The upgrading and innovation of Chinese private enterprises

Editor's note: Jin Jun is an associate professor at the School of Management of Zhejiang University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.

As new technologies emerge, industrial boundaries and supply-demand relationships are also evolving to bring about intensified industrial transformation.

Amid the high uncertainty surrounding global technological advancements and industrial development, private enterprises in China have seized the opportunities arising from technological and industrial changes with their keen ability to identify risks and opportunities. 

Chinese private companies have become the backbone of industries in high-tech fields such as embodied artificial intelligence (AI) (especially drones and robots), new energy vehicles, information communication terminal devices (like smartphones and professional intercoms), integrated circuits and intelligent driving. They have emerged as new forces in future-focused industries like commercial spaceflight, chips and artificial intelligence, becoming key players in transforming industries and promoting development. 

These enterprises have played an important role in driving the country's high-quality economic development.

An inclusive and patient institutional environment, a flexible and resilient industry collaboration system, and enterprises and entrepreneurs with grand visions and goals have turned regions like the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta into hubs for private high-tech companies in strategic emerging industries and future industries.

Inclusive local policies support development of patient capital and foster favorable ecosystem for innovation

Local industrial policies that are not focused solely on short-term economic goals are inclusive, which in turn allows regional investment capital to be patient and long-term oriented. 

There are no shortcuts to the development of cutting-edge technologies which require sustained innovation. 

Inclusive local industrial policies enable enterprises to focus on long-term technological innovation without worries. Long-term research collaboration between local universities and the industries has supplied high-quality talent as well as technological and entrepreneurial resources for the development of new industries, creating a strong tech entrepreneurial ecosystem and a shared cultural value for entrepreneurs.

Grand visions and goals serve as driving forces for tech entrepreneurs to overcome challenges

Shared cultural values and development philosophy enable founding teams to set ambitious goals for technological innovation that serve humanity. 

For instance, DeepSeek's founder Liang Wenfeng said that he wishes that everyone, even those developing small applications, could access large models at a low cost, thus avoiding monopolization by a few individuals or companies. Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei noted that private enterprises must take part in setting global technological standards and contribute significantly to national technological strength.

Only under the guidance of these grand visions and goals can enterprises break free from mainstream constraints, focus on core real-world issues and identify new scenarios and demands. 

Through the development of new technologies and products, they can seize opportunities created by technological discontinuities and complementary asset discontinuities. 

With persistent efforts, they can become disruptors in their industries and creators of new industry rules. 

In this way, they can generate and expand their technological and asset value, becoming business disruptors.

Open-source strategies encourage cross-industry collaboration, creating new industrial landscape of smart innovation and manufacturing

Open-source strategies will effectively accelerate the spread of new technologies, such as AI, across industries, leading to the development of more industry-specific technologies tailored for particular industrial applications. 

For example, the deep integration of AI with industrial technology has hastened the innovation of industrial technologies and the development of new products, making innovation synonymous with "smart innovation."

The application of AI technology in production has boosted both production efficiency and quality, transforming manufacturing into "smart manufacturing" and making low-cost, high-profit models feasible. 

Smart innovation and smart manufacturing will further promote the high-quality development of industries, speed up the marketization and industrialization of emerging technologies, and foster innovation-based industrial competition, a healthy form of intense competition.

All these advancements will accelerate shifts in the global industrial landscape. 

For instance, DeepSeek's open-source strategy has prompted international companies like OpenAI to adjust their strategies and work faster to roll out new technologies and products.