China defends plan to boost its high-tech industries

Beijing

A SENIOR Chinese official on Sunday defended his country's push for greater self-sufficiency in computer chips, electric cars and other industries, calling it a necessary strategy in the face of Western countries' controls of certain high-tech gear.

As the country tries to move away from low-end manufacturing, Beijing's plan, Made in China 2025, is designed to juice economic development in emerging industries by providing S$300 billion in low-cost loans, research funds and other government aid. But big companies in the rest of the world worry that the programme gives an unfair advantage to homegrown players, with the stated goal of Chinese companies' owning as much as 80 per cent of specific domestic markets in eight years.