New energy to become focus of China's strategic emerging industriesDepartments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Finance jointly formed a coordination group before the Spring Festival. In a group meeting, it was clearly pointed out that China would constitute strategic emerging industries to develop the "12th Five-Year Plan."

The meeting also decided that it would establish a research and coordination department for accelerating the development of strategic emerging industries to coordinate development research ideas and to deal with important issues of constitution work as a whole. The department will consist of the heads of 20 organizations, and Zhang Ping, the director of the NDRC, will be the department leader. The coordination group will make important arrangements such as the main targets and tasks, the key development areas, the main development direction and the industrial geographical distribution of China's strategic emerging industries.

Reporters learned that of the 7 emerging high-tech realms brought forward by relevant governmental departments in November 2009 including the information industry and biotechnology, the new energy realm will most likely become the main development direction and obtain more policy support.

Up until now, China has established 3 important standards to select strategic emerging industries. First, it must have steady and promising market demand. Second, it must have excellent economic and technological effects and third, it must be able to promote a group of other industries. Compared to other technological realms, the new energy realm is most suited to the standards.

An official from the MIIT said that developing new energy is quite identical to China's idea of developing a low-carbon economy. "After the Copenhagen Conference, the MIIT has put the low-carbon economy's development in a more important position."