A view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai Photo: VCG

　　As China advances into the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, some outside observers may misread China"s new emphasis on services as a sign that the country is following the same post-industrial path taken by many Western economies. That interpretation could be wrong.

　　China is not replacing manufacturing with services. China is doing something much more sophisticated: it is integrating a higher-quality services economy with the world"s most complete industrial system in order to create a consumption-driven and internationally competitive growth model.

　　This distinction is crucial.

　　For decades, Western economies promoted the notion that advanced development meant hollowing out industrial production while allowing finance, consumption and low-productivity services to dominate GDP. The result has been visible across much of the developed world: declining industrial sovereignty, vulnerable supply chains, weaker middle-class employment and growing dependence on external manufacturing centers.

　　The lesson from this experience is increasingly clear: a pure services economy without a strong manufacturing backbone does not create sustainable national strength.

　　China has understood this trap, and it is avoiding it.

　　Even as the country now accelerates services-sector expansion, it remains the world"s largest manufacturing power for the 16th consecutive year. More importantly, Chinese policymakers are treating services not as a substitute for manufacturing, but as a multiplier of manufacturing value.