Forget about Donald Trump’s trade war – China’s manufacturers face bigger threats, says drafter of ‘Made in China 2025’
- Gu Qiang, who helped craft the industrial modernisation plan, says structural issues at firms could hamper China’s pursuit of hi-tech manufacturing dominance
- Companies also face major challenges over surging labour and financing costs, he says
China’s manufacturing industry faces major obstacles in its bid to narrow the gap with developed economies, according to a former official who helped draft a controversial blueprint for upgrading the manufacturing capabilities of Chinese industries.
Gu Qiang, a former deputy division director of planning with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a Beijing think tank event that he endorsed the view that structural problems within Chinese firms could hamper the country’s pursuit of dominance in global hi-tech manufacturing, notwithstanding the goals spelt out in “Made in China 2025” (MIC2025), a state-led policy.
“A businessman once said to me: ‘You want to push forward Made in China 2025, but most Chinese companies won’t live beyond 2025,’” said Gu, who now heads the industry research institute of China Fortune Land Development, a Shanghai-listed developer of industrial estates.
“I was in cold sweat [after hearing that], but we did see that happen,” he said. “Many companies were shut down [because of] pollution curbs” on hundreds of manufacturers by 2020 to reduce air pollution.
Gu made his remarks on Saturday as he took part in a panel discussion organised by the Hongfan Institute of Legal and Economic Studies, a liberal private think tank of former economic and policy advisers and academics.