The China Quality Conference, the largest international and most influential quality conference with the highest specification in China, was recently held in Chengdu. With a theme of “Quality Evolution and Cooperation in Economic Recovery”, the conference invited representatives from different sides to discuss hot quality topics and the frontiers of quality management under the new situation, and the co-located “Exhibition of Quality Light – China Quality Management and Quality Innovation Achievements” intuitively displayed a group of China’s quality innovation achievements from multiple dimensions. Currently, the foundational and strategic position of quality has become increasingly prominent in China’s economic and social development, and the boosting of China’s strength in product quality has become an important pillar of China’s modernization.

The boosting of China’s strength in product quality helps accelerate the formation of a modern industrial system. The Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposes to continue to focus on the real economy, advance new industrialization and move faster to boost China’s strength in manufacturing, product quality, aerospace, transportation, cyberspace and digital development. Manufacturing can be called the “power engine” of the real economy and is an important symbol of national economic strength. China’s manufacturing value-added contributed about 30% of the global total in 2022, and the country has been a world leader for 13 consecutive years based on manufacturing scale, with a more stable position as a manufacturer of quantity. To upgrade from a manufacturer of quantity to one of quality, China must focus on resolving the structural contradictions of the industrial system and comprehensively enhance the international competitiveness of its manufacturing. Among them, addressing quality issues is the main breakthrough. China should vigorously implement the industrial basic quality improvement project, synergistically advance quality technology R&D and industrial application, build better quality infrastructure and improve the quality governance system. China should, by boosting its strength in product quality with Chinese characteristics, promote the boosting of its strength in manufacturing to move forward steadily, energize the modern industrial system and consolidate the material basis for common prosperity.

The boosting of China’s strength in product quality is conducive to the improvement of people’s quality of life. In the social development course of human beings, every transformation and innovation in the quality field has promoted the progress of production technology and improved the well-being of people. During the high-quality development stage, people’s pursuit of a better life constantly iterates and upgrades, gradually transitioning from the pursuit of “basic needs” and “quantity” to the pursuit of “quality”, and the demand structure presents multi-dimensional, multi-level and changing characteristics, which the quality governance reform must adapt to. From the consumption upgrading perspective, the influence of Chinese brands is steadily improving. According to the “Global 500 2023” released by Brand Finance, an international brand valuation consultancy, 79 Chinese brands were among the global 500 brands, with a total value proportion of 17.9%, and the total value of Chinese brands on the list grew by 1190% compared to 2010. Extensive data and cases have shown that quality improvement actions with a focus on increasing varieties, improving quality and building brands can lead to the discovery and creation of new consumption demands on the basis of meeting people’s basic consumption needs, let people enjoy more abundant material and spiritual lives, continuously enhance their sense of gain, happiness and security and promote the coordinated development in material and cultural-ethical dimensions.

The boosting of China’s strength in product quality is conducive to the stability of global industrial and supply chains to ultimately benefit global consumers. From the perspective of the relationship between the supply side and the demand side, a country’s innovation system and industrial system must interact deeply with the international market, with the aim to continuously improve the supply level under the drive of higher-level demand, and quality is the bridge connecting the supply side and the demand side. “Quality is good faith” is an ancient Chinese thought of quality, which is still of great significance today. Good quality of products, projects and services is the “passport” for Chinese enterprises to participate in global industrial division and cooperation and a precondition for smoothening domestic and international economic flows. In the future, China needs to further enhance the modernization and internationalization of quality governance, take solid measures in quality and ensure the resilience and safety of its own industrial and supply chains while contributing to the stability of global production and supply patterns with quality products and services.

In February of this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Outline of Building a Quality-powered Nation to make systematic arrangements for the guiding ideology, main goals, key tasks and guarantee measures of the boosting of China’s strength in product quality, providing an action guide for advancing the boosting thereof in the next period. Through efforts such as targeting the goal of boosting China’s strength in product quality, accelerating the implementation of various construction tasks and building a more suitable quality supply system, a better quality infrastructure system and a more modern quality governance system, the quality foundation of Chinese modernization will be continuously consolidated.

Source: Guangming Daily, September 13, 2023