicles, according to expert at the 2024 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles (ICV) Conference.
At the opening ceremony of the conference on Thursday, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong said that China has established a complete ICV industrial system covering foundational chips, sensors, computing platforms, chassis control and internet-based cloud control.
He said that China's technologies like human-machine interaction are in a leading position globally, while breakthroughs in steer-by-wire and active suspension systems are gathering pace.
"Infrastructure development is speeding up. Over 50 cities nationwide are conducting road testing demonstrations for ICVs, with 32,000 kilometers of testing roads opened and approximately 10,000 kilometers of roads undergoing intelligent upgrades, along with the installation of over 8,700 roadside units," said Jin.
He also emphasized that China has nurtured nearly 400 "little giant" enterprises that apply special and sophisticated technologies to produce unique and novel products in the ICV sector, with five lidar companies ranking in the global top 10.
Furthermore, international cooperation continues to deepen, as China has cooperated with Europe, Japan, and the United States to develop multiple regulations for autonomous driving, he said.
Jin said that advancements in computing power, big data and large models are expected to lead to significant breakthroughs in advanced autonomous driving technology, ushering in a new development stage for ICVs.
Jin outlined four areas to promote the industry's new development. First, in integrated innovation, the country will focus on next-generation electronic and electrical architecture, high-performance chips, domain controllers and super-intelligent systems to foster integration among vehicles, smart grids, intelligent transportation and smart cities.
Second, China will expand application scenarios with pilot projects for integrated vehicle-road-cloud computing applications in logistics, public transport, taxis and environmental sanitation, he said.
"Third, we will improve standards and regulations, revising traffic safety and insurance laws, establishing and improving a regulatory framework for high-level autonomous driving and accelerating the formulation of standards for functional safety, cybersecurity, and data security," he said.
Jin said that within the framework of the International Organization for Standardization, China will also strengthen cooperation on standards and regulations with various countries, and explore policies to facilitate cross-border data flow.
China making headway in intelligent connected vehicle development
