Experts Convene Roundtable to Discuss China’s Industrial Policy

The Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions and Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis co-organized a closed-door roundtable on the scope, impact, and implications of China’s industrial policy. The roundtable focused on an intensified round of industrial policies in China that gained momentum around 2014. Beijing announced its “Made in China 2025” plan in 2015, quickly followed by its 2016 “Innovation-driven Development Strategy.” The strategy specifically focused on the emerging technological revolution, targeting sectors such as next generation information technology, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, and digital media. 

Since the announcements, industrial policy has increasingly become a central feature of Chinese economic development efforts and ongoing public debates about the future of U.S.-China competition and the global economic and geopolitical order. Around the world, effectiveness of national industrial policies has become a key point of policy and political contention. In addition, carefully judging the impact of Beijing’s industrial policy is also now critical to accurately assessing the long-term performance and sustainability of China’s economic growth model.

The full report on the roundtable, conducted under the Chatham House Rule, recounts a candid discussion that coalesced around the examination of five key questions:

1. How much is China spending on industrial policy?
2. What are the possible objectives of China’s industrial policy?
3. What have been the effects of China’s industrial policy?
4. What are the key, open questions still remaining around China’s industrial policy?
5. What are the implications for Washington, D.C. and the international community?

In partnership with Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis