China on the road to self-reliance on core tech as US curbs supply

The US has moved to block China's access to chipmaking tools and has defined Huawei, ZTE, as a threat to national security. The confrontation will not leave other nations, including India, untouched with the 5 G rollout inevitable. As the Communist Party set out plans for greater economic self-sufficiency, China said it decided to build its own core technology because it could not depend on purchasing it from abroad. China focuses on developing its own core technologies in the U.S. Supplying Curbs. In recent months, tensions between China and the U.S. have risen evermore, with clashes over Chinese tech firms being a major critical point.

Senior party officials presented specifics of their new five-year economic plan that increases self-reliance on technology and innovation and said Friday the nation would speed up the production of the technology needed to stimulate the next phase of economic development As the US seeks to curb the emergence of its geopolitical rival, Beijing's push for technological self-sufficiency is gaining urgency. The US has forced allies to shun Huawei Technologies Co. equipment, barred hundreds of China's largest tech firms from purchasing American parts, and also blocked TikTok and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat from ByteDance Ltd. "The Chinese authorities may have learned a lesson from the united states and other countries," said Qing Ren, a partner in Beijing at the Global Law Office.

Apple posted daily sales of $100 million in China last year, while Huawei Technologies announced record revenues primarily from its exposure to western markets, including the US. The American government may have persuaded Britain to block Huawei from its 5 G networks, and the Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer may also take a harder line in Europe. But Huawei still has plenty of clients across the world, breaking the globe into American and Chinese internet technology.

The Central Committee published primary specifics of the five-year plan on Thursday, emphasizing the need for sustainable growth and also proposing to develop a robust domestic market. Officials did not specify the speed of growth they would target over the period, but said the National Development and Reform Commission would work on guidance to be introduced in March to the country's parliament.

Self-reliance on chips, the building blocks for technologies from artificial intelligence to 5 G networking and autonomous vehicles, is central to the initiative. "It was a strategic option to elevate the role of innovation and make technological self-reliance a tactical foundation of national growth in the strategy", said Wang, the Minister of Technology. Han claimed separately that "three priorities are of paramount importance." They are reform, opening up, and innovation.

The move for China came when 5 G is expected to be rolled out globally, with Huawei normally leading the way in the race. A viable 5 G deployment would require Chinese companies for a lot of nations. But China's 5 G network depends on key components from the US, and the recent American restrictions on the use of chip-making tools mean that Huawei could face specialist chip supply shortages.