According to a report on July 15th by Kuaitech (a Chinese tech news outlet)， Huang Qifan， vice chairman of the academic committee of the China National Innovation and Development Strategy Research Association and former mayor of Chongqing， stated that the productive services industry not only drives the development and growth of the manufacturing sector but also serves as the largest driver of GDP growth. Ultimately， it is poised to become the largest segment of the economy.
Huang Qifan’s perspective suggests that among the seven major US tech giants – Apple， Microsoft， Google’s parent company Alphabet， Amazon， NVIDIA， Tesla， and Meta – only Amazon is primarily an industrial internet company. The other six， while widely considered manufacturing companies， are more accurately described as leaders in the productive services industry. While they are indeed large enterprises within the broader manufacturing ecosystem， they often do not engage in direct manufacturing themselves. Instead， they outsource manufacturing activities to contract manufacturers， focusing their core efforts on productive services.
For instance， Apple， by focusing on the entire industrial chain surrounding its iPhones and computers， has extensively researched， developed， and managed ten key productive services. this strategic approach has positioned Apple as the leading entity within its产业链 (industrial chain).
“The largest unicorns in the United States are companies that lead productive service industry chains. Huawei in China is also such a company. It produces products under at least five different brands， including mobile phones， computers， 5G base stations， automobiles， and robots. For each of these products， it comprehensively develops the ten major productive services，” Huang stated.
He further elaborated， “Its more than 200，000 employees are all engaged in this work. At its various bases， whether in Shenzhen， Dongguan， or Shanghai， each occupying two to three thousand mu (approximately 1.3 to 2 million square meters) of building complexes with millions of square meters of floor space， there are no production lines and no blue-collar workers. All personnel are research and development staff. Therefore， it is China’s most distinguished leading enterprise in the productive services industry. In terms of manufacturing， it entrusts production to domestic Chinese companies such as BYD and Luxshare Precision.”
