Beijing vows to upgrade country’s manufacturing in ‘two sessions’ conference – but makes no mention of ‘Made in China 2025’ for first time in three years
- The Chinese government budget for science and technology will expand 13.4 per cent to 354.31 billion yuan (US$52.88 billion) this year
- Premier Li Keqiang avoids mentioning ‘Made in China 2025’ plan amid trade tensions with US
In delivering his 2019 government work report to the National People’s Congress in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the country would “work faster to make China strong in manufacturing” – this despite there being no mention of “Made in China 2025” in the government work report for the first time in three years.
“Made in China 2025” (MIC2025), the Beijing blueprint for tech supremacy that has aroused suspicion in the US and Europe, was not cited at all in China’s 2019 government work report, but top leaders reiterated the country’s ambitions to upgrade its manufacturing industry and boost technology development.
“We will strengthen the supporting capacity of quality infrastructure … and improve the quality of products and services to encourage more domestic and foreign users to choose Chinese goods and services,” said Li, reading from the 35-page report.
However, toning down the project during one of the most important events on China’s political calendar does not mean Beijing is stepping back from its ambitions to use technology and innovation to lift its traditional industries.
The closely followed work report is the centrepiece of the annual Two Sessions, not only presenting targets for China’s economic growth, but often containing hints of policy shifts or changes in the Chinese government.
Considered the blueprint for Beijing’s industrial modernisation programme, MIC2025 was included in the Chinese government work reports for 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The absence of the phrase in this year’s edition comes as the trade war between China and the US highlights the rivalry between the world’s two largest economies for dominance of next-generation technologies.
Legislators and policymakers in Washington have criticised the plan for its “unfair” state-driven approach to supporting hi-tech industries, including China’s direct subsidies for domestic companies developing advanced semiconductors.
Unveiled in 2015, MIC2025’s goal is to lift the 10 strategic industries hand-picked by Beijing – including robotics, aerospace, new materials and new-energy vehicles – up the value chain, breaking China’s reliance on foreign technology and propelling its domestic hi-tech industries to Western levels.
A separate government budget report released on Tuesday revealed that the Chinese central government budget for science and technology would expand 13.4 per cent to 354.31 billion yuan (US$52.88 billion) this year, despite slower growth in the local economy.
Li also said China would increase support for basic research and application-oriented research, stepping up original innovation and working harder to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields.
Instead of using the phrase MIC2025, the government report said China would expand “smart plus” to transform and upgrade its manufacturing industry.
A number of measures, including tax cuts for manufacturers and small-business taxpayers, will be strengthened to encourage development of high-quality manufacturing techniques and to boost innovation.
“There is limited space in the report and there’s nothing unusual about certain policies being mentioned last year but not this year,” Huang Shouhong, director of the research office of the State Council and an NPC delegate, said on the sidelines of the meeting.
“Yet facilitating the high-quality growth of China’s manufacturing sector is a must to upgrade and transform the Chinese economy.”
Responding to whether China should delay its MIC2025 plan due to the trade dispute with the US, Lin Yong, an NPC delegate from Guangdong province, one of China’s major manufacturing hubs, said, “I think we should not.
“China needs to insist upon its own path. China’s manufacturing industry is already leading in the world – we can't say we are the best, but at least we are second or third. The manufacturing sector cannot fall behind, even with China-US trade disputes. We need to make innovation our core policy.”
Mai Jun and Sarah Zheng contributed to this story
