IN-DEPTH / IN-DEPTH
Reader’s Reflections: Advances in digital economy, innovation and industrial upgrading underpin confidence in China’s economic resilience, growth potential: South Korean expert
Editor's Note:
The annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) was held in Beijing from December 10 to 11. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the conference. The conference reviewed the country's economic work in 2025, analyzed the current economic situation, and arranged next year's economic work, providing guidance and direction for ensuring a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).
The meeting took into consideration both domestic and international situations and made a scientific assessment of China's development situation. Building on new practical experience, it summarized and outlined "five imperatives" as new understandings and insights, and identified key tasks for next year's economic work through "eight commitments." These range from continuously expanding domestic demand as a focus and enhancing innovation-driven development, to deepening reform and expanding opening-up; from promoting coordinated development and advancing the carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality goals, to prioritizing people's livelihoods and safeguarding the bottom line against systemic risks - covering all aspects of economic and social development.
Since the new era, the Central Economic Work Conference has consistently attached great importance to theoretical summary as a means of guiding economic development and practices. As circumstances evolve, the conference has continued to deepen its understanding of the underlying laws governing economic work. The book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China include important speeches delivered by President Xi at the CEWC in 2014 (Volume II), 2017 (Volume III), 2021 (Volume IV), 2022 (Volume V), and 2024 (Volume V), which have provided guidance and direction for promoting China's high-quality economic development.
In the 18th installment of the special series "Decoding the Book of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times (GT), along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, continues to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to discuss how under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, the CEWC plays a key role in steering China's economic development and practices, and, with a focus on this year's conference, explore the key priorities for China's economic work in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
In the 18th article of the "Readers' Reflections" column, Global Times (GT) reporter Ma Tong talked to Park Seung Chan (Park), chairman of the Federation of Korea-China, and Professor at Yongin University. Park highlighted that China’s emphasis on sci-tech innovation and institutional opening-up will create broad global opportunities, and expressed strong confidence in its 2026 economic outlook.
GT: The Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) serves as a barometer for China’s economic development and policy direction in the coming year. The book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes President Xi’s speeches at the CEWC in previous years. At this year’s meeting, President Xi offered a profound summary and new insights of “five imperatives” for doing economic work under the new circumstances, and clearly outlined “eight commitments” guiding economic work next year. What policy signals do you think this year’s conference has sent?
Park: From my experience studying China’s economy, for anyone seeking to understand China’s economic trajectory and policy orientation, the conference is an indispensable window. As for the just-concluded 2025 CEWC, the “five imperatives” were formulated from a systematic review of economic work in 2025 and an accurate assessment of the outlook for 2026. They further enrich and develop Xi Jinping Thought on Economy and serve as the fundamental guide for economic work in the year ahead.
Among the “eight commitments,” what struck me the most are the first four, that is the policy emphasis on domestic demand, innovation, reform and opening-up. Putting domestic demand first signals that a growth model led by domestic demand will remain a work priority both now and, in the period ahead. Innovation continues to serve as the key lever, reform as the source of endogenous momentum, and opening-up as a strategic choice China has made to navigate a complex external environment and meet its development needs.
On this basis, I have three observations. First, the conference signals that China is highly confident of achieving stable growth with progress next year; in my view, growth of around 5 percent remains highly likely and would still be a stable outcome in the current global environment. Second, it did not shy away from challenges such as weak demand, or risks in key areas. Instead, it addressed these issues head-on, showing that policymakers have a clear understanding of the relevant risks and are well-prepared to address them. Third, at China’s current stage of development, a return to past high-speed expansion is neither realistic nor necessary. “Pursuing progress while ensuring stability”remains the most viable path, and as the world’s largest developing economies, China still has ample room for high-quality growth.
GT: At this year’s CEWC, President Xi highlighted five key priorities for economic work next year, including “promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation to develop new quality productive forces.” The concept of new quality productive forces is a major original and hallmark proposition put forward by President Xi. It has also been elaborated on in multiple important articles in the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. How do you view China’s concept and practices in developing new quality productive forces? What opportunities will acceleration of development of new quality productive forces bring globally?
