During the five years since the 16th National Congress of the CPC in 2002, China's high-tech industry has been moving fast, with a current manufacturing scale ranking first in the world; and total exports ranking first or second.

The remark was made by Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a news conference by the Information Office of the State Council on September 27.

The total income of China's high-tech sector reached 5.3 trillion yuan in 2006, including 4.2 trillion yuan earned from manufacturing; and 1.64 percentage points higher than in 2002, according to Zhang. Income from high-tech exports stood at 281.5 billion US dollars last year, more than four times over 2002; and making up 29 percent of national exports. The sector expects the total income to surpass 6.3 trillion yuan this year.

According to Zhang, China will endeavor to transform the sector from being big to strong by shifting from processing and assembling to independent research and development, and by forming industrial clusters; expanding the scale; and engaging in international cooperation.

By People's Daily Online