(Source: "China Economic Times" 2026-03-02)
Recently, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the opening ceremony of a special seminar for leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels to study and implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China: "Our country has a large population, a large market, a complete range of industries, and strong development momentum, and is well-positioned to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern." This conclusion profoundly reveals the basic national conditions and strategic advantages of my country's economic and social development, and provides fundamental compliance and action guidance for promoting high-quality development in the new era.
Constructing a new development pattern is not a temporary measure to passively respond to changes in the international environment, but a long-term strategic choice to proactively seize the initiative in development. The key is to open up the blockages in production, distribution, circulation and consumption and improve the quality and level of the national economic cycle. The prerequisite for achieving this goal is my country's unique endowments - large population, large market, comprehensive industries, and strong development momentum. These four characteristics not only form the foundation of my country's economic resilience, but also become the strategic fulcrum for promoting high-quality development. A deep understanding of the internal logic and practical advantages of these four aspects is of great significance for fully implementing the Party Central Committee’s decisions and arrangements and solidly promoting Chinese-style modernization.
Large population
Super large-scale human resources support high-quality development
Our country is the most populous country in the world. Its population of more than 1.4 billion is not only a huge consumer group, but also a rich treasure house of human resources. Although the growth rate of the total population has slowed down in recent years, the working-age population still exceeds 850 million, ranking first in the world. More importantly, the quality of our country's population continues to improve, and their educational level continues to improve. The total number of skilled workers in the country exceeds 200 million, and the number of highly skilled talents exceeds 60 million. This dual advantage of "quantity + quality" provides solid support for technological innovation, industrial upgrading and economic transformation.
From the supply side, the huge labor resources are an important foundation for my country's manufacturing industry to maintain its long-term competitiveness. Since the reform and opening up, the "demographic dividend" has effectively reduced corporate labor costs, attracted a large amount of foreign investment and technology inflows, and promoted my country's rapid growth into a "world factory." Entering a new stage of development, the traditional advantage of low-cost labor is transforming into the advantage of human capital. Emerging fields such as the digital economy, smart manufacturing, and modern service industries have an increasingly strong demand for high-quality workers, and my country's ever-expanding team of engineers, scientific researchers, and professional and technical talent reserves are becoming the core force for innovation-driven development.
From the demand side, a huge population base means huge potential consumer demand. As urbanization continues to advance and residents' income grows steadily, the size of the middle-income group continues to expand, forming one of the world's most growing consumer markets. Especially in the fields of education, medical care, elderly care, culture, tourism and other fields, diversified, personalized and quality demands are rapidly released, creating broad space for consumption upgrades and the development of new business formats.
The challenges brought about by demographic changes cannot be ignored. Problems such as deepening aging, continued low fertility rates, and intensified inter-regional population mobility have put forward higher requirements for public service supply, social security systems, and labor resource allocation. Therefore, we must insist on coordinating the population development strategy and the overall economic and social development, and maximize the release of population potential by improving fertility support policies, delaying the legal retirement age, strengthening vocational skills training, optimizing population spatial layout and other measures, and transforming the advantage of population size into sustainable development momentum.
Big market
The ultra-large domestic market builds the strategic basis for domestic demand
The market is the basic place for resource allocation and an important engine of economic growth. Our country has a super-large market with a population of more than 1.4 billion, which is a strategic resource unmatched by any economy. In 2025, my country's total retail sales of consumer goods will reach 50.1 trillion yuan, ranking among the top in the global retail market; final consumer spending contributes 52% to economic growth, and has been the number one driving force for economic growth for many consecutive years. Such a huge market scale and strong domestic demand potential provide a solid foundation for building a new development pattern with the domestic circulation as the main body.
The advantage of the ultra-large-scale market is reflected in the "scale effect". A large consumer group enables companies to achieve large-scale production, reduce unit costs, and improve efficiency and competitiveness. Whether it is home appliances, automobiles or the Internet platform economy, Chinese companies can often expand rapidly after gaining a sufficient user base in the local market and occupy a favorable position in global competition. For example, China's e-commerce transaction volume has ranked first in the world for many years in a row, and its express delivery business accounts for more than half of the world's total. Behind this is the strong support of the huge consumer market.