Park: President Xi has creatively put forward the concept of new quality productive forces and the major task of developing them, which constitutes a systemic endeavor jointly advanced by the government, industry, and universities and research institutions. Through closer industry–academia–research collaboration, backed by policy and institutional support, China is building a more complete and autonomous innovation ecosystem and supply chain. The shift is reflected less in the number of firms than in deeper technological accumulation, stronger industrial capacity, and more efficient translation of innovation into application.
Generative AI and large language models offer a clear example. Chinese firms such as DeepSeek have developed open-source ecosystems that provide ready-to-use platforms and tools. I have observed that some overseas start-ups, including teams in the US, are already using these Chinese models and frameworks to accelerate product development, showing that as China strengthens its own technological base, it is also providing platform-based resources for global innovation.
Similar opportunities are emerging in the robotics sector, particularly in application-oriented robotics, where China’s pace of industrialization has been rapid. Industrial robots, service robots and more intelligent application-based systems are entering real-world use at an accelerating rate. I have observed that in some neighboring countries of China, these solutions are already being used to ease labor shortages and boost productivity. Amid rising labor costs and growing attention to industrial security and supply chain stability, such technologies have clear practical value for many economies. From this perspective, China’s progress in robotics and other emerging industries not only supports its own industrial upgrading, but also offers countries at different stages of development more workable options for applying technology and improving efficiency.
GT: Innovation-driven development has been a strategy that China has consistently and profoundly advanced since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. At this year’s CEWC, President Xi stressed again “to enhance innovation-driven development to accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers.” Given your close engagement with China, could you share your observations on how innovation contributes to China’s economic development?
Park: I have made more frequent visits to China for on-the-ground research and policy exchanges over the past year. These exchanges gave me a clear sense that innovation in China is no longer confined to laboratories or concepts, but is being translated into industry and markets in a more stable and systematic way.
What impressed me the most was China’s institutional exploration around the critical link between “R&D and mass production.” Through technology trading platforms, pilot-scale testing facilities and proof-of-concept (POC) mechanisms, China is addressing whether research outcomes can truly enter the market and become products. These arrangements lower barriers to innovation application and point to a structural transformation in China’s manufacturing and innovation system.
China’s economy is shifting from a model driven by labor input and scale expansion to one centered on innovation and efficiency gains. As total factor productivity becomes more important, future growth will rely increasingly on using existing resources more efficiently through technological progress, better management and institutional optimization. Continued advances in digital economy, innovation commercialization and industrial upgrading underpin my confidence that China’s economy will retain resilience and growth potential under the framework of “pursuing progress while ensuring stability.”
GT: Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes the article “Build New Mechanisms for a Higher-Standard Open Economy,” which stresses that “China will build new mechanisms for a higher-standard open economy and continue to share China’s development opportunities with the world.” This year’s CEWC proposes to adhere to opening up and promote multifield, win-win cooperation. In today’s turbulent global environment, what message does China’s commitment to openness send to the world, and how does it contribute to safeguarding global economic stability?
Park: President Xi has repeatedly emphasized that “China’s door will not be closed and will only open even wider.” In the current international environment, China’s continued emphasis on expanding opening-up sends a clear signal: unlike some countries moving toward protectionism, China is choosing to remain a defender of free trade and the multilateral system. Globally, how many countries can truly bear a “decoupling” from China and even from the existing globalized system? It is by no means an easy choice. For most economies, development still depends on an open and cooperative international division of labor. In this context, a major economy like China making a clear commitment to opening-up and win-win cooperation is crucial to stabilizing the global trade order and market expectations.
More importantly, China’s commitment to opening-up has never been limited to policy statements alone. In recent years, the negative list for foreign investment has continued to shrink, while new opening-up measures across multiple sectors have been introduced, creating broad opportunities for international cooperation. I am paying close attention to the island-wide special customs operations that the Hainan Free Trade Port is set to launch on Thursday. This is not only a significant institutional innovation in China’s opening-up, but also a new platform for external cooperation.
