Beijing continues to play down ‘Made in China 2025’, saying world should take ‘objective’ view
Country has conducted a strict compliance assessment of the programme according to the rules of the World Trade Organisation, ministry says
Beijing continued to play down its technological ambitions on Tuesday, in an apparent effort to avoid antagonising the US, saying that its plan for industrial and technological upgrading should be viewed “objectively” by the international community.
At a half-yearly briefing on the country’s industrial developments, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology made only muted references to “Made in China 2025”, despite describing it just six months earlier as having witnessed a raft of “significant and symbolic achievements”.
When asked by the South China Morning Post whether the programme was still on track, ministry spokesman Huang Libin said it was a long-term strategy that needed to be treated objectively and without bias by the global community.
“[China] has conducted a strict compliance assessment [of the plan] according to the rules of the World Trade Organisation and China’s pledge on joining the WTO,” he said, adding that many countries, including the US, had developed similar programmes.