China's Qualitative Growth Faces New Challenges The economic growth target announced at China's National People's Congress in March 2025, unlike in the past, focuses on 'qualitative growth' rather than 'quantitative growth.' The relatively modest growth target of 4.5-5%, following 5.2% in 2023 and approximately 5.0% in 2024, emphasizes 'New Quality Productive Forces' for substantive and sustainable growth, rather than speed or volume. New Quality Productive Forces, a concept first introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2023, refers to a new form of productivity that leverages scientific and technological innovation as a core driver to upgrade traditional industries and foster strategic emerging and future industries. As a result, China has embarked on a new economic strategy centered on technological self-reliance and the development of advanced industries, drawing significant attention in the global economic and trade landscape. However, while this strategy brings meaningful changes worldwide, it also raises considerable internal issues, leading to various analyses and debates. Major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, one year after the March 2025 announcement, highlight both the positive and negative aspects of China's direction, emphasizing the close intertwining of labor market changes. The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial titled 'China's New Five-Year Plan: The Limits of Technological Self-Reliance and State-Led Growth,' analyzed that China's five-year plan is based on technological self-reliance and a state-led economic model. The editorial pointed out, "While the Chinese government's New Quality Productive Forces strategy ostensibly emphasizes innovation, it is in reality an attempt to reduce dependence on Western technology through state-led industrial policies." It expressed concern that "this could further intensify trade tensions with the Western world, including the United States and Europe." The essence of technological self-reliance is to reduce reliance on foreign technology and resources and strengthen independent productive capacity within China. However, international economic experts have raised concerns that such moves could lead to unfair competition in global trade relations or exacerbate China's overproduction issues. Particularly within China, it is still too early to assess how successful these changes will be, given that the real estate market downturn and sluggish domestic demand have not yet been overcome. In 2025, China's real estate investment decreased by over 10% compared to the previous year, and the consumer confidence index has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s 2025 report, China's household debt-to-GDP ratio reached 62%, and the weakening of the wealth effect due to declining real estate asset values is hindering the recovery of domestic demand. Another key issue is the transformation of the labor market. The Guardian, in a column titled 'China's Ambition for a Tech Powerhouse: Dark Factories Forcing Labor Market Sacrifices,' analyzed that China's push to develop advanced technology industries is accelerating the trend of 'Dark Factories.' A 'Dark Factory' refers to a fully automated manufacturing environment where advanced technologies like robots and AI replace human labor, minimizing human intervention to the point where lighting is unnecessary. The columnist reported, "Behind China's export boom and achievements in advanced industries lies a heavy price paid by manufacturing workers," adding that "large-scale workforce reductions due to automation are underway in manufacturing hubs like Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces." Indeed, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics data, manufacturing employment in 2025 decreased by 3.2% year-on-year, with job losses particularly pronounced in assembly and simple processing sectors. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) report stated that China accounted for 52% of global industrial robot installations in 2024, with the number of robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers increasing by 18% year-on-year to 392 units. The Guardian warns that these changes could lead to lower wages and reduced employment opportunities for workers, exacerbating social inequality. The development of ultra-advanced industries yields positive results for China's trade, but it creates a dilemma by incurring hidden internal costs. The Core of China's Economic Strategy: Technological Self-Reliance and the Spread of Dark Factories In particular, the inevitable sacrifice of certain social strata during the industrial restructuring process, especially around high technology, has the potential to negatively impact China's social stability in the long term. Professor Zhang Jun of Peking University's School of Economics pointed out, "For the New Quality Productive Forces strategy to succeed, it is essential to establish a social safety net that supports l
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