“New Productive Forces and Global Cooperation: China Insights 2025”

📖 Introduction

This issue of KNOW CHINA BETTER highlights China’s latest developments across national policies, industry transformation, AI and emerging technologies, energy transition, trade, education, exhibitions, and international cooperation. Key themes include:

• Strategic Planning: Preparation for the 15th Five-Year Plan, new measures to boost private investment, and a white paper on carbon neutrality.

• Industrial Upgrading: Breakthroughs in new energy vehicles, large-scale energy storage, and the Beidou space-time industry.

• Technological Frontiers: AI + healthcare guidelines, brain-computer interface applications in transportation, and China’s global leadership in intelligent computing power.

• Green Transition: Rapid renewable energy expansion, COP30 commitments, and international partnerships in clean energy.

• Trade & Education: Record Yiwu-Europe railway freight, trillion-dollar service trade, and innovative education initiatives from universities to vocational colleges.

• Global Exchange: Major events such as CIIE, the World Internet Conference, and the Global University Leaders Forum.

• International Cooperation: Positive signals in China–US trade relations, renewed chip supply chains, and new investment forums with Egypt.

This edition provides a comprehensive lens on how China is driving innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration in 2025.

1. As the 14th Five-Year Plan wraps up, taking stock becomes a new economic topic in many regions: China accelerates the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan, focusing on fostering future industries like quantum technology and 6G, and driving new quality productive forces to empower high-quality development through extensive public opinion solicitation and key project layouts.

2. The State Council releases "Several Measures to Further Promote Private Investment": Putting forward 13 policies, it encourages private capital to participate in infrastructure projects such as railways and nuclear power.

3. "Guiding Opinions on Promoting New Energy Consumption and Regulation" is issued: It sets the goal of basically building a new power system adaptable to a high proportion of new energy by 2035.

4. China’s NMPA speeds up the approval of anti-tumor innovative drugs: It not only improves supporting technical guidelines but also provides full-chain policy support, enabling clinically urgent anti-cancer drugs to reach patients faster while boosting the innovation of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

5. Ten ministries jointly promote the opening and interconnection of logistics data to boost the industry’s efficient operation: Relying on technologies like IoT and AI to realize real-time data aggregation, it supports the implementation of "one-order" multimodal transport and the opening of cross-border data links, reducing social logistics costs and consolidating the foundation of a unified national market.

6. The General Office of the State Council issues "Several Measures to Further Promote Private Investment": Including 13 targeted policies, it covers expanding access to key areas, removing investment bottlenecks, strengthening financial and factor guarantees, encouraging private capital to participate in projects like railways, low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace, and canceling unreasonable restrictions in bidding and tendering.

7. The State Council Information Office releases the white paper "China’s Actions for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality": Besides the preface and conclusion, it consists of six parts, namely steadfastly advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, remarkable achievements in green energy transition, in-depth low-carbon development in key sectors, full implementation of key carbon reduction paths, consolidated supporting guarantee system, and injecting strong momentum into global climate governance.

1. New smart car models are rolling out, and autonomous driving hits a record: In October, NEV sales in China exceeded 50% of total car sales for the first time with strong growth. High-level ADAS and AI cockpits are standard, L2 penetration reaches 65%, lidar is common in 150k-yuan models, shifting the market from policy-driven to market-led.

2. Investment in renewable energy and hydrogen surges past 100 billion yuan this year: China leads globally with $33 billion in committed investment, covering the entire industrial chain from production to application. Green hydrogen projects and industrial decarbonization are key investment focuses.

3. National standards for sci-tech achievement transformation released: Targeting AI, quantum info and more, they include special standards for generative AI content labeling and quantum computing terms, accelerating large-scale application and boosting international discourse power via collaborative innovation.

4. Integrated computing network advances to support new productive forces: The supercomputing internet platform connects 30 super intelligence centers, serving 648,000 users. Its "computing-storage-transmission" base empowers smart manufacturing and AI innovation, speeding up industrial digital transformation.

5. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei synergize for Beidou space-time industry: Aiming for over 200 billion yuan in scale, the three regions cover the full "R&D-manufacturing-application" chain, focusing on smart logistics and low-altitude economy to nurture 10 leading enterprises and 50 "specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative" firms.

6. Key policies to stabilize employment and expand domestic demand released: Focusing on youth and migrant workers, measures include vocational training subsidies, entrepreneurship support, and consumption vouchers for home appliances/automobiles, boosting employment while stimulating market vitality.

7. 2025 China Corporate Global Image Summit held in Hefei: On November 9, the summit themed "Technology Leadership, Intelligence Shapes the Future" gathered guests to discuss strategies for building Chinese enterprises’ global image and enhancing international communication effectiveness.

8. China’s new energy storage capacity exceeds 100GW: Data from the National Energy Administration shows that by the end of September, capacity surged over 30 times from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, accounting for over 40% of the global total and ranking first in the world.

