China to press ahead with investments in 5G and Internet of Things, NDRC official says
- China’s top economic planning agency says investing in “new form of infrastructure” is a top priority
China will press ahead with investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G in 2019 as it competes with the US in the two key areas amid a technology race between the world’s two biggest economies.
China’s state planner has singled out AI, the industrial internet, Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G as part of its investment priorities this year as part the country’s efforts to “construct a new form of infrastructure” and “speed up the commercialisation of 5G”, according to Lian Weiliang, deputy head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission.
Investing in this so-called new form of infrastructure is one of five priorities, he said. The other investment priorities are for traditional infrastructure such as logistics, transport as well as education and health care.
Putting technology-related investments at the top of the priority list underscores China’s efforts to transform from a capital- and labour-intensive manufacturing economy driven by foreign investment into an innovation-led, consumption-driven economy. This task has taken on added urgency in the wake of the ongoing trade tensions with the US, the world’s biggest economy and China’s largest trading partner.
Lian said China will make its investments more targeted and effective and refrain from resorting to massive economic stimulus, without specifying the size of the investment.