China will continue to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on Monday.
In response to the "new normal" economic trend, the central government will improve and broaden innovation and mass entrepreneurship to steer the economy toward a more sustainable long-term path, said Zhang during a speech at a forum on innovation and mass entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship and innovation have unlocked creativity and entrepreneurial passion, which are emerging as key drivers to power growth, he said.
In the government work report, released in March, Premier Li Keqiang identified mass entrepreneurship and innovation as new engines for economic growth.
Zhang stressed the implementation of "Internet Plus" action plan with the "Made in China 2025" blueprint, to better integrate emerging industries such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and Internet of things with modern manufacturing.
The Internet Plus action plan was unveiled by the State Council early July to integrate the Internet with traditional sectors to make them smarter and more efficient, while the "Made in China 2025" blueprint was announced in May to transform China from a world factory into a world manufacturing power.
The central government has announced a wide range of measures for emerging businesses, including financial support, supporting infrastructure and administrative assistance. From January to September, around 3.16 million new companies were established in China, up 19.3 percent from a year ago, according to the latest data from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
In the January-September period, the high-tech sector reported 10.4 percent growth in value-added output, 4.2 percentage points higher than the figure for the whole industrial sector.
The economy posted 6.9 percent growth year on year in the third quarter of 2015, lower than 7 percent in the first half of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Monday.
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