For foreign companies, Hainan’s special customs operations will both facilitate deeper access to the Chinese market and provide a new base for deepened working with Chinese firms to explore third-party markets, particularly in Southeast Asia. In this sense, China’s push for high-standard opening-up supports its own development while creating conditions for broader participation and mutual benefit for all parties.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) was held in Beijing from December 10 to 11. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the conference. The conference reviewed the country's economic work in 2025, analyzed the current economic situation, and arranged next year's economic work, providing guidance and direction for ensuring a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).
The meeting took into consideration both domestic and international situations and made a scientific assessment of China's development situation. Building on new practical experience, it summarized and outlined "five imperatives" as new understandings and insights, and identified key tasks for next year's economic work through "eight commitments." These range from continuously expanding domestic demand as a focus and enhancing innovation-driven development, to deepening reform and expanding opening-up; from promoting coordinated development and advancing the carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality goals, to prioritizing people's livelihoods and safeguarding the bottom line against systemic risks - covering all aspects of economic and social development.
Since the new era, the Central Economic Work Conference has consistently attached great importance to theoretical summary as a means of guiding economic development and practices. As circumstances evolve, the conference has continued to deepen its understanding of the underlying laws governing economic work. The book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China include important speeches delivered by President Xi at the CEWC in 2014 (Volume II), 2017 (Volume III), 2021 (Volume IV), 2022 (Volume V), and 2024 (Volume V), which have provided guidance and direction for promoting China's high-quality economic development.
In the 18th installment of the special series "Decoding the Book of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times (GT), along with the People's Daily Overseas Edition, continues to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to discuss how under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, the CEWC plays a key role in steering China's economic development and practices, and, with a focus on this year's conference, explore the key priorities for China's economic work in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
In the 18th article of the "Readers' Reflections" column, Global Times (GT) reporter Ma Tong talked to Park Seung Chan (Park), chairman of the Federation of Korea-China, and Professor at Yongin University. Park highlighted that China’s emphasis on sci-tech innovation and institutional opening-up will create broad global opportunities, and expressed strong confidence in its 2026 economic outlook.
Park Seung Chan Photo: Courtesy of Park Seung Chan
GT: The Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) serves as a barometer for China’s economic development and policy direction in the coming year. The book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes President Xi’s speeches at the CEWC in previous years. At this year’s meeting, President Xi offered a profound summary and new insights of “five imperatives” for doing economic work under the new circumstances, and clearly outlined “eight commitments” guiding economic work next year. What policy signals do you think this year’s conference has sent?
Park: From my experience studying China’s economy, for anyone seeking to understand China’s economic trajectory and policy orientation, the conference is an indispensable window. As for the just-concluded 2025 CEWC, the “five imperatives” were formulated from a systematic review of economic work in 2025 and an accurate assessment of the outlook for 2026. They further enrich and develop Xi Jinping Thought on Economy and serve as the fundamental guide for economic work in the year ahead.
Among the “eight commitments,” what struck me the most are the first four, that is the policy emphasis on domestic demand, innovation, reform and opening-up. Putting domestic demand first signals that a growth model led by domestic demand will remain a work priority both now and, in the period ahead. Innovation continues to serve as the key lever, reform as the source of endogenous momentum, and opening-up as a strategic choice China has made to navigate a complex external environment and meet its development needs.
On this basis, I have three observations. First, the conference signals that China is highly confident of achieving stable growth with progress next year; in my view, growth of around 5 percent remains highly likely and would still be a stable outcome in the current global environment. Second, it did not shy away from challenges such as weak demand, or risks in key areas. Instead, it addressed these issues head-on, showing that policymakers have a clear understanding of the relevant risks and are well-prepared to address them. Third, at China’s current stage of development, a return to past high-speed expansion is neither realistic nor necessary. “Pursuing progress while ensuring stability”remains the most viable path, and as the world’s largest developing economies, China still has ample room for high-quality growth.
GT: At this year’s CEWC, President Xi highlighted five key priorities for economic work next year, including “promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation to develop new quality productive forces.” The concept of new quality productive forces is a major original and hallmark proposition put forward by President Xi. It has also been elaborated on in multiple important articles in the book series Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. How do you view China’s concept and practices in developing new quality productive forces? What opportunities will acceleration of development of new quality productive forces bring globally?
