A New Catch Phrase in Xi’s China: New Productive Forces (新质生产力)

One characteristic that had emerged as Xi Jinping (习近平) strengthened his hold on the Communist Party of China (CPC) had been the proliferation of buzzwords, catch phrases and slogans. Examples of these are:

• Two Establishes (两个确立) – Establish Xi Jinping as the core of the party central committee and of the entire party. Establish Xi Jinping as thought leader of new age of China’s socialism with Chinese characteristics.
• Two Upholds (两个维护) – Resolutely uphold Xi Jinping’s status as the core of the Party Central Committee and the entire Party. Resolutely uphold the authority and centralised and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee.
• Three Resoluteness (三个坚持) – Resoluteness in upholding the leadership of the party, the people’s ownership of the country and ruling the country by laws.
• Four Confidences (四个自信) – Confidence in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, confidence in the party’s theories, confidence in the party’s system, and confidence in Chinese culture.

From an outsider’s observation, which I am qualified to give, these catch phrases appear to be useful for CPC officials to include in any public statements and speeches to show their political correctness and ultimately to show their loyalty and compliance to Xi. They give the appearance that all party officials speak with one voice and one thought pattern.

In September 2023, a new entry had been added into this list of catch phrases: New Productive Forces (新质生产力). This new catch phrase was said to be first spoken by Xi on the occasion of his visit to Heilongjiang province in on 8 Sep 23 when speaking on the issue of developing China’s northeastern region [link]. In a statement made during the visit he said:

… It is necessary to lead the comprehensive revitalisation of the industry with scientific and technological innovation. Based on the existing industrial foundation, we must solidly promote the high-quality development of advanced manufacturing, accelerate the upgrading of traditional manufacturing, give full play to the role of technological innovation as an incrementer, comprehensively upgrade the three industries, and constantly optimise the economic structure and adjust the industrial structure. Integrate scientific and technological innovation resources, lead the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries, and accelerate the formation of new productive forces…

…要以科技创新引领产业全面振兴。要立足现有产业基础，扎实推进先进制造业高质量发展，加快推动传统制造业升级，发挥科技创新的增量器作用，全面提升三次产业，不断优化经济结构、调整产业结构。整合科技创新资源，引领发展战略性新兴产业和未来产业，加快形成新质生产力…

Xinhua News agency on 10 Sep 23 eagerly commemorated this occasion by stating that this was the very first time Xi mentioned the phrase “new productive forces” (see below).

Since this phrase had been boosted by the state media, it did not take long for institutions to devote resources to the study of “new productive forces”. The first of this was fittingly established by the China Association of Productive Science (中国生产力学会) or CAPS. According to its website, CAPS was established in 1980 as the national-level nonprofit research organisation to provide government and private organisations with productivity development consultancy advice. On 18 Jan 24, CAPS proudly announced at the inaugural “New Productive Forces Conference” in Shenzhen that they were setting up a new institute devoted to studying “new productive forces” [link].

The event also unveiled a list of 107 companies that have been identified as belonging to “New Productive Forces Industries” (新质生产力企业). The companies included were from industries related to new energy, material science, logistics, big data, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and life science. The companies appear to be provincial / regional rather than national ones – they invariably had provinces / cities attached to their names.

I could not find what are the criteria for being selected to be in the list from CAPS’ website or what benefits companies could enjoy. However, I did find that one of the listed companies Ningbo Careful Specialised Vehicle Company (宁波凯福莱特种汽车) proudly announced that they had met the “stringent requirements” to be part of the list. I best guess is that companies probably see such accreditation as a step to subsequently apply to any available government grants to promote “new productive forces”.

