Lawmakers stress importance of manufacturing

Shanghai legislators are calling for further innovation and development in the manufacturing industry as a major driving force for high-quality economic growth.

In view of the new development pattern, the manufacturing industry is an important carrier for the city’s construction of a center of a domestic and international “dual circulation” strategy, said Zhu Guohong, a deputy to the Shanghai People’s Congress and vice chairman of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

The industry is also an important support for upgrading the city’s capacity and core competitiveness, Zhu added, saying it should not only help consolidate the leading role of high-end industries, but also play an important part in strengthening the global allocation of resources, boosting sci-tech innovation and developing an open hub.

He suggested exploring ways to enhance the innovation of manufacturing enterprises as well as to solve the problem in attracting foreign enterprises and helping local companies expand business abroad in the manufacturing sector.

Another legislator, Han Ruobing, a material sci-tech company’s executive, noted the importance and strong potential of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in the development pattern.

Han called for more effort to protect the intellectual property rights of SMEs, and set up specialized intellectual property relief centers to provide effective services.

Han also suggested enhancing financial support for SMEs, developing supply chain finance, and encouraging financial institutions to analyze the pattern of industrial chains and provide more credit products to small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises.

Wang Tao, director of the Shanghai Supercomputer Center’s research and development department and also a city legislator, called for strengthening IT applications to promote high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

Wang pointed out the current problems of uneven allocation of resources, slow development of domestic software, and the relatively low level of applications as he appealed to the city to formulate relative policies and measures targeted at these areas.