Exclusive | Made in China 2025: China meets most targets in manufacturing plan, proving US tariffs and sanctions ineffective
- Sanctions and tariffs implemented as part of a US-led trade war have put increased pressure on China’s manufacturing industry
- Despite that, a Post investigation can reveal a large proportion of the ‘Made in China 2025’ 10-year targets have been achieved
When the plan was first set out, most cars on Chinese roads were from Western carmakers, and the sky was dominated entirely by aircraft made by American company Boeing or European Airbus. Many Chinese factories could not operate without imported machine tools. Chips, operating systems, and software in computers and mobile phones were mostly sourced from the US. Even the databases used by banks relied on multinational corporations for coding and maintenance.
Back then, China stood at the lower end of the global industrial value chain, producing mostly cheap and technically backward products. Made in China 2025 sought to change that, allowing Chinese manufacturing, through scientific and technological advancements, to produce high-quality, hi-tech and high-value products.
But based on official books published a decade ago and other authoritative sources, the Post has compiled more than 260 goals previously proposed under the plan. These goals span 10 key areas, many involving highly specialised and complex technologies.
