Xi Jinping calls for China’s provincial powerhouses to lead on tech at ‘two sessions’

At the opening of China's annual National People's Congress (NPC), President Xi Jinping issued a directive for the country's leading provincial economies to spearhead the nation's technological transformation. Addressing deputies from the eastern manufacturing powerhouse of Jiangsu, Xi emphasized that such regions must be at the forefront of developing "new quality productive forces"—a term for the advanced, innovation-driven industries Beijing is betting on for long-term growth. This call to action frames tech leadership as crucial for China's economic sustainability and global competitiveness, with a clear mandate for provinces to proactively drive this shift.

Xi's instructions included specific goals: achieving breakthroughs in core technologies, facilitating the efficient application of scientific research, and upgrading traditional industries while expanding emerging sectors. He also stressed the need for a "bottom line mindset," urging preparedness for worst-case scenarios to guard against external shocks and stabilize the national economy. This directive signals a centralized push to leverage regional industrial clusters, like Jiangsu's thousands of specialized "little giant" firms, to reduce technological dependencies and build a more resilient, self-sufficient economic framework. The focus on party discipline and anti-corruption alongside tech goals underscores the integrated political-economic strategy behind China's innovation drive.