As an important window to observe regional development trends, especially at the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, this year's "first meetings of the new year" across various regions have drawn significant attention. A review of these meetings reveals that their themes vary, with many provinces focusing on industrial upgrading, technological innovation, and improving the business environment, introducing several new concepts. For instance, in promoting industrial upgrading, Guangdong emphasized the "coordinated development of manufacturing and services." Shandong proposed concentrating resources to build a "4+4" emerging industrial structure and addressing weaknesses in producer services. Some provinces used their "first meetings" to directly confront existing problems, aiming to resolve them. What are the implications of these new approaches in the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period?
Behind the First Mention of "Two-Sector Coordination" As the province with the largest economic output in China for 37 consecutive years, Guangdong chose "coordinated development of manufacturing and services" as the theme for its "first meeting of the new year." To highlight this theme, founders of representative enterprises were invited to speak. For example, representing the services sector, Xu Yangtian, Founder and Chairman of Shein, stated that Guangdong's industrial ecosystem is a core support for Shein's "small-order, quick-response" model. Over the next three years, Shein will deeply participate in the "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt" pilot program in Guangdong, allowing more small and medium-sized factories to benefit from cross-border e-commerce.
Why is Guangdong, the nation's top manufacturing province, emphasizing the coordinated development of these two sectors? "From the historical experience of recent decades, Guangdong's manufacturing sector has traditionally received orders through foreign trade and then produced goods, representing a path where services drive manufacturing development. However, with rapid changes in the international situation in recent years, orders for some traditional manufacturing sectors have begun to decline, creating bottlenecks in the original model. This indicates that without the support of service sectors such as technological services, financial services, legal services, and branding services, the development of traditional manufacturing will face limitations. Developing producer services is actually a crucial part of manufacturing upgrading," said Hu Gang, Founding President of the South China Urban Research Association and a professor at Jinan University.
Guangdong accounts for one-eighth of China's industrial scale, with over one hundred products ranking first in national output. On the other hand, as the province with the largest economy in China, Guangdong's GDP growth rate was 3.9% in 2025, underperforming the national average for three consecutive years. Specifically, in 2025, the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size in Guangdong increased by 3.0% year-on-year. By sector, mining grew by 3.0%, while manufacturing grew by 3.2%. This means that Guangdong's industrial sector above designated size actually grew slower than its GDP growth rate last year. Within manufacturing, although value-added in advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing grew by 5.1% and 6.2% respectively, some traditional manufacturing sectors declined during the same period. Meanwhile, the value-added of Guangdong's service sector grew by 4.7% in 2025, an acceleration of 1.9 percentage points from the previous year.
In Hu Gang's view, Guangdong's manufacturing sector currently faces the issue of being large but not strong. This is reflected in the slowing economic growth and relatively insufficient innovation momentum in traditional manufacturing hubs like Guangzhou and Foshan, apart from Shenzhen. "Two-sector coordination" means mutual development, using the services sector to compensate for weaknesses in manufacturing development. At Guangdong's "first meeting," an analogy was drawn: manufacturing and services are like the trunk and branches of a tree; only with deep roots and a strong trunk can the tree flourish. So, how can this "partnership" between manufacturing and services become closer and more synergistic? Some industry experts point out that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has unique advantages in modern services. Hong Kong's four core industries are all service-based, while the Pearl River Delta has a strong manufacturing foundation. The core development potential of the Greater Bay Area lies in deeply integrating the Pearl River Delta's manufacturing with Hong Kong's high-quality services.
In fact, the challenges Guangdong faces as China's largest provincial economy are common among several economically strong provinces. Some industry experts note that in the past, there was a tendency in some strong provinces to "emphasize manufacturing and neglect services," but many are now striving to change this. For example, Shandong's official media frankly stated that among its three major industries, services are relatively a weak point, with producer services being the weakest link. At its "first meeting," Shandong proposed to precisely focus on addressing this weakness in producer services. The meeting emphasized that future competitiveness will no longer rely solely on production scale but on the design, branding, services, and systemic solutions integrated into manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to "address the短板 in producer services." Zhejiang, at its "first meeting," also proposed "accelerating the building of a strong modern services province" and called for producer services to move towards specialization and high-end development.
"Breaking the Old" and "Establishing the New" As the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, some provinces did not avoid the problems encountered in their development process. Instead, they proposed new solutions at their "first meetings" to resolve longstanding issues. For instance, Liaoning in Northeast China, although its "first meetings" over the past three years have all set goals for improving the business environment, this year's approach is more specific. At this year's meeting, Liaoning proposed starting from "small entry points" to accomplish "major tasks," ensuring a significant and fundamental improvement in the business environment in the short term, aiming to become the province with the best reputation for its business environment. The so-called "small entry points" refer to those "key small matters" that businesses and citizens encounter daily, feel strongly about, and which, though seemingly minor, are crucial to their immediate interests. It is reported that Liaoning has recently launched campaigns to address issues such as school teachers and doctors accepting gifts, and problems with service at government service windows.
Guangxi's "first meeting," focusing on comprehensively resolving historical conflicts, also attracted widespread attention. The meeting mentioned that cadres at all levels should adopt an attitude of "new officials must address old accounts, responsibility must eliminate accumulated malpractices," declaring war on long-standing disputes and drawing swords against unresolved historical cases. The meeting emphasized ensuring the effectiveness of conflict resolution through institutionalized and long-term measures and announced the launch of a province-wide campaign to resolve historical cases of the "three major disputes" (land, forest, and water disputes).
Meanwhile, many provinces placed their focus on developing new quality productive forces. For example, Anhui's "first meeting" continued to position technological innovation as the driver for developing new quality productive forces. Anhui also placed innovative enterprises in the "C位" (center stage) of the venue. This year, representatives from six companies, including Chery Automobile, JAC Group, Shin-Etsu Materials, KuWa Technology, Siyatec, and Huaxin Weina, sat in the middle of the venue wearing large red flowers. In 2025, Anhui's automobile production ranked first nationally, and it became the first province in China to exceed one million units in annual automobile exports. Yin Tongyue, Chairman of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., a landmark enterprise in Anhui's automotive industry, stated on site that Chery will persist with technological breakthroughs and continuously promote major advancements in key technologies such as intelligent cockpits, autonomous driving, AI agents, solid-state batteries, and high-computing-power chips. Li Bin, Founder of NIO Inc., also stated at the venue that NIO will continue to invest in scientific and technological innovation.
Hubei directly displayed four "Made in Hubei" eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) at its "first meeting," demonstrating its determination to promote the large-scale leap of emerging industries like the low-altitude economy and artificial intelligence.