Market diversity enhances the resilience and adaptability of the economic system. Our country has a vast territory, and urban-rural differences, regional differences, and income gaps exist objectively. This has formed a multi-level and diversified market demand structure, providing enterprises with abundant trial and error space and development paths: new products can be piloted and promoted in first-tier cities, and gradually penetrate into second- and third-tier cities and even rural areas; different income groups correspond to different consumption levels, giving rise to differentiated product and service supply. This structural feature makes our country's economy more buffering and resilient in the face of external shocks.
The construction of a unified, open, and orderly competitive modern market system continues to advance, creating institutional conditions for stimulating market vitality. In recent years, the country has vigorously promoted the market-oriented reform of factors, eliminated local protection and administrative monopoly, and accelerated the construction of a unified national market. The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a National Unified Market" clearly states that market segmentation should be broken, institutional barriers should be eliminated, and the free flow of commodities and factors should be promoted. These measures will help further unleash market potential and improve resource allocation efficiency.
In the future, in order to further leverage the advantages of the ultra-large-scale market, we should continue to deepen market-oriented reforms, strengthen anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition law enforcement, improve the legal system for consumer rights protection, and promote the construction of a modern circulation network that integrates online and offline and integrates urban and rural areas, so that the ultra-large-scale market can truly become a powerful magnetic field for attracting global resource elements.
Complete industries
A complete industrial system builds a solid foundation for the real economy
my country is the only country in the world that has all 41 major industrial categories, 207 medium categories, and 666 small categories in the United Nations Industrial Classification, forming a complete, independent and complete modern industrial system. This unique advantage is extremely rare in the world. It not only ensures national economic security, but also provides strong industrial support for building a new development pattern.
A complete industrial system means strong supporting capabilities and collaborative efficiency. From raw material mining to parts processing, from complete machine manufacturing to after-sales service, most of the industrial chain links can complete closed-loop operations in China. This ability to be "self-sufficient" proves to be of great value at critical moments. During the epidemic prevention and control period, our country quickly organized the production of medical supplies such as masks, protective clothing, and ventilators, and doubled or even increased its production capacity dozens of times in a short period of time, relying on its strong supporting capabilities in the industrial chain. Similarly, in strategic emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and wind power, my country has established a full industrial chain layout covering upstream materials, midstream manufacturing, and downstream applications, becoming the most competitive production base in the world.
More importantly, the integrity of the industrial system provides a good ecosystem for technological innovation and iterative upgrades. Various types of enterprises can form close collaborative relationships in the same geographical space, shorten the research and development cycle, and reduce innovation costs. For example, in industrial clusters such as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, a symbiotic development model of "chain master + supporting facilities" has been formed between leading enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, which not only enhances the overall competitiveness, but also promotes the growth of specialized and new enterprises.
At the same time, the transformation and upgrading of my country's traditional industries is accelerating, and the proportion of high-tech industries continues to rise. In 2025, the added value of my country's equipment manufacturing industry and high-tech manufacturing industry above designated size will increase by 9.2% and 9.4% respectively compared with 2024, and their proportion in the industry above designated size will increase to 36.8% and 17.1% respectively. The output of new energy vehicles has exceeded 16 million units, and production and sales have ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years. Digital technology is deeply integrated with the real economy, and new models and new business formats such as the industrial Internet, smart manufacturing, and green manufacturing are constantly emerging, pushing the industry towards the mid-to-high end.
However, it should also be noted that my country's industrial chain still has problems such as some key core technologies being controlled by others, low added value in high-end links, and homogenization of regional industries. To this end, we must insist on focusing our economic development on the real economy, implement industrial base reconstruction projects and major technical and equipment research projects, and promote the replenishment of weak industries, the extension of advantageous industries, the upgrading of traditional industries, and the construction of emerging industries. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of national strategic scientific and technological capabilities, give full play to the advantages of the new national system, and focus on overcoming a number of "stuck neck" technical problems. At the same time, all localities are encouraged to build a modern industrial system with distinctive characteristics and reasonable division of labor based on their resource endowments and comparative advantages to avoid low-level duplication of construction and vicious competition.
