Chinese commercial drone maker DJI's staff member introduces its Phantom 3 drone to clients in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on November 22 (XINHUA)

China identified three new growth drivers in 2015--the upgrade of its manufacturing industries, mass entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as the Internet Plus strategy.

In May, the State Council released the Made in China 2025 plan, which aims to lift China from its current position as a manufacturing powerhouse to a world superpower in terms of its manufacturing industry. The plan calls for greener, more intelligent manufacturing while also focusing on quality and integration to the Internet.

Throughout the year, a torrent of innovation and entrepreneurship has swept China and become a new engine for economic growth. The Chinese Government has been making strenuous efforts to give more liberty to entrepreneurs and ensure that the spirit of innovation can filter into the fabric of society. To this end, Premier Li visited many inventors and incubators this year. The State Council has also released new supportive measures involving tax breaks, fundraising support and administrative procedures reforms in order to support startups.

The Internet economy ballooned in China during 2015 with the value of e-commerce transactions reaching record highs. E-commerce giant Alibaba broke its own record this year, recording $14.3 billion in sales on Singles Day, an online shopping festival that falls on November 11 each year--China's equivalent of Cyber Monday in the United States.

The Internet sector has also witnessed quicker integration of the Internet and traditional industries, including mergers and acquisitions between some companies. In February, for example, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache--two leading taxi hailing companies--merged in a share swap worth $6 billion. In October, the top two group deals sites Meituan.com and Dianping.com also merged. Later that month, online travel service provider Qunar.com partnered with its archrival Ctrip.com in a stake-swap agreement.

In August, Alibaba teamed up with leading electronics retailer Suning in an attempt to build an all-around online-to-offline system encompassing e-commerce, logistics, after-sales services, marketing and big data.

Three Internet giants--Baidu, Alibaba and Tecent--have also teamed up with shopping malls, supermarkets and convenience stores, in order to take advantage of the emerging mobile payment market.