China's economic transformation and upgrading contains major opportunities (China's economic monograph under the guidance of Xi Jinping's economic thoughts)

Zhong Caiwen

China's economy has maintained stable and healthy development for a long time, injecting certainty and positive energy into the development of the world economy. In recent times, some international and domestic voices believe that in China, investment and development have passed the golden stage and opportunities have become fewer. In fact, China has never lacked investment opportunities and market space. The accelerated transformation and upgrading of China's economy will bring unprecedented major opportunities to countries around the world.

Industrial transformation and upgrading contain major opportunities. China's industries have accumulated strength, and the scale effect and the advantages of the entire industrial chain continue to be highlighted. Investing in China is the future of investment. On the one hand, China's manufacturing industry has been ranked first in the world for 15 consecutive years, of which 80% are traditional industries such as metallurgy, chemical industry, machinery, light industry, textiles, etc. With the accelerated advancement of high-end, intelligent and green, investment opportunities in related fields will be released at an accelerated pace. On the other hand, China's new industries and new momentum are being cultivated in an accelerated manner, with many artificial intelligence models ranked at the top of the global list, maintaining the world's largest industrial robot market for 12 consecutive years, and innovative drugs are accelerating their research and development and listing. China is promoting the development of emerging industries and future industries with an open attitude, and will share with global partners the huge investment opportunities for industrial upgrading.

Scientific and technological innovation and talent dividends contain major opportunities. China is rising rapidly in the global scientific and technological innovation landscape, contributing to the scientific and technological progress and welfare improvement of all mankind. In 2024, China's R&D funding investment exceeded 3.6 trillion yuan, with the investment intensity close to the national average of the OECD. The number of high-level international journals and invention patents ranked first in the world; scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation are accelerating the integration, the advantages of rich application scenarios are constantly emerging, the patent conversion rate is steadily increasing, and cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements are constantly transforming into new quality productivity. China ranks among the top in the world in terms of high-level scientific and technological talents, and trains more than 5 million graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) every year. The talent dividend, especially the "engineer dividend", will continue to strengthen, which will provide strong impetus for scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

Consumption expansion and upgrading contains major opportunities. China's per capita GDP has reached more than US$13,000, and the super-large-scale market volume has steadily expanded. Consumption upgrades are in a critical period. New demand drives new supply and new supply creates new demand, which is also a process full of investment opportunities. Commodity consumption continues to expand and improve quality. In 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to exceed 50 trillion yuan. The position of the world's second largest consumer market is further consolidated. Online retail sales have ranked first in the world for 12 consecutive years, and sales of automobiles, air conditioners, etc. are ranked first in the world. Service consumption is becoming a new engine. In 2024, per capita service consumption in China accounts for 46.1% of consumption expenditure, which still has a lot of room for improvement compared with developed countries. At the same time, the construction of international consumer center cities and the improvement of county consumption quality are working together, and many brands will take advantage of the situation to develop and go to the whole country and even the world.

The construction of traditional and new infrastructure contains major opportunities. China has a vast territory and regional coordinated development requires huge infrastructure construction. The density of railways, highways and other areas in the central and western regions is still far lower than that in the eastern coastal areas, and the construction and transformation of traditional infrastructure can still produce long-term economic and social comprehensive benefits; the construction of intercity railways and inter-regional channels such as cross-river and cross-sea bridges has a significant role in improving transportation and logistics efficiency and improving regional economic development level, and investment demand is still very large in this regard. China maintains rapid growth in new infrastructure fields such as computing power networks, mobile communications, and smart cities, which will create a broad market space for the world.

New urbanization and urban renewal contain major opportunities. China's urbanization is shifting from a period of rapid growth to a period of stable development. Although the speed has slowed down, the connotation is richer. China will improve the quality and level of urbanization, improve spatial layout, accelerate the development of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas, and build a modern people's city; it will also continue to promote urban renewal, transform and upgrade urban villages, old communities, etc., and strengthen the construction of flood control, drainage and disaster resistance infrastructure, urban underground pipeline networks and comprehensive pipeline corridors. Meeting people's needs for a better city life will bring huge investment opportunities.

The guarantee and improvement of people's livelihood contain major opportunities. China's human development index continues to improve, and demand for childcare, education, elderly care, and medical care continues to grow. For example, in 2025, China will have 4.5 infant and toddler care positions per 1,000 people under the age of 3, but there is still a gap compared with developed countries; the population over 60 years old is more than 300 million, but there are different degrees of gaps in the number of elderly care beds, number of practicing physicians, and number of nurses per 1,000 elderly people. Solving the urgent and difficult problems of the people such as children's education, education, care for the elderly, and medical care for the sick will create a large number of new jobs and market opportunities.