China unveils ‘strategic emerging industries’ plan in fresh push to get away from US technologies
- Beijing goes a step further in identifying specific products that China has to develop in industrial blueprint
- Central government authorities will ask local governments to play a bigger role in ‘guiding’ funds into strategic emerging industries, while encouraging banks to lend more
Beijing has released an ambitious plan to boost the development of “strategic emerging industries”, from the buildout of 5G mobile networks to industrial robotics, in the latest move to counter Washington’s expanding technological embargo while elevating the national economy.
In a joint circular released on Wednesday by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); the Ministry of Science and Technology; the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; and the Ministry of Finance, the country vows to build a complete strategic industrial system via state planning and state investments.
China’s aim is to build up “10 strategic emerging industrial bases with global influence, 100 strategic emerging industrial clusters with international competitiveness, and 1,000 strategic emerging industrial ecosystems with unique advantages” through the plan.
China launched a similar strategic plan focused on emerging industrial development in 2009, splashing out cash and state support to develop seven industries, but this resulted in several instances of duplicated construction, with excess capacity in the production of solar panels and new energy vehicles.