Staff members work at a manufacturing company in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 8, 2022.(Photo: Xinhua)

China will promote the stable development of its industrial sector and information technology with an emphasis on high quality growth in 2022, as the country's manufacturing has maintained a stable growth since the fourth quarter of 2021 and is performing well as expected, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Monday.

Xiao Yaqing, minister of the MIIT, made the remarks during a press conference Monday, as the country's industrial sector greatly contributed to GDP growth last year. In 2021, China's industrial value-added grew 9.6 percent, 6.8 percentage points higher than the 2020 levels. 

The country's manufacturing value-added accounted for 27.4 percent of GDP to reach 31.4 trillion yuan ($4.98 trillion), ranking first globally for 12 consecutive years.  

Xiao noted that so far, China's industrial sector has maintained its stable growth as almost all the enterprises have resumed work after the Spring Festival, which help ensure the global supply and injects strong momentum to the recovery of the global economy, experts said.

According to a survey of over 20,000 key industrial enterprises done by the MIIT, 14.5 percent of firms carried on production during the Spring Festival, while 95.5 percent of enterprises surveyed resumed work before February 20.

Tian Yulong, a spokesperson of the MIIT, said that the massive rollout of 5G has contributed to promoting China's new infrastructure. In 2022, China will deploy more than 600,000 new 5G base stations. That is to say, the country will have a total of 2 million 5G base stations by the end of this year.

Xin Guobin, vice minister of the MIIT, said since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, the pressure on auto chip supplies has aroused public concern. In order to enhance the chip supply capacity and ensure the smooth operation of the domestic auto industry, the ministry has set up a working group to regulate the supply and demand, as well as cracking down unfair competition such as chip hoarding and price gouging.

Under the ministry's efforts, China's auto sector recorded a stable growth. In 2021, the country's auto production and sales reached 26.082 million units and 26.275 million units, respectively, up 3.4 percent and 3.8 percent year-on-year, ending three consecutive years of decline.

Xin added that the auto chip supply is likely to continue to improve in 2022, as the world's major chip companies increase production and supply of automotive chips, and domestic supply capacity of chips manufacturing are gradually restored.

Global Times