Chinese Premier Li Qiang urges manufacturing firms to ‘spare extra money’ for R&D investment
- Premier Li Qiang visited hi-tech manufacturing companies during a two-day trip to the central province of Shaanxi province on Monday and Tuesday
- A lack of investment in research and development is seen as a long-standing block for China’s technological advancement amid efforts to move up the industrial chain
Premier Li Qiang asked manufacturers to increase investment in research and development after completing a two-day trip to the central province of Shaanxi on Tuesday, with China struggling to climb up the value chain amid ongoing US technology restrictions and gradually cooling economic momentum.
Shaanxi is a vital energy hub due to its rich coal and oil resources, while it also boasts one of the world’s largest producers of heavy truck transmissions and monocrystalline silicon.
Its semiconductor industry is also the fourth-largest in China in terms of scale, according to the Shaanxi government.
“If manufacturing companies want to stand firm in a competitive market, they must spare extra money on research and development,” Li said in a statement, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.