Park: President Xi has creatively put forward the concept of new quality productive forces and the major task of developing them, which constitutes a systemic endeavor jointly advanced by the government, industry, and universities and research institutions. Through closer industry–academia–research collaboration, backed by policy and institutional support, China is building a more complete and autonomous innovation ecosystem and supply chain. The shift is reflected less in the number of firms than in deeper technological accumulation, stronger industrial capacity, and more efficient translation of innovation into application.
Generative AI and large language models offer a clear example. Chinese firms such as DeepSeek have developed open-source ecosystems that provide ready-to-use platforms and tools. I have observed that some overseas start-ups, including teams in the US, are already using these Chinese models and frameworks to accelerate product development, showing that as China strengthens its own technological base, it is also providing platform-based resources for global innovation.
Similar opportunities are emerging in the robotics sector, particularly in application-oriented robotics, where China’s pace of industrialization has been rapid. Industrial robots, service robots and more intelligent application-based systems are entering real-world use at an accelerating rate. I have observed that in some neighboring countries of China, these solutions are already being used to ease labor shortages and boost productivity. Amid rising labor costs and growing attention to industrial security and supply chain stability, such technologies have clear practical value for many economies. From this perspective, China’s progress in robotics and other emerging industries not only supports its own industrial upgrading, but also offers countries at different stages of development more workable options for applying technology and improving efficiency.
GT: Innovation-driven development has been a strategy that China has consistently and profoundly advanced since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. At this year’s CEWC, President Xi stressed again “to enhance innovation-driven development to accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers.” Given your close engagement with China, could you share your observations on how innovation contributes to China’s economic development?
Park: I have made more frequent visits to China for on-the-ground research and policy exchanges over the past year. These exchanges gave me a clear sense that innovation in China is no longer confined to laboratories or concepts, but is being translated into industry and markets in a more stable and systematic way.
What impressed me the most was China’s institutional exploration around the critical link between “R&D and mass production.” Through technology trading platforms, pilot-scale testing facilities and proof-of-concept (POC) mechanisms, China is addressing whether research outcomes can truly enter the market and become products. These arrangements lower barriers to innovation application and point to a structural transformation in China’s manufacturing and innovation system.
China’s economy is shifting from a model driven by labor input and scale expansion to one centered on innovation and efficiency gains. As total factor productivity becomes more important, future growth will rely increasingly on using existing resources more efficiently through technological progress, better management and institutional optimization. Continued advances in digital economy, innovation commercialization and industrial upgrading underpin my confidence that China’s economy will retain resilience and growth potential under the framework of “pursuing progress while ensuring stability.”
GT: Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes the article “Build New Mechanisms for a Higher-Standard Open Economy,” which stresses that “China will build new mechanisms for a higher-standard open economy and continue to share China’s development opportunities with the world.” This year’s CEWC proposes to adhere to opening up and promote multifield, win-win cooperation. In today’s turbulent global environment, what message does China’s commitment to openness send to the world, and how does it contribute to safeguarding global economic stability?
Park: President Xi has repeatedly emphasized that “China’s door will not be closed and will only open even wider.” In the current international environment, China’s continued emphasis on expanding opening-up sends a clear signal: unlike some countries moving toward protectionism, China is choosing to remain a defender of free trade and the multilateral system. Globally, how many countries can truly bear a “decoupling” from China and even from the existing globalized system? It is by no means an easy choice. For most economies, development still depends on an open and cooperative international division of labor. In this context, a major economy like China making a clear commitment to opening-up and win-win cooperation is crucial to stabilizing the global trade order and market expectations.
More importantly, China’s commitment to opening-up has never been limited to policy statements alone. In recent years, the negative list for foreign investment has continued to shrink, while new opening-up measures across multiple sectors have been introduced, creating broad opportunities for international cooperation. I am paying close attention to the island-wide special customs operations that the Hainan Free Trade Port is set to launch on Thursday. This is not only a significant institutional innovation in China’s opening-up, but also a new platform for external cooperation.
For foreign companies, Hainan’s special customs operations will both facilitate deeper access to the Chinese market and provide a new base for deepened working with Chinese firms to explore third-party markets, particularly in Southeast Asia. In this sense, China’s push for high-standard opening-up supports its own development while creating conditions for broader participation and mutual benefit for all parties.
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