Not long ago, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to scientifically analyze and judge the economic situation, plan economic work for the second half of the year, and put forward a series of requirements on “accelerating the formation of a new development pattern with the domestic great cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promoting each other.” The traditional manufacturing industry has ushered in new opportunities for transformation and development with domestic demand as the guide and supply-side structural reform as the main line.

The traditional manufacturing sector represented by steel, cement, general equipment manufacturing, etc., is one of the basic industrial sectors most closely related to domestic production, investment and consumption demand, and is also the sector with more urgent needs for transformation and upgrading at present. In the context of accelerating the formation of a new development pattern with the domestic great cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycle promoting each other, the traditional manufacturing industry needs to comprehensively and dialectically look at the difficulties and challenges encountered in the development, fully recognize and understand the new development opportunities currently facing, focus on key issues, and take practical measures to promote the deep integration of the Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and the real economy. We will promote China’s manufacturing industry to move up the global value chain.

Further clarify the important position of the traditional manufacturing industry

China has entered a stage of high-quality development, with many advantages and favorable conditions for development, but the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development is still prominent. At present, China is still in the process of industrialization, facing the “window of opportunity” to transform and upgrade the existing industries, and it is necessary to seize this important opportunity to further promote the industrialization process.

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Among them, the traditional manufacturing industry is an important part of China’s industrial system, and its healthy development has a far-reaching impact on China’s industrialization process.

First, the development of industrialization still needs the contribution of traditional manufacturing industries. In recent years, the proportion of China’s secondary industry in GDP dropped from 42.5% in 2015 to 36.1% in 2018. The proportion of employment has dropped from 29.3% in 2015 to 27.6% in 2018, and the characteristics of industrialization development are obvious. In this context, the quality and efficiency of the development of traditional manufacturing industry is very important. From the total level of view, metal smelting and rolling processing industry, general equipment manufacturing industry, non-metallic mineral products industry as a representative of the traditional manufacturing industry, the number of enterprises above the industrial scale accounted for 3.91%, 6.31% and 9.27% of the total number of enterprises above the industrial scale, is an important part of China’s production system. From the perspective of efficiency, the traditional manufacturing industry still plays a positive role in improving the efficiency of the entire industrial sector.

Second, the traditional manufacturing industry has a special “stabilizer” role in coping with shocks. Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a major impact on China’s economy. In the second quarter, China’s economic growth rate has turned from negative to positive. The average growth rate of industrial added value is 4.36%, higher than the GDP growth rate, and is an important force driving economic growth. Compared with the service industry and other manufacturing sectors, the traditional manufacturing industry has the characteristics of long buffer cycle and strong anti-fluctuation ability, which makes the traditional manufacturing industry play an important role in the process of stabilizing industrial growth. From this perspective, a strong traditional manufacturing industry can improve the economic resilience of the economy to withstand rare shocks, and is of great significance for stabilizing the national economy.

Third, traditional manufacturing can play an important role in accelerating the construction of new infrastructure. This year’s “Government Work Report” proposed to “strengthen the construction of new infrastructure”, and the acceleration of the construction of new infrastructure has also put higher requirements on the traditional manufacturing industry. For example, 5G base stations, UHV and new transit rail construction still require high-quality traditional manufacturing products such as special steel, special cement and other metal products. At present, the new infrastructure market highlighting the demand for high-end products and special products has initially taken shape, and the traditional manufacturing industry will also enter a new stage of market development. In this context, the domestic market of the traditional manufacturing industry still has great room for expansion, which provides new opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of the traditional manufacturing industry.