China unveils five-year plan to strengthen industrial foundation, upgrade manufacturing

BEIJING - China on Thursday released a five-year plan to accelerate upgrading of its industrial foundation capabilities, in a further step toward building an innovation-driven manufacturing powerhouse.

The document, jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other government departments, calls for integrated efforts in technological breakthroughs and their application, addressing weaknesses in China's industrial foundation systematically, and achieving a comprehensive upgrade toward stronger innovation, greater self-reliance and higher quality.

Industrial foundation, the bedrock of manufacturing competitiveness, covers a range of areas including core components, basic materials and foundational software, as well as related talents, market conditions and the policy environment.

While China has built the world's largest and most complete industrial system over the past decades, its industrial foundation remains a weak link, experts said.

"The most critical issue is that China's industrial foundation is large but not strong," said Zhou Ji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He pointed to a structural imbalance, namely an oversupply of low-end products alongside a shortage of high-end ones.

Vulnerabilities and risks persist particularly in areas like integrated circuits and industrial software, Zhou noted.

As China pursues high-quality economic development and advances its new industrialization drive, the strengthening and upgrading of its industrial foundation has become increasingly critical.

According to the plan issued on Thursday, the weaknesses in China's industrial foundation will be significantly alleviated by 2030, while China's overall industrial foundation capabilities will reach internationally advanced levels, thereby providing strong support for building a modern industrial system anchored in advanced manufacturing.

A new cohort of single-champion manufacturers and "little giant" specialized enterprises in the industrial foundation sector should also be cultivated by then, the plan says.