The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development call for the development of a national strategic hinterland and backup arrangements for key industries as part of efforts to strengthen national security capacity in critical areas.

The national strategic hinterland refers to strategic support areas centered on the inland regions of central and western China. Drawing on distinctive strengths such as ample strategic depth, abundant resource endowments, and solid industrial foundations, these areas occupy an important position in transportation connectivity, economic capacity, and population concentration.

By advancing the construction of a national strategic hinterland and fostering a regional economic layout and territorial spatial system characterized by complementary advantages, China can enhance the endogenous momentum and reliability of the domestic circulation, striking a dynamic balance between high-quality development and high-level security. At present, the development of the national strategic hinterland should focus on three main functional orientations.

Efficiently interconnected national strategic infrastructure hub

First, a multidimensional transportation network should be developed by expanding the railway network in the central and western regions, increasing high-speed rail coverage, improving the integrated “rail–road–water–air” multimodal transport system, and prioritizing the construction of major international logistics corridors such as the New International Land–Sea Trade Corridor and the New Eurasian Land Bridge. Second, the energy security network should be strengthened by supporting large-scale development of wind and solar power bases in resource-rich areas of the central and western regions, fostering green energy clusters with complementary energy sources, and advancing the West-to-East Power Transmission Program. Third, the development of new infrastructure should be accelerated by advancing 5G, industrial internet, and computing power networks, in line with the strategic hinterland’s role as a key support area for the “East Data, West Computing” initiative.

Safe, controllable national strategic industrial backup base

First, a backup list of key industries should be formulated through systematic assessments conducted by specialized teams, identifying industries essential to industrial development, capacity switching, and material security. Second, industries aligned with major national strategic needs should be deployed in accordance with local conditions. Strategic support should be strengthened for sectors such as equipment manufacturing, energy and chemicals, food, and light textiles. Industrial clusters should be developed with a focus on enhancing the resilience and security of industrial and supply chains, thereby improving risk resistance. Third, cross-regional collaboration in technological innovation should be promoted. In fields such as high-end manufacturing, semiconductors, and new materials, eastern regions should take the lead in fundamental theoretical research and original innovation, while central and western strategic hinterland areas undertake intermediate testing, maturation, and mass-production validation.

Resilient national strategic material reserve base

First, energy security reserves should be reinforced. With the strategic hinterland serving as a core node for energy reserves, efforts should be made to expand strategic reserves of oil and natural gas, while simultaneously enhancing reserves of renewable energy sources, thereby creating a diversified reserve structure. Second, a closed-loop system for securing mineral resource supply should be established. For metals with high external dependence, including iron, copper, and lithium, it is necessary to build an integrated industrial system encompassing smelting, processing, product storage, and recycling. Third, food and livelihood security resilience should be enhanced. By making use of the spatial advantages of the central and western hinterland, grain and meat reserves can be geographically distributed to avoid the risks associated with excessive concentration.

Cheng Kai is an associate research fellow from the Chongqing Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics at the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences.