[CMG Policy Radar] 15th Five-Year Plan for Upgrading Industrial Foundation Capabilities

China Macro Group | policy · business · strategy 

What it is

Issued by MIIT, NDRC and six other bodies, the plan sets 22 tasks to upgrade China’s “industrial foundation”: the basic components, materials, processes, software and testing infrastructure behind finished products. By 2030 it targets foundation capabilities at an “internationally advanced” level, more single-product champions and “little giants”, and a regularly updated list of priority products for breakthroughs.

Why it matters

The plan marks a shift in industrial policy from a focus on emerging industries towards the foundational industries that underpin them, pairing technology breakthroughs with more guaranteed demand. Results are to be pushed to major state projects and SOEs, first-unit/first-batch/first-version policies are expanded, and a new fault-tolerance mechanism protects buyers of domestic innovative products.

Implications

Medium-High. Foreign suppliers of components, materials, instruments and industrial software to SOEs and major projects face structured substitution, as state buyers get policy cover to switch. The plan still invites foreign R&D centres and production bases in these fields, incentivizing “in China, for China” footprints.

Author:

Max de Bruyn Gomez

Analyst at CMG