Recently, Professor Yu Donghua from the School of Economics, alongside PhD candidates Li Moyuan and Jiang Wei, published their paper An Analysis of Mechanisms and Pathways for Leading the Development of New Quality Productive Forces Through High-Level Self-Reliance and Strength in Science and Technology in Issue 7, 2026 of Journal of Quantitative & Technical Economics. Centered on the critical strategic task of accelerating high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology to develop new quality productive forces during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this research systematically elaborates the intrinsic compatibility between high-level sci-tech self-reliance and new quality productive forces. It constructs an “Innovation – Factor – Industry – System” analytical framework to reveal the mechanisms and pathways through which high-level sci-tech self-reliance drives the development of new quality productive forces, providing theoretical support and policy implications for advancing the construction of a powerful country in science and technology, fostering new quality productive forces, and refining the modern industrial system.
This study argues that high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology is not merely technological substitution or closed-loop innovation. Instead, it delivers core driving forces and foundational support for the formation of new quality productive forces via original technological breakthroughs, disruptive technological innovation and innovation system restructuring. The paper identifies high alignment between high-level sci-tech self-reliance and new quality productive forces across dimensions including innovation quality, institutional rules, factor combination modes and innovation network structures. The former shapes new forms of productive forces through innovation supply and technological breakthroughs, while the latter provides practical scenarios and resource feedback for sci-tech self-reliance via demand traction, factor agglomeration and system construction. Mutually supportive in value orientation, development paths and outcome objectives, the two jointly serve high-quality development amid Chinese-style modernization.
At the mechanism level, the research condenses the process through which high-level sci-tech self-reliance leads the development of new quality productive forces into four interlocking operational mechanisms:
1. Original scientific and technological innovation generates large-scale, source-side supply of new productive forces;
2. Optimized factor allocation facilitates efficient flow of key factors including talent, capital, data and computing power within independent innovation networks and modern industrial systems;
3. Industrial transformation and upgrading embed autonomous technology systems into industrial chains, value chains and supply chains;
4. Independent and controllable systems enhance the security and resilience of innovation, industrial and supply chains.
In terms of practical pathways, the paper proposes actionable measures: consolidating foundational source innovation supply via original breakthroughs; unblocking the transformation channel from individual innovation nodes to large-scale commercialization through deep integration of scientific and industrial innovation; optimizing the allocation of new production factors (talent, capital, data, computing power) via institutional innovation; reshaping production organization and value creation models through in-depth integration of the real economy and digital economy; and expanding spatial carriers for new quality productive forces by developing strategic emerging industries and cultivating future industrial clusters.
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the research further puts forward policy recommendations: improving long-term fiscal subsidies and research evaluation incentive systems targeting original innovation; deepening reforms of talent evaluation systems oriented toward empowering researchers with rights over their job-related scientific and technological achievements; establishing public pilot service platforms for future industries and government first-purchase policies for the first set of new technical equipment; accelerating the confirmation and authorization of public data asset ownership and unified scheduling rules for computing power; and optimizing national innovation layouts through the construction of science and innovation corridors. Coordinated efforts in institutional supply, platform development and spatial layout will continuously translate high-level sci-tech self-reliance into developmental advantages for new quality productive forces.
Yu Donghua, Professor at the School of Economics, Chief Expert for major national research projects, recipient of the National Excellent Teacher Award from Baosteel Foundation, Advanced Individual for Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development of the Yellow River Basin in Shandong Province, and High-End Think Tank Talent of Shandong Province. He also serves as Special Expert on the Shandong Provincial Decision-Making Consultation Committee and Chief Expert of its core decision-making team. His research focuses on industrial organization and competition policy, new quality productive forces and modern industrial systems. He has published more than 160 academic papers in CSSCI journals including Economic Research Journal, World Economy, China Industrial Economics, and Journal of Quantitative & Technical Economics, and authored eight monographs published by Social Sciences Academic Press, Economic Science Press, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, Economic Management Press and Peking University Press. He presides over more than 30 vertical research projects at or above the provincial and ministerial level, and has completed over 30 entrusted horizontal research projects.
Li Moyuan, PhD candidate at the School of Economics and corresponding author of this paper, studies digital economy and innovation economics.
Jiang Wei, PhD candidate at the School of Economics, specializes in technological economics and regional economics.
