China's industrial economy will maintainsound and steady growth this year, while the strong industrial chain will keepeconomic uncertainties at bay, a regulatory official said on January 26, 2021.

"Our confidence stems from China'sefforts to fully leverage its market potential and resilience, especially onback of its experiences in work resumption and production since the COVID-19outbreak," said Tian Yulong, chief engineer and spokesman for the Ministryof Industry and Information Technology.

"Such efforts will give full play tothe complete manufacturing system and strong supporting capabilities, and willfurther boost the country's global competitiveness," Tian said during aState Council news briefing.

In particular, China will work hard toadvance industrial technologies and modernize industrial chains in the next fewyears, as envisaged in the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) guidance.

Industrial development still faces pressureand challenges this year due to the pandemic and global economic downturn, hesaid.

"Though the recovery has been steady,in some sectors there has been an imbalance between supply and demand. Somecompanies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, may also faceoperational difficulties," he said.

Despite the negative effect of the epidemicand economic uncertainties, the country's industrial output grew by 2.8 percenton a yearly basis last year. The industrial output of 20 of the 31manufacturing verticals saw year-on-year growth, the ministry said.

Qin Hailin, president of the China Centerfor Information Industry Development Consultancy, a Beijing-based consultancy,said the uptrend in China's industrial output is likely to continue this year,given the good momentum in high-tech manufacturing.

Last year, the high-tech manufacturingsegment grew by 7.1 percent, 4.3 percentage points higher than that of theoverall industrial output. Output of industrial robots, new energy vehicles andmicrocomputer equipment increased by 19.1 percent, 17.3 percent, 12.7 percent,respectively, on a yearly basis, according to the ministry.

"The accelerated construction of 'newinfrastructure' such as 5G and industrial internet has played a critical rolein the uptrend and helped the transformation of a slew of traditionalindustries," Qin said.

Zhao Zhiguo, head of the ministry'sinformation and telecommunications management department, said China will buildmore than 600,000 5G base stations this year and speed up the construction of5G base stations in counties and towns this year.

By the middle of December last year, thecountry had more than 718,000 5G base stations and 5G services were alreadyavailable in more than 300 cities at the prefecture level and above.

The information and communication industrymaintained steady and rapid development last year. The total volume oftelecommunications business increased by 20.6 percent on a yearly basis, whilerevenue from software and information services rose by 13.3 percent.

"China gained momentum in 5Gcommercialization last year. More than 600,000 5G base stations were built,while the number of 5G terminal connections surpassed 200 million during theperiod," said Zhao.

"More efforts will be made to combine5G with emerging consumption models, including augmented reality, virtual realityand immersive games."

According to the Global System for MobileCommunications Association, an international association of mobile operatorsbetter known as the GSMA, China has consolidated its position as a globalleader in 5G and had accounted for 70 percent of the 5G connections in theworld by the end of 2020.

China is also forecast to have 450 million5G connections by 2025, the most worldwide, driven by significant operatorinvestment and growing enthusiasm among consumers and enterprises, it said.

China's industrial production continues togain momentum, with strong performances in the high-tech and equipmentmanufacturing industries, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The country's value-added industrialoutput, an important economic indicator, went up 2.8 percent year on year in2020, data from NBS shows. The growth accelerated from a 2.3 percent riseregistered in the first 11 months of last year, according to the NBS.Industrial output grew 7.1 percent year on year in the fourth quarter, toppingthe third quarter's figure by 1.3 percentage points.

December alone saw output growth rise to7.3 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from November and hitting its highestpoint since March 2019, NBS data shows.

The value-added industrial output measuresthe activity of designated large enterprises with an annual business turnoverof at least 20 million yuan (about 3 million U.S. dollars).

By ownership, the output ofstate-controlled enterprises climbed 2.2 percent in 2020, the output ofjoint-stock companies went up 3 percent, and the output of overseas-fundedenterprises rose by 2.4 percent.

The manufacturing sector's output climbed3.4 percent year on year in 2020, the fastest growth among the three majorsectors: manufacturing, mining, and the production and supply of utilities.

The mining output edged up 0.5 percent yearon year, and the production and supply of utilities reported year-on-yeargrowth of 2 percent.

The industrial structure continued toimprove last year, with the outputs of high-tech manufacturing and equipmentmanufacturing industries respectively expanding by 7.1 percent and 6.6 percent.

The industrial and supply chains arebasically stable, and more industries are seeing their outputs grow, said NBShead Ning Jizhe.

In 2020, major enterprises in 25 out of 41industries saw their value-added industrial output grow, Ning said.

Monday's data also shows improvements inother economic indicator readings. China's gross domestic product expanded 2.3percent year on year in 2020 to about 101.6 trillion yuan.

The total retail sales of consumer goods, amajor indicator of consumption growth, grew 4.6 percent year on year in thefourth quarter, 3.7 percentage points higher than the third-quarter figure.

The upward trend is expected to continuethis year, as the efforts to maintain the stability of industrial chainsgenerate a more positive effect, and more measures are taken to helpexport-oriented manufacturers, experts said.

NBS said that the industrial output of thehigh-tech manufacturing segment grew by 7.1 percent in 2020, while equipmentmanufacturing grew by 6.6 percent on a yearly basis.

Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, said theoutput of several high-tech manufacturing products increased in 2020, such as3D-printing equipment, smartwatches, civil drones and semiconductor wafers.Output of these products more than doubled last year on the back of strongmarket demand.

When it comes to specific figures for thefourth quarter of 2020, industrial output grew by 7.1 percent, 1.3 percentagepoints faster than that recorded in the third quarter, Ning said.

China's industrial chain and supply chainsremained basically stable. In 2020, 25 of China's 41 industries sawyear-on-year growth, five more than the number of industries that grew over thefirst three quarters of last year, NBS said.

"China's industrial economy,especially the manufacturing sector, has shown a steady recovery trend on aquarterly basis," Ning said. Last year, China's manufacturing outputexpanded by 3.4 percent, faster than the overall industrial average of 2.8percent.

Qin Hailin, president of the China Centerfor Information Industry Development Consultancy, a Beijing-based consultancy,said the uptrend in China's industrial output is likely to continue this year,as high-tech manufacturing products have maintained a good momentum.

Last year, the output of industrial robots,new energy vehicles, and microcomputer equipment increased by 19.1 percent,17.3 percent, 12.7 percent, respectively, on a yearly basis, according to NBSdata.

More efforts will also be made to furtherstabilize supply chains, which can help export-oriented manufacturers betterdeal with the fallout from the COVID-19, Qin said.

Last month, the annual tone-setting CentralEconomic Work Conference outlined key tasks for 2021 in eight aspects,including efforts to improve industrial and supply chains, to create a moreindependent and controllable position.

Ye Shengji, deputy secretary-general of theBeijing-based China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said sales of newenergy vehicles in China are likely to grow by more than 30 percent on a yearlybasis in 2021 to 1.8 million units, as favorable market situations are expectedto continue.

The estimates are based on positivefactors, such as the supply chain of NEVs getting increasingly mature, andconsumers becoming increasingly willing to buy such products this year, Yesaid.