Made in China 2025: Beijing's big ambitions from robots to chips
SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) - China is looking to catch up with rivals like the United States and Germany in high-end technology, making a major push with a "Made in China 2025" strategy that identifies 10 key sectors, including robotics, aerospace and clean-energy cars.
The drive by President Xi Jinping is at the heart of a bruising trade standoff between China and the United States, with Washington concerned that Chinese companies, backed by the state, could overtake its own tech titans.
Chinese trade partners in Europe, especially Germany, have also raised concerns that a more protectionist China is aggressively moving up the value chain faster than expected. Below are the key targets China has set in high-end tech.
CHIPS, COMPUTERS AND CLOUD
China wants home-made chips used in smartphones to make up 40 percent of the local market by 2025, helping cut heavy reliance on imports. Computers and cloud systems should also close the quality gap on international rivals. In smart manufacturing, China wants domestic firms to have 60 percent of the market in industrial censors.
ROBOT WARS
Chinese firms making industrial robots should make up half of the market by 2020 and 70 percent by 2025 by when local robotics systems should have been "perfected" to compete with global rivals. The country is aiming for 2-3 local champions.
TAKING FLIGHT
Chinese airlines should hit 100 billion yuan ($15.90 billion) in revenue by 2020 and double that by 2025, when plane makers should capture 10 percent of the domestic market. The home-grown CJ-1000A jet engine should also be ready for commercial use. In the space race, China wants 80 percent of civil space industry equipment to be domestically sourced by 2025.
ON THE HIGH SEAS
China should become a world leader in latest-generation ships and out-at-sea engineering equipment, with critical systems and equipment capturing 80 percent of the high-tech ships market by 2025.
RAILWAYS
Beijing wants its domestic firms, already dominant at home, to make a major push overseas in the next decade. By 2020, train makers should make 30 percent of their sales abroad, raising this to 40 percent by 2025.
SMART GREEN CARS
Amid a major push towards fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, China wants its own firms to take 80 percent of the fast-growing market by 2025, with two local champions among the world's leading new-energy vehicle companies. Chinese companies should also dominate in smart, connected vehicle technology.
RENEWABLES
Chinese companies making renewable energy equipment and energy saving equipment should dominate the market with an over 80 percent share by 2025, with three home-grown firms with enough scale to compete globally.
ON THE FARM
Already strong in agricultural tech, China is aiming to produce 90 percent of its own farming equipment by 2020, with high-end machines like tractors holding around a one-third share of their segments. This should rise to 95 percent and 60 percent respectively by 2025.
HIGH-TECH MATERIALS
Advanced basic materials, such as for construction or textiles, and essential strategic materials including rare earth and special alloys, should hold a 90 percent and 85 percent share of the domestic market respectively by 2025.
DRUGS AND DEVICES
China wants home-grown drug firms to be up to international standards by 2025, with 5-10 locally-developed drugs having won approval by then in the United States or Europe. In medical devices - an area in which China has been heavily reliant on imports - Beijing wants its own companies to capture 70 percent of the market for middle and high-end medical equipment at county-level hospitals. ($1 = 6.2902 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Philip McClellan)
