Beijing's plan to build its high-tech industries worries Western firms

Beijing

CHINA has charted out a US$300 billion plan to become nearly self-sufficient by 2025 in a range of important industries, from planes to computer chips to electric cars, as it looks to kick-start its next stage of economic development.

But big companies in the rest of the world worry that it is more than that: an unfair advantage in China's home court, and perhaps elsewhere.

A report by a European business group on Tuesday said the "Made in China 2025" programme, which calls for enormous Chinese government assistance to 10 industries, would force out competitors from abroad and lead to government-subsidised global players that would compete unfairly.

Indeed, the Chinese government's plan says Chinese industries that benefit should own as much as 80 per cent of …