9. Elderly care system improves, social security services upgraded: National pooling of enterprise employee basic pension insurance advances steadily, long-term care insurance pilots expand to 49 cities, and the elderly care service network integrating home, community and institutional care is further strengthened.

1. MIIT issues guidelines for "AI + healthcare" applications: Covering 24 key scenarios like primary care assistance and medical imaging diagnosis, it sets a 2030 goal for AI adoption in all Grade A hospitals above Level 2, with strengthened data security and privacy protection.

2. Tech giants like Huawei, Tencent, and Alibaba launch new AI terminals at CIIE: Focused on human-machine collaboration and full-scenario adaptation, the smart hardware and AI-assisted devices drive industrial intelligence and daily life convenience through technological innovation.

3. Shenzhen’s "Life & Health Hub and Base" inaugurated：Luohu boosts industrial layout: Partnering with Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud to build innovation platforms, it offers up to 100 million yuan in industrial support, fostering a full-chain ecosystem for AI + drug/device R&D and innovative drug globalization.

4. Lijian-1 Y9 carrier rocket launched successfully: At 11:32 on November 9, the rocket lifted off from Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area, sending Chutian-2 Technology Test Satellites 01 and 02 into preset orbits, completing the mission flawlessly.

5. Brain-computer interface (BCI) tech debuts in transportation: EEG helmets collect drivers’ brain signals combined with sensor data to monitor attention and fatigue in real time, triggering early warnings and dynamic traffic light adjustments to enhance safety and efficiency.

6. Smart transportation projects put into use in major cities: Integrating holographic perception and edge computing, they enable green wave traffic, lane-level navigation, and event-specific traffic support, improving daily mobility and emergency response capabilities.

7. China’s combined driving assistance tech leads globally: Validated through 10,000+ tests on 40+ popular models, it handles 50+ scenarios like highway cutting-in and roundabout merging. With a 62.58% penetration in passenger cars (Jan-Jul 2025), it lays the foundation for autonomous driving development.

8. Jiangsu, Fujian advance digital economy infrastructure: Jiangsu focuses on 5G-A and smart computing centers; Fujian deploys data center clusters and blockchain nodes. Both strengthen the digital economy base via policy support and scenario empowerment.

9. China launches systematic BCI tech research for the 15th Five-Year Plan: Backed by a joint policy from seven ministries, it targets key weaknesses like electrode materials and signal decoding, building a "technology-industry-standard" synergy system to form a globally competitive industrial ecosystem by 2030.

10. China’s intelligent computing power ranks among the world’s top: MIIT data shows that by end-June, the total rack capacity of computing centers reached 10.85 million standard racks, with intelligent computing power at 788 EFlops and storage capacity exceeding 1,680 EB. Over 1,509 large models have been released, leading globally.

1. China accelerates clean energy transition to meet the Paris Agreement goals, with remarkable progress in new energy projects: New renewable energy installed capacity reached 310GW in the first three quarters of 2025. Major projects like "desert, Gobi and barren land" wind-solar bases and tower-type CSP plants are advancing rapidly, reducing CO₂ emissions by over 10 million tons annually.

2. China speeds up green climate actions at COP30: Officially submitting its 2035 NDC target： it commits to an absolute reduction of 1-1.5 billion tons of CO₂ equivalent and 3,600GW of renewable energy installed capacity. The dual indicators of "absolute emission reduction + installed capacity" demonstrate strong determination to cut emissions.

3. Chinese green energy enterprises sign international strategic cooperation agreements: By exporting high-efficiency PV modules and co-developing zero-carbon projects, they partner with global allies to tackle scenario-based decarbonization challenges, bringing green energy technologies and solutions to over 160 countries and regions worldwide.

4. Shenzhen’s underwater "laboratory" achieves breakthrough progress: The dual-sea test area of Dapeng Bay Marine Comprehensive Test Site is officially operational, featuring a centimeter-level precision real-time underwater monitoring system. It has provided real-scene testing services for marine equipment to more than 70 institutions.

1. Yiwu-Europe railway freight volume hits a new record: In 2025, outbound trains have exceeded 1,000, carrying nearly 50,000 types of goods across 26 categories. The proportion of high-value-added products like photovoltaic modules and auto parts keeps rising, with cumulative shipments surpassing 780,000 TEUs.

2. China retains the world’s top goods trade status for 8 consecutive years, with service trade exceeding $1 trillion: From Jan-Oct 2025, total goods trade import and export reached 37.31 trillion yuan, up 3.6% year-on-year. Mechanical and electrical products account for over 60% of exports, and trade with Belt and Road co-building countries grows by 5.9%.

1. Major domestic universities launch AI + new energy technology competitions: Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and four other universities jointly initiate the national "AI + Energy" sci-tech innovation contest, with dual tracks for scientific research and engineering applications. Focusing on new energy materials and smart power systems, it fosters talents for the "dual carbon" goals.

2. Science and technology education in primary and secondary schools reaches a new high: The Ministry of Education and multiple departments jointly strengthen sci-tech education by staffing full-time science teachers and vice principals, and incorporating experimental operations into academic evaluations. It integrates sci-tech education into daily teaching to enhance teenagers’ innovation capabilities.

