Riding the wind of rebirth

The directive called for "vigorously accelerating the development of the machinery and electronics, petrochemical, automobile manufacturing, and construction industries, making them pillar industries of the national economy." It can be said that clearly defining the concept of "pillar industries" not only drove national economic development through industry, but also ensured that these industries received far more support than other industries, enabling them to rapidly reach world-leading levels.

In Zhou Zhi's memory, the information industry only became a pillar industry in the previous life when it was included in the "cultivation and expansion of emerging industries and future industries" thirteen years later. At that time, it was required to "vigorously develop the 'three new' economy with new industries, new business formats, and new business models as the core, and continuously increase its proportion in the GDP. Grasp the trend of technological revolution and industrial transformation, make forward-looking plans for strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, and new materials, and actively cultivate future industries."

Now that this plan has been brought forward by almost three five-year periods, it has almost caught up with a generation's worth of time. How could Zhouzhi not be overjoyed?

Zhou Zhi also felt a hidden sense of pride, because this matter was very important to him, and he felt that his journey had not been in vain.

According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, this year, the national science and technology institutions, universities, large and medium-sized industrial and construction enterprises and other entities spent 961 billion yuan on science and technology activities, of which 368 billion yuan was spent on research and development, an increase of 10.4%, equivalent to 0.5% of GDP.

The research units under the Clover Group alone, as well as the joint research laboratories set up in several universities, amount to more than 14 billion yuan, accounting for more than one-third of the national scientific research expenditure. Moreover, the research directions are mostly concentrated in the international cutting-edge operating systems, chips, optical communication, computing power matrix, storage, satellite communication, high-end batteries, green energy systems, and major software and information engineering fields.

Currently, there are 262 million people engaged in science and technology activities, including 168 million scientists and engineers. The number of scientists and engineers related to the Clover initiative has already reached over 30,000, not including the numerous companies and research institutions already incubated or currently incubating abroad.

In terms of personnel composition, almost all employees of Clover Group have a bachelor's degree or above, and more than 50% of them have master's or doctoral degrees, which is currently the highest level in China.

In the first half of this year, a total of 15566 major scientific and technological achievements were made at the provincial and ministerial levels or above nationwide, of which 2867 reached the international advanced level and 326 received national awards. Among these achievements, the Clover Group almost far surpassed others in the field of computer information technology, accounting for more than half.

The number of patents is even more staggering. This year, 11 domestic and foreign patent applications were accepted nationwide, and the Clover Group alone has more than 4 related patents.

The number of authorized patents is even more staggering; out of all 50,000 patents, more than 3,000 belong to the Clover Group.

This year has seen three successful satellite launches, two of which are related to the Clover Group. There are three more launches planned for the second half of the year, all of which are for projects undertaken by Clover and Yangtze Communications.

Clover Group's presence can be seen in other areas such as national technological innovation work, technological innovation projects, trial production of key new products, and the development of major technical equipment.

Riding the wave of advancements in communication and information technology, technology contracts grew by 17% throughout the year, indicating a more active technology market, primarily reflected in communication and information technology. Nationwide, a total of 250,000 technology contracts were signed this year, amounting to 351 billion yuan. Of these, over 5,000 were related to communication and information technology, totaling 5 billion yuan, half of which were related to the Clover Group.

The industry's prosperity is most evident in the "double surplus" pattern of the current account and capital account. The information technology industry, driven by the Clover Group, has now become a "key industry for foreign exchange earnings." This year, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached US$1399 billion, one-third of which came from chips, memory, media players, some software, and interface protocol licensing.

The profits and significance of this industry far surpass those of traditional "foreign exchange earning leaders" like the apparel and footwear industries. Besides actively generating foreign exchange through exports, the booming development of the entire information industry chain in China has also brought tremendous improvement and promotion to various sectors.

The timely emergence of domestically produced equipment reduced costs, directly leading to the early arrival of the internet age in China.

While this change is most directly reflected in family life, the real benefits are manifested in other areas.

For example, major banks across the country have implemented "universal deposit and withdrawal" ahead of schedule; another example is the fully electronic and networked securities trading; yet another example is the nationwide networked industrial and commercial administration system, customs declaration system, and tax system; and yet another example is the Hong Kong-Mainland financial settlement system and digital RMB system that are being deployed intensively...

Besides these systems that essentially replace the driving force of a national economy from propellers to jet engines, there are also some areas where economic benefits are not directly reflected.

Examples include quality inspection, standardization, weather forecasting, and marine observation.

Other examples include wind tunnel simulation, fluid simulation, nonlinear surface-aided design, and nonlinear surface machining platforms...

All of these factors have led to a huge feedback effect, making policymakers realize that China's information industry is now large in scale, has complete products, has unlimited potential, and has a huge impact. It can be supported as a pillar industry. Therefore, the "four major industries" proposed last year have been changed to the "five pillar industries" proposed this year.

"Come, come, sit down first." Hu Changfeng asked Mai Xiaomiao and Zhou Zhi to sit down: "This is a big move, and we need to think carefully about how to do justice to this hard-won favorable situation."

After pouring tea for the two men, Hu Changfeng said, "This is a way for the decision-makers to push us harder, so we need to work even harder. But there's a prerequisite: when we're working hard, we must make sure we're heading in the right direction."

“I’ve drafted a few specific directions, but I’m still not entirely sure, so I need your feedback.” At this point, Hu Changfeng opened his notebook: “The most crucial question now is whether to follow the Microsoft model or the Apple model. This is a major decision.”

What are your thoughts on this?

"I think the Apple model is better, and it's easier for us to implement," Hu Changfeng said. "It's also more in line with our country's national conditions. After all, planning and unification are our consistent methods. Large-scale campaigns are our forte!" (End of Chapter)