According to an Economy Daily (经济日报) article on 24 Feb 24, government spending research and development (R&D) in 2023 reached RMB 1.06 trillion. The instruments the Chinese government have used to promote R&D are tax incentives, subsidies, procurement and financing incentives. We can therefore see the accreditation provided by CAPS as possibly a way for companies to qualify for state support. This possibly explains why the companies on the list all appear to be not the usual suspects of Chinese industry giants. Industry leaders will most probably not need to go through such a process to qualify for state support. According to CAPS’ own operating budget for 2024, they have a rather small budget of RMB 3.6 million and the spending was entirely earmarked for “normal administrative expenditure” (一般行政管理事务). So it is unlikely that the 107 companies who made it to CAPS’ list have anything to gain from CAPS itself.

Liu Haiqing (刘海清）

Another notable finding pertained to the New Productive Forces Research Institute which was unveiled at the Shenzhen conference in January 2018. The person appointed to lead the new institute was Liu Haiqing (刘海清) who was the executive secretary of CAPS. What is notable is that Liu had also founded a group called the “100-person Think Tank” (百人智库). This was not announced during the January conference. However, subsequent to the conference, there were media reports found which stated Liu to be the “founder” (创始人) of the group. According to one report, the group led by Liu is described as follows:

Focusing on the theoretical research and practical application of new productive forces, the think tank will bring together China’s 100 top scientists, economists, entrepreneurs and other experts, scholars and social elites to build platforms, integrate industry and education, international exchanges, and promote regional development. In this way, we can promote the development of new productive forces and contribute wisdom and strength to Chinese modernisation.

智库围绕新质生产力的理论研究和实践应用，将汇聚中国100位顶尖的科学家、经济学家、企业家等专家学者和社会精英，通过搭建平台、产教融合、国际交流、推动区域发展等多种方式，助推新质生产力发展，为中国式现代化贡献智慧和力量

Not much else is found on this but the aspiration sounds ambitious. It is unclear how much resources and authority Liu was given to set up the group. The report however mentioned that Liu signed a partnership agreement with Hunan Technology University (湖南科技大学) on 8 Mar 24 which covered the following:

The two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in basic research, major scientific and technological research, achievement transformation, talent training, industry-education integration, etc.

双方将在基础性研究、重大科技攻关、成果转化、人才培养、产教融合等方面展开深入合作。

Liu appeared to be focusing on Hunan province for a start. On 8 Apr 24, he visited the Hunan-based Xiangan New Energy (湘安新能源) for an “exchange of ideas” and to give an introduction of the “100–person Think Tank” [link].

Besides the national-level “new productive forces” research institute set up by CAPS, there were others set up subsequently by various institutions across the country. As at mid-May 2024, I managed to find the following (arranged by establishment dates):

a. 3 Mar 24: Xi’an University of Science and Technology (西安科技大学) [link]

b. 14 Mar 24: Xiamen University (厦门大学）[link]

c. 28 Mar 24: Rui An City Yun Jiang local government (瑞安市云江) [link]

d. 30 Mar 24: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (电子科技大学) [link]

e. 15 Apr 24: Zhejiang Province Technology Enterprises (浙江省科企) [link]

f. 17 Apr 24: Hangzhou Dianzi University (杭州电子科技大学) [link]

g. 27 Apr 24: Renmin University (人民大学)[link]

h. 16 May 24: Shaanxi Provincial Party School (陕西省委党校) [link]

Conclusion

It has been about nine months since Xi’s remarks on “new productive forces”. Apparently, the new catch phrase had been elevated to the level of party / state policy. Firstly, we saw the setting up of a national level “new productive forces” research institute. The national institute seemed, for now, to have taken on the function of accrediting businesses to be classified as belonging to relevant industries. This accreditation could serve the desire for businesses to tap into whatever government assistance available. We also see the beginnings of a possible programme to gather talent in the form of the “100-person Think Tank”.

Meanwhile, there appears to be a mushrooming of “new productive forces” research institutes which look more likely than not to continue proliferating. It is unclear at this point what motivations there are for setting these up – whether they serve similar functions to the national level institute or there were other considerations. It will be interesting to watch future developments to see what are the trends in terms of government investment and spending on “new productive forces” initiatives.