Workers of a centrally administered state-owned enterprise on a non-woven fabric production line Photo: cnsphoto

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of China on Monday urged state-owned assets and central enterprises to make breakthroughs in technological innovation and core technology bottlenecks. 

Zhang Yuzhuo, director of the SASAC, made the remark in an article published on the front page of the Study Times newspaper.

The article highlights the urgency to accelerate the development of a high-level national team for technological self-reliance and self-strengthening.

The article pointed out that it is crucial to make technological innovation a top priority with a focus on national needs, industry trends, and the challenges faced by industrial and supply chains.

It vowed to make full efforts to break through the barriers of original and cutting-edge technologies that lead industry development, as well as overcome key core technology bottlenecks. 

Additionally, full efforts should be made to address issues such as insufficient investment, low efficiency, inadequate output and slow technology transfers that hinder technological innovation. 

It also pointed to the need to cultivate a talented workforce in high-tech fields and create more "national treasures" to help foster a strong technological nation.

Centrally administrated enterprises would play a crucial role as a strategic force in achieving high-level technological self-reliance, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang noted that central enterprises have their own advantages in breaking through key bottlenecks, including strong research and development capabilities and the ability to mobilize the industrial chain. 

"Over the years, state-owned central enterprises have built up relatively robust technological foundations, including talent, research facilities, technology patents and knowledge. They also have the ability to mobilize more resources and drive more private enterprises, and thus create a better ecosystem," Wang explained.

In the first half of the year, investment by China's central enterprises in strategic emerging industries increased by more than 40 percent year-on-year.

Central enterprises completed cumulative fixed-asset investment of 1.4 trillion yuan ($196 billion), up 18.6 percent year-on-year. The investment in strategic emerging industries accounted for more than one-fourth of the total investment, covering 15 key industries including next-generation mobile communications, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and new materials.

In July alone, the SASAC organized several roundtable meetings for key state-owned enterprises (SOEs), emphasizing the need to increase their presence in emerging industries and promote technological self-reliance. 

During a meeting on July 25, the SASAC stressed the importance of strengthening the core competitiveness and functions of state-owned capital and enterprises. It called on SOEs to continuously improve the resilience of industrial chains and unleash the vitality of technological innovation in key areas. 

At a meeting on July 5, the SASAC stressed that SOEs should stick to technological self-reliance and strengthen the research and development of key core technologies. Efforts should be made to transform traditional manufacturing sectors and vigorously develop strategic emerging industries to enhance the core competitiveness and functions of enterprises.

Global Times