Strong development momentum
Innovation drive and institutional change stimulate endogenous power
The fundamental reason why our country’s economy can maintain strong resilience in the complex and severe external environment lies in the continuous enhancement of development momentum. This momentum comes not only from the leading role of technological innovation, but also from the institutional dividends released by deepening reforms. It is also reflected in the vigorous rise of new momentum such as green development and digital economy.
First of all, technological innovation has become the first driving force for development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country has implemented an innovation-driven development strategy in depth. Investment in basic research has continued to increase, major original achievements have continued to emerge, and a series of breakthroughs have been made in fields such as quantum information, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and deep-sea exploration. The dominant role of enterprises in innovation has become increasingly prominent. A number of innovative companies with global influence, such as Huawei, BYD, and DJI, have stood out, driving the technological level of the entire industry chain to improve.
Secondly, reform efforts continue to deepen, and institutional innovation continues to release development potential. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China focused on modernizing the national governance system and governance capabilities, and proposed a series of major measures such as improving the socialist market economic system, building a high-standard market system, and optimizing the business environment. In recent years, the reform of “delegating power, delegating power, delegating regulation and optimizing services” has been further advanced, administrative approval items have been significantly reduced, the negative list system for market access has been fully implemented, and the international ranking of business environment has been significantly improved. The mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises is steadily advancing, the vitality of the private economy continues to increase, and the institutional environment for fair competition among various business entities is increasingly improved.
Once again, new driving forces and new business formats are accelerating their growth. In 2025, the added value of my country's digital economy will reach 49 trillion yuan, accounting for about 35% of GDP, becoming an important engine of economic growth. The booming development of new models such as platform economy, sharing economy, and live streaming e-commerce has not only changed people's lifestyles, but also reshaped the operating logic of traditional industries. The green and low-carbon transformation has been comprehensively advanced, with the production and sales of new energy vehicles ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years, and the carbon neutrality campaign has been progressing rapidly and steadily.
Facing the future, we must further strengthen the innovation-driven development strategy, improve the new national system, strengthen basic research and cutting-edge technology layout, and create a scientific and technological innovation center with global influence. It is necessary to continue to promote reforms in key areas, deepen the reform of market-oriented allocation of factors, and improve basic market economy systems such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit. It is necessary to accelerate the construction of Digital China, promote the market-oriented allocation of data elements, and promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the real economy. At the same time, we should unswervingly follow the path of ecological priority and green development, vigorously develop green finance, green manufacturing, and green buildings, and cultivate and expand green and low-carbon industries.
Coordinate and promote four major advantages
System construction of new development pattern
General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important conclusion that “my country has a large population, a large market, a wide range of industries, and strong development momentum” accurately summarizes the fundamentals and core advantages of my country’s economic and social development, and provides scientific basis and strategic guidance for accelerating the construction of a new development pattern. These four aspects do not exist in isolation, but are an organic whole that is interdependent and mutually reinforcing: population is the basis of the market, the market is the support of industry, and industry is the carrier of kinetic energy, which in turn improves the quality of the population, expands market boundaries, and optimizes the industrial structure.
Facing the future, we must adhere to the system concept and coordinate the transformation and synergy of the four major advantages. In terms of population, we must implement a proactive population development strategy, improve the overall quality of the population, and promote the transformation of the demographic dividend into a talent dividend; in terms of market, we must accelerate the construction of a unified national market, smooth the national economic cycle, and enhance the driving force of domestic demand for economic growth; in terms of industry, we must consolidate and enhance the advantages of the entire industry chain, promote the development of high-end, intelligent, and green manufacturing; in terms of momentum, we must strengthen the leadership of scientific and technological innovation, deepen the reform of systems and mechanisms, and cultivate and strengthen new productive forces. Only in this way can my country truly transform its super-large population and market advantages, complete industrial system advantages and strong development momentum into strategic victory in participating in international cooperation and competition, firmly grasp the development initiative in the ever-changing international situation, and lay a solid foundation for fully building a modern socialist country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
(The author is the president and professor of the w88 casino)
Attached original text link:
