North China's Shanxi province announced its new product development plan in the 14th Five-year Plan period (2021-25) on June 22, with a view to integrating itself into the international industrial supply chain.

The new products refer to those new products or major improved products with new technologies, new designs, new materials and new processes.

These have high technological content, high brand added value, high industrial relevance and high market share, according to officials from the provincial government speaking at a news conference in provincial capital Taiyuan on the day.

"On the basis of expanding the bulk industrial product market, Shanxi will focus on making up for the shortcomings of featured, high-end light industrial products and high value-added consumer products," said Ma Yunxia, deputy director of the Shanxi Department of Industry and Information Technology.

To capitalize on the overall trend of consumers moving away from daily necessities to more aspirational, premium products, Shanxi will reportedly help with the development of new export-oriented and trade-in-services products.

The province will also pick up the pace with the integration of its industries and products with the global industrial production and supply chain. 

Under the plan, in the next five years, Shanxi will focus on cultivating 500 cutting-edge, advanced and characteristic new products. 

It will help create 95 products that represent first-class international and domestic levels and have significant competitive advantages in 17 fields. These include products in the fields of semiconductors, big data, artificial intelligence, new bio-based materials and special metal materials. 

By 2025, the province is expected to have developed a "Made in Shanxi" product system, represented by strategic emerging industries and supported by advanced manufacturing.