China sets ‘technological self-reliance’ as a key goal for the next 5 years
Proposal sets out tech target for the first time in at least a decade, with the aim to make ‘rapid breakthroughs in key technologies’
China’s top leadership has made “technological self-reliance and self-strengthening” a key goal in a proposal for the next five-year plan, as it grapples with export controls from the West amid an intensifying global tech race.
It is the first time in at least a decade that technological self-reliance has been set as a major goal for the country’s social and economic development.
The full plan will be unveiled in March during the annual session of the top legislature.
China would aim for “a substantial improvement in technological self-reliance and self-strengthening” over the next five years, with “significant progress in basic research and original innovation, rapid breakthroughs in key technologies of priority areas”, according to the proposal published by state news agency Xinhua.
In addition, China would seek “a clear increase in fields where the country takes the lead, as well as deep integration between technological and industrial innovation”.
The word “technology” appears 46 times in the proposal – compared to 36 mentions in the proposal for the previous five-year plan issued in 2020.