As the dust barely settles on "Made in China 2025", Beijing is intensifying its quest for technological supremacy with a focus on "future industries" amid its escalating rivalry with the United States.
Authorities are pushing boundaries in their pursuit of a new growth model centered on technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrades.
What are "future industries"?
First introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2020, the term refers to sectors with foundational technologies still in their infancy but expected to possess enormous potential.Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
The 2021-25 Five-Year Plan highlighted brain-inspired intelligence, quantum information, gene technology, future networks, deep-sea and aerospace development and hydrogen energy and storage as areas where China aims to secure an early lead.
That list is now expanding, as the government gradually adds new priority sectors.
In 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released guidelines identifying target areas including humanoid robots, 6G network equipment, brain-computer interfaces, large-scale AI data centres and next-generation large aircraft.
What progress has been made so far?
Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, has been touted as China's newest "Silicon Valley" - and local tech start-ups have attracted global attention.
Among these are six stand-out companies, nicknamed the "Six Little Dragons": DeepSeek; Game Science, the developer behind Black Myth: Wukong; robotics firms Unitree and Deep Robotics; BrainCo, a company inspired by Neuralink; and Manycore, specializing in spatial intelligence.
China now hosts 56 per cent of the world's publicly traded humanoid companies and 45 per cent of humanoid system integrators, according to Morgan Stanley.
Meanwhile, its biotech sector is undergoing rapid growth. As of March 2025, the country had approved five Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies - mainly for hematological cancers - ranking second only to the US, which has six.
Domestic biotech companies like Wuxi AppTec have grown into global leaders. A US congressional commission dubbed the firm the "Huawei equivalent for biotechnology", warning it could enable the Chinese government to "control a global supply chain".
What's next?
Beijing is pouring unprecedented resources into future industries - from funding to talent cultivation - recognizing their strategic value for sustainable growth and in its tech rivalry with Washington.
To promote breakthroughs, the MIIT introduced a new innovation model in 2023 under which specific challenges are posted publicly. Companies or research teams that solve them within two years receive priority access to support and funding.
This year, the government is targeting breakthroughs in quantum technology, atomic-level manufacturing and clean hydrogen.
At the same forum, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng announced that Shanghai would pioneer new financial tools, including blockchain-based trade finance and innovation bonds. These will feature risk-sharing mechanisms and support for private equity firms issuing tech innovation bonds.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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