China’s 10-year industrial plan is paving the way for tech greatness

Since the launch of the Made in China 2025 plan a decade ago to foster industrial upgrading, it has been widely depicted in the West as a state-led market distortion and doomed to fail. Yet the outcome is far from failure.

State-led efforts under the 10-year plan have provided a solid foundation for advancements, especially in the information technology realm. While exogenous shocks have caused significant disruptions, the plan has fostered self-sufficiency and contributed to China’s long-term technological ambition.

For years, the West saw China as nothing more than the “world’s factory” with cheap, if specialised, labour and low-end manufacturing. But China was aware of the danger hidden in such models – emerging markets are vulnerable to the so-called middle-income trap when wages rise but economic investment fails to keep up.