Premier Li Keqiang called on domestic manufacturers to enhance technological innovations and improve quality of products as a way to upgrade the sector and increase global competitiveness. The premier spoke to the management of a number of leading manufacturers on Friday at a meeting promoting the Made in China 2025 strategy. Manufacturing is the key to the nation's economic development, and the economic restructuring requires making the sector stronger, Li said. But the sector is still on the low to medium tier compared with other leading countries, thus it is vital to improve the quality and upgrade to increase competitiveness, he said. The upgrade depends on innovations, and manufacturers should make technological breakthroughs by focusing on quality and branding and using top manufacturing countries as benchmarks, Li said. Li called for management innovation to transform models for research and development and production, and increase the efficiency for resource allocation. He said manufacturers should also develop customized production to meet diverse demands. He urged manufacturers to take advantage of China's rich human resources by promoting entrepreneurship and the spirit of craftsmanship, both requiring long-term input to cultivate high-quality managers and technicians. Meanwhile, Li also pledged administrative reforms to further reduce unreasonable pre-entry approvals and permits, which will decrease institutional costs for manufacturers. However, market supervision will be strengthened to fortify intellectual property rights protection and crack down on counterfeit products, he said. Financial institutions are encouraged to provide aid to small and medium-sized manufacturers, he said. With the world's largest manufacturing capacity, China's export-oriented manufacturing has been trying to shift the focus to domestic consumption and high added values in recent years. The central government has promoted more high-end manufacturing, including the strategy of Made in China 2025. The State Council decided to promote the strategy by granting more favorable policies for the manufacturing sector at two executive meetings in May and July. Li Dongsheng, chairman of TCL Co in Huizhou, Guangdong province, who delivered a speech Friday, said, "The meeting, which focused on improving the real economy and manufacturing, provided encouragement and support for manufacturers like my company." The premier emphasized the key role of manufacturing to compete, he said. "Our manufacturing provides high-end products, besides those with fewer added values, and should strive for more well-known branding by using Germany and Japan as benchmarks. The meeting gave us confidence that we will make more highly value-added goods and world-leading manufacturing." custom silicone wristbandsbatman wristbandprinted wristbandsglow wristbandspersonalized silicone braceletsblack rubber bracelets
China played a critical role in the slower growth of global energy demand and consumption as well as the nearly flat growth of carbon emissions in 2016, according to the latest BP world energy report. The report says that a relentless drive to improve energy efficiency is causing global energy consumption overall to decelerate. The energy mix is shifting toward cleaner, lower carbon fuels, driven by environmental needs and technological advances. Global energy consumption grew slowly again in 2016 - the third consecutive year in which demand has grown by 1 percent or less - much weaker than the rates of growth over the previous 10 years or so, according to the report titled 2017 BP Statistical Review of World Energy. The weak growth in energy demand, combined with a continuing shift toward lower-carbon fuels, meant global carbon emissions from energy consumption were estimated to have been essentially flat in 2016 for a third consecutive year - a substantial improvement relative to past trends, the report says. "From a global level, much of this improvement can be traced back to the pronounced changes in the pace and pattern of economic growth and energy consumption within China," BP Group CEO Bob Budley said in the report. Energy consumption in China grew by just 1.3 percent in 2016. Its growth during 2015 and 2016 was the lowest over a two-year period since 1997-98, according to the report. China, however, remained the world's largest growth market for energy for a 16th consecutive year. Spencer Dale, BP Group chief economist, praised effective Chinese government policy launched in 2016 to reduce coal production. "For those of you interested in the Chinese policy, it's magnificent," he said on Thursday at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "It's really fascinating to think about how it was designed. The impact of these measures was really stark," Dale said. China was the key driver of the growth of global renewable energy last year, accounting for more than 40 percent of the growth in renewable power, more than the entire OECD put together. China also overtook the US as the largest producer of renewable power. Dale believes China is the key to understanding the flat growth of global carbon emissions and whether that trend is structural or just temporary. Some structural changes happening in China include slower economic growth, a change in the structure of economic growth away from energy-intensive industrial sectors toward the consumer and service sector, and a shift in the fuel mix away from coal toward more renewable energy, nuclear power and natural gas, according to Dale. "Those trends are structural trends and are likely to persist," he said. He also pointed out that the fall of China's energy demand was also due to the weakness reflected in the iron, steel and cement industries, which together account for a quarter of China's energy demand. Dale, who was executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England before joining BP in 2014, expressed how much this is going to structural and how much it is going to be temporary adjustment is still hard to tell. [email protected]
