Where ‘Made in China 2025’ missed the mark

Beijing-China was lost several key objectives of its 10-year plan to be self-sufficient in technology, while fostering the unhealthy industrial competition that worsened global commercial tensions, the European Chamber of Commerce in a report this week.

When Beijing launched its “Made in China 2025” plan in 2015, it was with important international criticism for the promotion of Chinese businesses at the expense of its foreign counterparts. Subsequently, the country minimized the initiative, but the development of national technology has been doubled given restrictions in the United States In recent years.

Since he launched the plan, China has exceeded its objectives to achieve domestic domain in cars, but the country has not yet achieved its objectives in aerospace, high -end and the growth rate of the manufacturing added value, said the commercial chamber. Of the ten strategic sectors identified in the report, China only reached technological domain in naval construction, high -speed rail and electric cars.

China’s objectives are usually seen as an address instead of a real figure that is achieved on a specific date. The Made in China 2025 Plan describes the first ten years of what the country called a ‘multiple decades’ strategy to become a global manufacturing power.

The Chamber noted that China’s self -developed plane, the C919, still depends largely on US and European pieces and thought that industrial automation levels have “increased substantially”, it is mainly due to foreign technology. In addition, the manufacturing value growth rate added 6.1% in 2024, falling from the 7% rate in 2015 and almost half of reaching 11%.

“Everyone should be considered lucky that China was lost their manufacturing growth target,” Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said on Tuesday, since the investment would winter the pressure. “They did not fulfill their own goal, but I think they really did well. “

Even at that slower pace, China has become the last decade to boost 29% of the global manufacturing value, almost the same as the United States and Europe, said Eskelund. “Before 2015, in many, many categories China was not a direct competitor from Europe and the United States. “

In recent years, the United States has tried to restrict China’s access to high -end technology and encourage advanced manufacturing companies to build factories in the United States.

Earlier this week, USA. AMDS Mi308 Artificial Intelligence Chips, as well as its equivalents, to China. Before that, Nvidia He said that a quarterly position of approximately $ 5.5 billion would be taken as a result of the new export license requirements. The CEO of the chips manufacturer, Jensen Huang, with the Vice Primer Chinese Minister, the Lifeng in Beijing on Thursday, according to the Chinese state media.

The US restrictions “have pushed us to do things that we would not have thought we had to buy,” said Lionel M. Nor, founding president of the Guangzhou campus of the University of Science and Technology of Hong Kong. That agrees with a translation of CNBC of his comments in Mandarin to journalists on Wednesday.

Nor did he say that the products that require their own harvest development efforts included chips and equipment, and if the substitutes for restricted items are hidden immediately, the university would buy the second best version available.

In addition to the thematic plans, China issues national development priorities every five years. The current five -year -old day emphasizes support for the digital economy and concludes in December. The 15th five -year plan later is scheduled to be launched next year.

It is still an uncle to what extent China can become completely self -sufficient in key technological systems in the short term. But local companies have advanced rapidly.

The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei launched a smartphone at the end of 2023 that, according to the reports, contained an advanced chip capable or 5g speeds. The company has been in a blacklist in the United States since 2019 and launched its own operating system last year that, according to reports, separate from Android from Google.

“The export controls of Western Chips have had some success in the sense that they briefly delayed China’s development efforts in semiconductors, although at a certain cost to the United States and allied companies,” Washington analysts said, DC, Center for Tank Tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a report this week. However, they noticed that China has only doubled, “destabilizing the US semiconductor ecosystem.”

For example, ThillTank said the Huawei’s current intelligent phone, the Pura 70 series, incorporates 33 components of origin in China and only 5 outings from outside China.

Huawei reported a 22% increase in income in 2024, the fastest growth since 2016, driven by a recovery in its consumer products business. The company spent 20.8% of its income in research and development last year, well above its annual objective of more than 10%.

In general, China manufacturers reached the national objective of 1.68% to spend in research and development as a percentage of operational income, according to the EU Chamber report.

“Europe needs to take a look at ITELF,” said Eskelund, referring to Huawei’s high R&D spending. “Are European companies doing what is needed to remain at the forefront of technology?”

Dutch semiconductor equipment company ASML He spent 15.2% of his fair sales in 2024 on R&D, while Nvidia’s relationship was 14.2%.

However, the high expense does not necessarily mean efficiency.

The electric car race in particular has caused a price war, and most car manufacturers are executing losses in their attempt to undermine competitors. The phenomenon is called “Neijuan” or “involution” in China.

“We also need to realize [China’s] Success has not come without problems, “said Eskelund.” We are seeing in many many industries that has not resulted in healthy businesses. “

He added that the attempt to meet the objectives “made in China 2025” contributed to the invention, and pointed out that China’s efforts to increase the manufacturing value chain of Christmas ornaments to high -end equipment have also increased world concerns about security risks.

In an annual government work report published in March, Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, requested efforts to stop the invention, echoing a directive of a high -level politburo meeting in July last year. The Politburó is the second highest circle of power in the ruler Chinese Communist Party.

Such fierce competition aggravates the impact of slowing economic growth. Of the 2,825 companies that quote in Continental China, 20% reported a loss for the first time in 2024, according to a CNBC analysis or wind information data such as or Thursday. Including companies that reported another year of losses, the proportion of companies that lost money last year increased to almost 48%, according to the analysis.

In March, China emphasized that increasing consumption is its priority for the year, after focusing previously on manufacturing. The growth of retail sales has delayed Beind’s industrial production in one year to date from the beginning of 2024, according to official data accessed through wind information.

Policy formulators are also looking for ways to guarantee “a better coincidence between manufacturing production and what the domestic market can absorb,” said Eskelund, added that efforts to increase consumption do not matter much if manufacturing production grows.

But when asked about the policies that could be excessive manufacturing, he said: “We are also waiting anxiously in advance.”