Xi Jinping urged local businesses to innovate and create a breakthrough in chip technology
Chinese President Xi Jinping has likened a microchip to the human heart, saying "no matter how big a person is, he or she can never be strong without a sound and strong heart".
Urging Chinese businesses to make major breakthroughs in chip technology, President Xi, who hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the central Chinese city of Wuhan for an unprecedented two-day informal summit, said they should achieve new heights in global semiconductor industry.
On Thursday, ahead of his one-on-one meetings with PM Modi, Xi Jinping, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected two leading chip-makers in a high-tech development zone in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province.
The area, dubbed "China's Optics Valley," is the world's largest research and development, and manufacturing base for optical communication equipment.
Xi Jinping first visited FiberHome Technologies Group, which leads the world in research and development, and production of optical communication equipment of "ultra-large capacity, ultra-long haul and ultra-high rate," with technology that can enable 6.75 billion telephone calls at the same time using a single optical fiber, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Referring to chips as like the human heart, Xi Jinping said, "No matter how big a person is, he or she can never be strong without a sound and strong heart."
President Xi said that innovation is the priority in China's new development concept.
Having become the world's second largest economy, China must rely on innovation to spur economic growth as the old resources-dependent way is no longer effective, he said.
Independent core technology determines the survival of businesses, he said.
"Businesses must unceasingly make breakthroughs in core technology, mastering more key technologies with self-owned intellectual property rights and building up the ability to dominate industrial development. The country needs you to pick up the pace," Xi Jinping said.
The Chinese president then visited Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation to inspect a national memory production base and assembly lines of integrated circuits.
He listened to reports about smart manufacturing of chips and accelerating chip localisation progress.
China's integrated circuit (IC) industry production volume stood at 156.5 billion yuan (about $24.9 billion) in 2017, while the market value of the industry has reached 541.1 billion yuan, according to official figures.
Xi Jinping said the opportunities and challenges in front of China are unprecedented. He called on every Chinese to make a bigger contribution to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
President Xi also visited Qingheju, a modern community developed from a former shanty town. He said that redevelopment of former shanty areas is about allowing people to live and work in contentment, adding that there are still some daunting tasks.
"We will strive to take actions as long as they are good for the people, and will make every endeavour to get things straight," President Xi said.
While visiting a community center, Xi Jinping urged more efforts to reform and innovate governance at the community level to offer more targeted and detailed services to the public.
Pushing high quality development is the fundamental requirement for good economic work, President Xi said.
Supply-side structural reform should be pushed forward, with efforts to be made both on upgrading the traditional industries and developing emerging sectors, he said.
The overall quality of the supply system should be improved so that the system will be more adaptive to demand, he said. "Chinese quality should be just as world-renowned as Chinese speed," he said.
Technological innovation should be deeply integrated with economic and social development, President Xi said.
Environmental protection should also be enhanced, and actions should be based on the understanding that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," Xi Jinping said.
A holistic approach should be used to conserve the mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands, while controlling the pollution of the air, water, and soil should be strengthened, President Xi said.
Chinese-made chips for mobile devices account for more than one-fifth of the global market share.
The country's high-end design capacity is also improving. Domestic design industry market scale rose from 104.7 billion yuan in 2014 to 198 billion yuan in 2017, the second largest value in the world.
China was picking up speed in building advanced IC production lines, which has led to growth in supporting industries, including equipment and materials, Xinhua news agency said in a separate report.