3.Students from Nanjing No.1 High School Mingfa Binjiang Branch develop a multi-functional intelligent delivery vehicle model: Guided by experts, they use IoT technology and AI algorithms to integrate environmental perception and voice interaction modules, adapting to short-distance delivery needs on campuses and in communities, demonstrating youth sci-tech innovation achievements.

4. Beijing Institute of Technology launches "Excellence Class" with a "3+4 (X)" elite education system: It adopts a "3+4" undergraduate-doctoral integrated model or a "3+X" master-doctoral joint program with the University of Hong Kong. Guided by academician teams, it focuses on national priority areas like aerospace information and laser smart manufacturing to cultivate strategic sci-tech talents through unconventional methods.

5. BIT offers an integrated undergraduate-graduate smart course "Combustion and Thermal Explosion Theory": Relying on a self-developed educational knowledge graph platform, it uses AI tools to connect core knowledge points across undergraduate and graduate stages. Building a "theory-application-innovation" competency development path, it helps students master combustion principles and engineering applications, strengthening their ability to solve complex problems.

6. Desks connected to production lines: Education and manufacturing link for innovation: Heilongjiang Forestry Vocational and Technical College aligns with modern industrial needs, building an industry-education integration system where courses match industries, teachers work in enterprises, and training replicates workshops. It achieves synchronous development of talent training and industrial demands, cultivating skilled talents capable of tackling tough challenges.

1. The 8th China International Import Expo (CIIE) concluded in Shanghai: The intended transaction volume reached 83.49 billion US dollars, hitting a new high, while the number of participating countries and regions, the number of exhibitor enterprises and the number of visitors also set new records simultaneously. Chinese dignitaries conveyed signals of opening-up by attending various international events. The multi-country pavilions at the CIIE, covering an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters, held hundreds of cultural and people-to-people exchange activities. The intended transaction volume of countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 34% year-on-year, and 461 new products and technologies made their collective debut. Global merchants have deepened practical cooperation through efficient exchanges and connections.

2. The World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit was held: This year's "Light of the Internet" Expo focused on the theme of "AI Symbiosis, Intelligence Illuminates the Future", with "AI +" as the highlight of the exhibition. It was divided into seven thematic exhibition areas, namely Global Leadership, Model Pioneers, Intelligent Industry, Digital Intelligence Ecosystem, Cybersecurity, Digital Intelligent Travel, and Digital Villages (Smart Agriculture), gathering cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies and the latest application achievements.

3. The International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit was held in the Yangtze River Delta region: It gathered more than 2,000 makers, investors and scientific research teams from around the world, focusing on emerging fields such as AI and biomedicine. A total of 28 key cooperation projects were signed with a total value exceeding 12 billion yuan, establishing a cross-border platform for connecting innovation resources.

4. The 2025 China International Commercial Vehicle Show (CCVS) kicked off in Wuhan: With the theme of "High-end, Intelligent and Green", the ratio of new energy exhibition vehicles to fuel-powered exhibition vehicles reached 2:1. The 23 global debut vehicles covered diverse technical routes including pure electric and hydrogen energy. Enterprises such as BYD and Dongfeng collectively displayed cutting-edge achievements such as L4-level autonomous delivery vehicles and intelligent electric drive axles, demonstrating the transformation trend of the industry.

5. The 2025 Global University Leaders Forum was held: On November 8th, the 2025 Global University Leaders Forum took place in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Centering on the theme of "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Higher Education", the forum attracted nearly 170 guests from more than 40 countries and regions. It was co-hosted by the Chinese Association of Higher Education and Zhejiang University.

1. The US side has suspended measures related to the Section 301 investigation against China's shipbuilding industry: China highly appraised this move, stating that it is a positive signal of China and the US moving towards each other. China is willing to continue conducting consultations on the principles of mutual respect and equal negotiation, and looks forward to the two sides jointly safeguarding a fair competitive environment in the international shipping and shipbuilding markets, so as to inject stability into China-US economic and trade cooperation and the world economy.

2. Chips from enterprises such as Nexperia have returned to the global automotive supply chain: As the world's leading enterprise in automotive-grade discrete devices, its resumption of supply covers key scenarios such as power supply and signal processing for intelligent driving. Through the 72-hour fast track for exports to handle backlogged orders, it has promoted the gradual recovery of normal production capacity in the global automotive industry chain, and chip prices will tend to be rational in the short term.

3. The First China-Egypt Investment Forum was held in Cairo: The First China-Egypt Investment Forum was recently held in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, with the participation of more than 200 Chinese and Egyptian enterprises. The forum aims to build a docking and exchange platform and jointly explore new growth points for investment cooperation.

🌍 Editorial Note China is moving forward with remarkable progress—innovating, transforming, and opening new horizons. In today’s interconnected world, global development cannot thrive without China’s active participation and contributions. Every step China takes resonates far beyond its borders, shaping opportunities and possibilities for all.

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