Made in China 2025

Back in 2015, China announced a ten year plan to accelerate its technology industry called Made in China 2025. Although the phrase has been downplayed since 2018, there has seen almost $2trillion of investment in key technology areas that are now central to the renewed trade war with the US.

The focus areas included chip development, leading to the ban on supplying leading edge lithography equipment, but also had a focus on humanoid robotics and medical devices.

This gives a framework for the tariffs and sanctions in areas such as electric vehicles and other areas including semiconductors by the previous administration and hints for the new administration in the coming weeks.

New generation information technology

This focus aimed to improve the level of integrated circuit design, continuously enriching intellectual property (IP) cores and design tools, develop core general-purpose chips for its national information and network security and the development of the electronic whole machine industry, and enhance the application adaptation capabilities of domestic chips.

This was to master high-density packaging and three-dimensional (3D) micro-assembly technology, and enhance the independent development capabilities of the packaging industry and testing as well as develop the supply chain for key manufacturing equipment.

Information and communication equipment

This covers new computing, high-speed interconnection, advanced storage, and system-level security, 5G wireless technology, core routing and switching technology, ultra-high-speed and large-capacity intelligent optical transmission technology, “future network” core technology and system architecture, and the development of quantum computing, neural networks and others.

Develop high-end servers, large-capacity storage, new routing and switching, new intelligent terminals, new generation base stations, network security and other equipment, and promote the systematic development and large-scale application of core information and communication equipment.

Operating systems and industrial software

This has been developing basic industrial software such as operating systems in the security field. This needed breakthroughs in the core technologies of high-end industrial software such as intelligent design and simulation and its tools, manufacturing Internet of Things and services, and industrial big data processing, develop independent and controllable high-end industrial platform software and application software in key areas, and establish and improve industrial software integration standards and safety evaluation systems.

Robots

This is focusing on the application needs of industrial robots, special robots, and service robots in the automotive, machinery, electronics, dangerous goods manufacturing, national defence and military industry, chemical industry, and light industry, to actively develop new products.

This also promotes the standardization and modularization of robots, and expand market applications and aimed at breakthroughs in the technical bottlenecks of robot body, servo motor, controller, sensor and driver and other key parts and system integration design and manufacturing.

• The march of the humanoid robots

Power equipment.

This aims to promote the industrialization and application of advanced energy storage devices, and power transmission and transformation and user-end equipment for smart grids. This needs breakthroughs in the manufacturing and application technology of key components and materials such as high-power power electronic devices and high-temperature superconducting materials.

New materials.

This included the development of strategic frontier materials such as superconducting materials, nanomaterials, graphene, and bio-based materials.

New energy vehicles

Continue to support the development of electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, master the core technologies of low-carbonization, informatization, and intelligence of automobiles, improve the engineering and industrialization capabilities of core technologies such as power batteries, drive motors, high-efficiency internal combustion engines, advanced transmissions, lightweight materials, and intelligent control, form a complete industrial system and innovation system from key components to complete vehicles.

Other areas for Made in China 2025 include aerospace, agricultural equipment, marine systems and ships.