Technicians configure parameters for the sensors of an intelligent inspection robot on May 20, 2025, in the Luyang Economic Development Zone of Hefei, East China"s Anhui Province. Amid the nation"s efforts to develop new quality productive forces, the zone has focused on developing the intelligent sensing industry, continuously expanding its scale and accelerating efforts to build Hefei into a leading hub for smart sensor innovation. Photo: VCG

　　On the first working day after the Spring Festival holiday in the Year of the Horse, multiple Chinese provinces held their "first meetings," setting the tone for economic development, with artificial intelligence (AI), innovation and quantum technology high on their agendas. As the opening year of China"s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, these sessions underscored a consistent focus on high-quality growth, innovation-driven productivity, industrial upgrading, and stable governance amid global uncertainties, analysts said.

　　This trend signals a profound shift in China"s economy from sheer scale expansion to sophisticated system integration, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

　　"By prioritizing high-quality development, provinces are no longer chasing single-digit GDP growth at all costs, but engineering a fundamental transformation in total factor productivity," Wang said, adding that new quality productive forces have decisively moved out of the "conceptual phase" and entered full construction mode.