New quality productive forces gaining steam

China's drive to cultivate "new quality productive forces" is gaining momentum, with this year's Government Work Report highlighting the creation of new forms of smart economy, the deepening of "Artificial Intelligence Plus" initiatives and the development of data resources.

The report's emphasis makes it clear: digitalization and intelligence are not only core tools for fostering new quality productive forces, but also critical paths for empowering the real economy, said officials and experts.

Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said traditional industries — such as energy, petrochemicals and construction — remain the "bedrock" of the national economy.

Zhang said recent efforts to promote high-end, smart and green transformations in these sectors have already resulted in the establishment of 70 excellence-level and six pilot-level smart factories.

"We are promoting 'Digital Nuclear Power' to realize full-process upgrades, from equipment design and construction to production and operation," said Yang Changli, chairman of China General Nuclear Power Group. Yang said that while energy is a traditional industry, its potential for digital transformation in the AI era is immense.

In the construction sector, Feng Yuan, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chief engineer at China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute Corp, envisions "digital architecture" that can understand and serve human needs. With digital tools, architects are transitioning from draftsmen to planners, allowing more time for innovation, she said.

To support this shift, the Government Work Report emphasizes building new infrastructure, including large-scale smart computing clusters.

Computing power is the core resource of the AI era. Yang Jianyu, chairman of China Mobile Zhejiang, said the country has built 42 smart computing clusters, with a total scale exceeding 1,590 EFLOPS, ranking among the global leaders.

However, Gao Wen, an NPC deputy and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that as AI applications expand, the overall supply of computing power remains insufficient.

Looking ahead, Chen Lei, director general of the department of development planning at the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period will see the deployment of 10-gigabit optical networks and 5G-A commercialization to build a national integrated computing network.

As these networks advance, accessing computing power will eventually become as simple as using electricity, Gao predicts.