Build a comprehensive cultivation system to jointly create a new future industry ecosystem

Securities Times reporters Han Zhongnan, Jiang Dan, Guo Bohao

The “14th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes to aim at leading future development key areas, building a full-chain cultivation system for future industries, and promoting quantum technology, biological manufacturing, hydrogen energy, nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communication (6G) as new economic growth points. As an important barometer for global technology and industrial innovation, the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting showcased the latest achievements and ecological layout of China’s future industries, with over half of the 60 parallel forums related to future industries, sparking high-frequency discussions on key track breakthroughs, regional collaborative synergies, and commercialization pathways.

Key tracks building momentum

Future industries represent the direction of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, serving as key variables in determining the global economic landscape and competitive dynamics. Chen Yancheng, Deputy Director of the High-tech Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mentioned at the “Future Industry Innovation Development Forum” during the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting that with the efforts of all parties, the development of future industries in China is showing a positive trend, with significant breakthroughs in key areas.

For example, the overall level of laser manufacturing technology has entered the international first tier, humanoid robots have achieved full-chain manufacturing capabilities, and the future manufacturing sector is transitioning from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement; superconducting quantum computers have achieved quantum advantage verification, and artificial intelligence is accelerating the formation and evolution of new forms of intelligent economy; high-performance carbon fiber composite materials are being applied for the first time in the commercial operation of subway train bodies; hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have the largest scale globally; reusable launch vehicle technology is making accelerated breakthroughs, and the industrial ecology of future commercial space and space manufacturing is rapidly taking shape; the future health sector is making a deep transition from informatization to digital intelligence.

More advantages of future industries are still accelerating their accumulation. Huang Yuhong, President of the Zhongguancun Federation Research Institute and China Mobile Research Institute, told Securities Times reporters that the first standard research led by China Mobile for 6G — the 6G demand standard research — was officially completed this year. This standard clearly defines the key application scenarios for future 6G development, and the scientific definition of these scenarios plays a crucial role in guiding the orderly development of 6G-related technologies.

Regional collaboration unleashes agglomeration effects

At the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Innovation and High-quality Development Forum” during the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting, Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and President of Beijing University of Chemical Technology Tan Tianwei introduced the collaborative achievements in the field of biological manufacturing in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. He stated that multiple related enterprises have gathered in the Changping District of Beijing, achieving an industrial scale of 8 billion yuan and soon to break 10 billion; Tianjin has built multiple pilot platforms and research and development bases; and cities like Shijiazhuang and Qinhuangdao in Hebei have formed agglomeration effects through biopharmaceutical industrial parks.

Tan Tianwei indicated that the next step is to organically combine the advantages of the three regions, with Beijing’s research institutions and talent gathering suitable for original innovation from 0 to 1, and Tianjin and Hebei’s pilot platforms being well-established and relatively low-cost, allowing for commercial landing in conjunction with relevant industrial chains. He suggested that Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei explore the “Beijing R&D, Tianjin-Hebei manufacturing, shared benefits” model to achieve win-win development in the layout of future industries.

The Yangtze River Delta, Greater Bay Area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, and other regions are also actively leveraging their advantages in cutting-edge technology and the gathering of high-end talent to strengthen original innovation and key technology research and development, establishing a source of innovation for future industries. Ren Shengce, a professor at the Shanghai International Institute of Intellectual Property, Tongji University, pointed out that taking Shanghai as an example, the local area has explored a four-in-one development mechanism comprising project managers, key task lists, fund empowerment, and spatial support, promoting the accelerated gathering of innovation elements through high-quality incubators and future industry clusters.

The central and western regions as well as the northeast are focusing on advancing the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and pilot-scale production based on their industrial foundation, resource endowment, and market space, forming efficient linkages with the eastern regions in research and development and industrialization to jointly build a nationally coordinated future industry system.

Yuan Jun, Vice President of the National Data Development Research Institute, believes that the core of future industry development lies in building a full-chain cultivation system and a good industrial ecology, rather than merely relying on policy planning and capital investment. It requires a “nursery-style” cultivation mindset to create an inclusive development environment for technological innovation and industrial growth.

The growth of future industries cannot rely solely on individual efforts. At the global cooperation level, Li Yuan, Director of the Information Research Institute at the International Economic and Technological Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, predicts that the technological integration characteristics of future industries determine that no country can achieve closed-loop development in all fields; cooperation and competition will become the norm in the industry.

Multiple tracks heading toward trillion-yuan markets

Breaking through the “last mile” from technological breakthroughs to commercial landing is key to activating the intrinsic motivation of the future industry ecosystem. Attendees pointed out that the commercialization of future industries needs to solve three core challenges: first, addressing the pain points of the disconnect between technology and industry, crossing the “valley of death” in results transformation. Zhu Yiming, Chief Engineer of Holley Group, indicated that AI technology is driving industrial control systems from “rule-driven” to “autonomous operation.” By deeply integrating AI technology with industrial mechanism models and industry knowledge, it can effectively lower the barriers to technology implementation, achieving safety, controllability, and efficiency improvement in production processes.

Second, constructing a financing system that adapts to industrial development. Xia Lin, a partner at Zhongke Chuangxing, stated that future industries are characterized by low technology maturity, long business cycles, and high investment risks, requiring full-cycle and differentiated financial support. Through the full-chain empowerment of early-stage investment institutions, enterprises can be accompanied through the critical stage of industrialization.

Third, solidifying the industry data foundation. Lin Songtao, Vice President of Tuolisi, pointed out that intelligent agents are becoming a new production factor, while industry data determines the upper limit of industrial intelligence. Only by deeply integrating generic technology with industry data and business scenarios can the true realization of technological value be achieved.

During the annual meeting, the “Top Ten Tracks of Future Industries in 2026” released pointed the short-term development direction of future industries toward humanoid robots/embodied intelligence, biological manufacturing, brain-computer interfaces, cell and gene therapy, autonomous intelligent agents, low-altitude equipment, nuclear fusion energy, high-level autonomous driving, satellite internet, and quantum computing.

Zhu Min, Vice President of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, stated that several tracks among the top ten are expected to reach a market scale of trillions of yuan. Among them, in the field of humanoid robots/embodied intelligence, predictions indicate that global market demand will reach trillions of yuan by 2035. According to estimates from institutions like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the market scale is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 73% over the next five years, with an expected value of 238.8 billion yuan by 2030. In biological manufacturing, it is predicted that by 2050, global biological manufacturing could create an economic value of 30 trillion dollars, accounting for one-third of global manufacturing.