Innovation Increases Endogenous Impetus of Economy

By Zhang Lijuan



Innovation Increases Endogenous Impetus of Economy

By Zhang Lijuan

The Proposal of the CPC Central Committee for the 13th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development （2016-2020） explicitly proposes to set innovation as the development basis to formulate the institutional structure of innovation， develop more leading development depending on innovation and draw on the first-move advantage amid rising competition in the world and transformation of the impetus in Chinese development.

Past Five-Year Plans failed to set innovation as an independent concept. The Proposal has far-reaching connotations in giving more importance to innovation.

New Planning

Thanks to this concept， efforts will be made to foster new impetus to development， seek more room for development，implement an innovation-driven development strategy， promote agricultural modernization， build a new industrial system， establish a new system for development， and seek a new approach to improve macro-regulation. In effect， these efforts combined form a response to the question of the basic motive forces for future economic development in China.

According to Wang Jun， Deputy Head of the Department of Information in the China Center for International Economic Exchanges （CCIEE）， “innovation” was not independently expounded in previous Five-Year Plans， a deficiency that is now being dealt with. It is more than the traditionally narrow sense scientifically and technologically. Instead， at the national and strategic level， it offers broad strategic， systemic and comprehensive meaning in many aspects and at many levels of theory， system and mechanism， mode of development， science and technology and social management.

According to Wang： “Planning is， as a matter of fact， based on the more drastic international competition and the new normal in China's economic development. In this circumstance， what provides the impetus for economic development？ Only innovation increases the endogenous impetus of the economy”.

For quite some time， the economic and social development in China has mainly been supported by cheap land， resources，energy， and labor forces. Nowadays， resources and the environment have become increasing constraints. The demographic dividend is gradually declining. Labor costs have risen sharply， and interest rates have gradually declined. The original competitive edge evidently has weakened， and the driving force for development has apparently degenerated. It no longer works to develop simply relying on increasing the labor force and other element inputs. It is necessary to inject new impetus to the economic development by strengthening the comprehensive efficiency of innovation and elements of input.

New Connotation

Innovation in the Proposal doesn't simply mean to take enterprises as the main force in a narrow sense. Instead，every member of society constitutes an active mainstay of innovation. It invigorates innovation across a broad front in society，gives full play to the government's leading role， and stimulates the sense and practiceof innovation of enterprises， individuals，social organizations and all kinds of civil groups.

The product laboratory of Huawei Technologies in Shenzhen

“Among numerous innovations， that in theory is the core. It is the need of social practice and the fundamental guarantee for an organization and an enterprise to maintain their vigor to win amid fierce competition，” said Wang.

As the economy booms in China， some deep-rooted contradictions have gradually emerged. In the future， growth will slow down amid the worsening global economic environment. In the coming 13th Five-Year Plan， or even longer， economic and social development in China will still face all kinds of sharpened structural contradictions. With these new pressures brought on by the new changes in the international economic environment， a more systemic and comprehensive way of innovation is needed to promote development.

According to Wang Jun， efforts should be made to transform the economic development mode， and make new approaches in structural transformation， operational quality， economic efficiency， income distribution， environment protection， degree of urbanization， level of industrialization and the overall modernization process.

Innovation in science and technology reflects the core competitive edges of a country. It is the chief means of promoting economic development. Over the past 30 years of development， China has given full play to the comparative advantages of its labor force， but science and technology has failed to make satisfactory contributions， becoming a bottleneck to further development.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan，China will accelerate improvement of its comprehensive technological innovation system that brings together government，enterprises， academia and research institutes so as to enhance the inner dynamics and capability for technological innovation of the enterprises.

Also， China will deepen reform of the scientific and technological system， improve the development mechanism， and effectively bring into play the pioneering role of research institutions to build an innovation-oriented country.

New Society

In addition， social management policy is included， for the first time， as a way to resolve the “economic issues”， thus becoming an important factor for “economic growth”.

According to Yang Weimin， Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs， when formulating the short-term macro-regulation policy and medium and long term planning for economic and social development， we need to include the social security system. thus， we will continue to deepen reform of social undertakings， especially in regard to the education system，medical and health care system， and culture system related to people's livelihood. We will work to establish and improve the system and mechanism for the coordinated development of competitive and mass sports， and improve the social management system at the grassroots level， seeking to ensure that everyone can enjoy their right to education， employment， medical and old-age care， and housing， so as to build a harmonious society.

It is obvious， therefore， that innovation emphasizing both technology and morality will be important in the 13th Five-Year Plan. Advanced science and technology，unique patented inventions， and unprecedented products， organizations， industries，business formats and markets are all indispensable. Morality contains more flexible strength， such as innovation concept，ideology， environment， policy， rules， system， laws and human resources. Only by integrating the two aspects can the sense of innovation go deep into every vein and cell of the economy and society to become the daily nutrition for national progress. In the final analysis， innovation is not only related to science， technology， and economy， but also to humanity and society. It works to change the world and our life so as to create a better world.

Nowadays， innovation has become the main theme of this era and the strongest voice of China. It is regarded as the key driving force for social development. To achieve the goals set in the 13th Five-Year Plan， China will aspire to achieve innovative， coordinated， green， open and shared development. With innovation as the starting point and people's sharing as the goal，we will always stick to popular entrepreneurship and innovation.