By Zhou Shanshan (People's Daily) 08:29, April 29, 2025
IShowSpeed dances with a humanoid robot in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province. (Photo from @ishowspeedsui on Weibo) It is reported that IShowSpeed is already missing China and wants to book a ticket back to the country. What makes this American influencer yearn for China so much? The answer lies in the country's ultra-modern lifestyle and dazzling equipment. In his livestream, bullet trains zoom through tunnels without disrupting HD broadcasts, drones deliver piping-hot takeaways, and new energy vehicles showcase "geek-chic" features such as in-place U-turns and automatic parking. This vibrant "live" China he has presented is endlessly fascinating. China's sustained economic momentum is firmly rooted in constant industrial restructuring. First-quarter economic data revealed robust growth: value-added output of high-tech manufacturing enterprises above the designated size rose by 9.7 percent year on year, while that of the information transmission, software, and information technology services sector expanded by 10.3 percent. China's push for supply-side structural reform and accelerated development of new quality productive forces are injecting potent momentum into high-quality development. Supply and demand, dual engines of market economy, reinforce each other. Supply-side improvements catalyze consumption expansion, with their synergistic interaction fueling growth. At the fifth China International Consumer Products Expo, Chinese home appliance manufacturer Haier's innovative triple-drum washer became an instant hit. This crowd-sourced product - conceived from netizens' suggestions and realized through green manufacturing - exemplifies the virtuous cycle: upgraded supply sparks demand evolution, which in turn drives smarter production. From emerging business models fostering new ecosystems, to trailblazing industries generating new opportunities, pursuing innovation means leading trends. The key lies in deepening the integration between scientific advancement and industrial transformation. Through supply-side reforms, China is reshaping its development logic with industrial upgrades while unleashing demand potential. Photo shows a smart production line of a photovoltaic battery slice workshop of an energy enterprise in Shangrao, east China's Jiangxi province. (Photo by Zhu Wenbiao/People's Daily Online) Traditional industries are experiencing revitalization through productivity leaps. In a welding workshop of the Laiwu facility of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd., or Sinotruk, two flexible automated body welding production lines complete 38 processes in just 2.5 hours with superior precision. The transformation of traditional industries extends beyond upgrading equipment, it is about achieving a leap in total factor productivity through technological integration and management restructuring. By strengthening scientific and technological innovation and improving the supply system, providing independent, controllable, and high-quality supply to meet existing demand and create new demand, China can fully leverage the potential of its ultra-large domestic market and transform it into sustained momentum for high-quality development. A drone operating training session is conducted by a drone training company in Huainan, east China's Anhui province. (Photo by Chen Bin/People's Daily Online) Emerging industries are sprinting ahead through ecosystem reshaping. Pioneered by China's leading battery maker CATL, the city of Ningde in southeast China's Fujian province has actively developed and clustered lithium battery and new energy enterprises, intergrating over 80 upstream and downstream companies into a comprehensive industrial supply chain. Around 80 percent of core components for leading manufacturers are procured locally, providing growth opportunities for businesses across the chain. The rise of these emerging industries not only generates new supply but also strengthens Chinese manufacturing's global supply chain competitiveness. Future industries are taking root in scientific frontiers. This year, many regions in China have significantly increased R&D expenditure, accelerating forward-looking plans for future industries and fostering deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation. Shanghai has launched the construction of a future industries cluster for brain-inspired intelligence. Jiangxi province has issued an action plan for cultivating and developing future industries. Guangdong province continues to implement a flagship program centering on new-generation artificial intelligence. These frontier-focused developments are transforming today's "unchartered territories" into tomorrow's new growth poles.
