Explainer | How’s China’s manufacturing push doing, and what still needs to be done?
- Beijing has ramped up efforts to cultivate a home-grown supply of critical technology in the face of efforts by Washington to curtail the world’s second-largest economy
- China is in an all-out push to cultivate an army of ‘hidden champions’ to strengthen its foothold in hi-tech manufacturing
Nearly five years after the US-China trade war began throwing wrench after wrench into the workings of an ambitious plan to upgrade the nation’s hi-tech industries to Western levels, Beijing’s strategic pivot has become increasingly evident.
By introducing a variety of programmes to bolster China’s strength and resilience in global supply chains, leaders are trying to make it clear just how critically important the nation’s industrial catch-up has become.
Why is ‘advanced manufacturing’ a new buzzword?
Central government authorities have long strived to maintain the size and scope of China’s manufacturing sector to create sufficient jobs while attempting to move production up the value chains.
But the urgency has intensified as Washington’s technology curbs, such as its ban on high-end chips, have further complicated efforts – hundreds of Chinese companies are now included on a US blacklist, known as the Entity List, that bars their access to American technology, parts and market.
These types of measures pose unprecedented challenges to both Chinese industries and the nation’s economy.