Chinese leader calls for boosting new strategic industries

By Kim Young-gyo
HONG KONG, June 2 (Yonhap) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao urged efforts to promote the development of China's strategic emerging industries to build them into pillar sectors, state-run news media reported Thursday.
"Fostering the development of strategic emerging industries will have an overall bearing on the country's economic and social development," he was cited as saying by state broadcaster China Central Television during a group study of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
His remarks came as China seeks to nurture and develop seven new strategic industries with favorable policies over the five-year period starting this year.
According to the 12th Five-Year Program for China's Economic and Social Development, which covers 2011 through 2015, the government will boost policy support and planning guidance to promote research and development in key technologies and develop the seven strategic sectors into pillar industries to improve industry core competitiveness and economic efficiency.
The seven industries are new-generation information technology, energy-saving and environment protection, new energy, bioengineering, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and new-energy cars.
"Accelerating the development of strategic emerging industries is essential for speeding up the transformation of China's economic development pattern, enhancing the country's international competitiveness and building an innovation-oriented country," Hu said.
Since it overtook Japan in 2010 to become the world's second-largest economy, China has started to focus on increasing its people's prosperity.
The 12th Five-Year Plan places great emphasis on boosting domestic demand and on reforming industrial structures so that they can add higher value to the country's economy.
Investment for the new strategic industries is projected to reach 10 trillion yuan (US$1.54 trillion) over the five-year period.
ygkim@yna.co.kr