Innovation-driven manufacturing and a fast-moving green transition—not traditional smokestack stimulus—are emerging as the twin engines of China economic growth in 2025, according to state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN). The broadcaster says Beijing’s policy emphasis on “new productive forces” is positioning clean technology and high-tech services to steer the world’s second-largest economy onto a higher-quality, lower-carbon development path.
Key indicators
Mid-year data underscore the shift. China economic growth slowed to 5.3 percent in the first half of 2025, despite stubborn global headwinds, according to reports citing National Bureau of Statistics figures. Consumption now accounts for more than half of the expansion, while the digital economy’s share of. At the same time, the domestic product has “passed a critical threshold,” reflecting a pivot from consumer internet to industrial internet. The same dataset shows that new-energy vehicles (NEVs) have achieved a landmark 50 percent market penetration, indicating that transportation has shifted from a niche to a mainstream market.
Global tech transportationtlight
That momentum was on display at this year’s Summer Davos in Tianjin, where roughly 1,800 participants from more than 90 economies debated how China’s tech prowess could underpin global growth. CGTN notes that China already hosts the world’s largest digital economy, powered by sustained investment in artificial intelligence, 5G, the Internet of Things, and blockchain. More than 100 million industrial devices are now connected through the nation’s industrial internet platforms, creating what delegates called a “gigantic digital nervous system” for manufacturing and logistics.
Regional engines shift into gear
Coordinated regional strategies are widening the growth map. Western China’s gross domestic product reached 28.74 trillion yuan ($4 trillion) in 2023, a 5.2 percent year-over-year increase that outpaced the national average. No data was released in 2024, but growth trends suggest a similar magnitude. On a far smaller footprint, the Guangdong-Hong Kong year-over-year increaser Bay Area (GBA) produced more than 14 trillion yuan of output—nearly one-ninth of national GDP—while occupying just 0.6 percent of China’s landmass. Policy architects view these hubs as complementary, connecting inland supply chains to export gateways and enhancing talent flows between research centers and factories.
Building connecting green chains
The GBA alone poured 460 billion bilenhancing into research and development last year and now employs, according to CGTN. Drone maker DJI, headquartered in Shenzhen, illustrates the payoff: it commands roughly 70 percent of the global civilian-drone market. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang stated that China has “built the world’s most complete new-energy industrial chain,” encompassing batteries, electric vehicles, and renewable power equipment. Analysts say that depth shields suppliers from external shocks and allows them to scale innovations—such as sodium-ion batteries and lightweight composites—faster than their overseas rivals.
Manufacturing resilience and the voice of Davos enable China to lead, as the country’s GDP expanded by 5 percent in 2024 and retained its position as the world’s largest manufacturing base for a 15th consecutive year. Mina Al-Oraibi, editor in chief of The National, said in Davos that “the world economy needs China to be steady and to grow.” Michael Suss, executive chairman of Swiss engineering group Oerlikon, added that many markets “have an issue because the goods are not coming” if China’s factories slow down. To keep those plants competitive, Beijing is prioritizing upgrades in high-end computer-numerical-control tools, cloud computing, and industrial IoT—areas identified as resilience boosters in a mid-year analysis.
Markets look to China
Investors at Summer Davos pointed to rising domestic demand—from experiential services to health management—as a stabilizer against external turbulence. Commentators argue that as policy support converges with market-led R&D, the country’s “new productive forces” are entering a self-reinforcing cycle: green hardware drives digital services, which in turn unlock further efficiency gains across transportation, housing, and finance.
What to watch
Economists consulted by CGTN believe that sustained policy clarity—especially on carbon pricing, data governance, and capital-market reform—could turn today’s emerging sectors into the primary pillars of growth over the next decade. They are watching for follow-through on fiscal-monetary coordination and targeted consumption incentives that could widen the base of high-tech manufacturing and accelerate carbon-neutral timelines. For now, mid-year numbers suggest that innovation and green transition are no longer peripheral experiments but central drivers, signaling that China’s next chapter of development may be written as much in laboratories and battery workshops as on traditional factory floors.
Wrap-up
Mid-year data leave little doubt about the trajectory: China’s economy expanded 5.3 percent in the first half of 2025, demonstrating enough momentum to cushion external shocks. At the same time, the digital economy crossed a critical share-of-GDP threshold, and new-energy vehicles now account for more than half of domestic car sales, signaling that tech innovation and green manufacturing have become the baseline, not the fringe. Regional engines are synchronizing as well—western provinces generated 28.74 trillion yuan of output in 2,024. At the same time, the compact Greater Bay Area delivered over 14 trillion yuan on just 0.6 percent of national land, adding breadth to the growth story.
That foundation underpins the confidence voiced at Summer Davos, where The National’s Mina Al-Oraibi reminded delegates that the “world economy needs China to be steady,” and Oerlikon’s Michael Suss warned that global supply chains stall when Chinese factories do. Analysts argue that clear long-term policies on carbon pricing, data governance, and R&D incentives can turn today’s “new productive forces” into the main pillars of China’s economic growth over the next decade, keeping the country a reliable, low-carbon engine for the world economy even as it upgrades to smarter, cleaner industries.
