China's annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 11 to 12, setting the economic agenda for next year. In 2024, China's economy has shown resilience and maintained stable growth despite the complicated environment, and science, technology and innovation have played a crucial role in this growth.

The sales revenue of high-tech industries increased by 11.4 percent year on year from January to October, according to data from the State Taxation Administration. In particular, the sales revenue of technology transfer services and information technology services surged by 27 percent and 12.3 percent year on year respectively, reflecting the acceleration of the process of innovation transfer and informatization.

Digital industrialization progressed steadily, with the core industries of the digital economy growing their sales revenue by 7.4 percent year on year. The sales revenue of the digital technology application industry and digital content and media rose by 11 percent and 14.8 percent year on year respectively.

The high-tech manufacturing industry also displayed vitality. The sales revenue of equipment, digital products and high-tech manufacturing industries went up by 5.3 percent, 8.5 percent and 8.7 percent year on year respectively. Computer, communications and radar equipment, and intelligent equipment industries all expanded their sales revenue by two digits.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the added value of equipment manufacturing industry grew by 7.5 percent year on year, and that of high-tech manufacturing industry by 9.1 percent in the first three quarters. The production of new energy vehicles, integrated circuits and 3D printing devices escalated by 33.8 percent, 26 percent and 25.4 percent year on year respectively. Moreover, the added value of information transmission, software and information technology services witnessed an 11.3-percent growth.

In terms of high-tech industry investment, which increased by 10 percent compared with last year, investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 9.4 percent and 11.4 percent respectively. Investment in manufacturing aerospace vehicles and equipment and manufacturing electronic and communication equipment grew by 34.1 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.