China to pursue shared platforms to upgrade manufacturing sector after shelving ‘Made in China 2025’

China has unveiled a new plan to upgrade the country’s powerful manufacturing apparatus with a focus on forging “shared platforms” to lift efficiency and reduce idle capacity after it shelved its controversial “Made in China 2025” plan under pressure from the United States and European Union.

Some 20 “shared manufacturing platforms with strong innovation capability and great industry influence” will be built up by 2022 and then turned into “key drivers for high-quality growth” by 2025, according to guidelines published this week by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

While the ministry did not specify the platforms or name any potential candidates, it clarified that the plan involved sharing production facilities, tools and equipment as well as intellectual resources such as product design and development capabilities. Services relating to manufacturing such as storage space and logistics could also be shared, the guidelines said.

It is hoped the plan will boost resource allocation, improve efficiency and cut idle capacity among large, medium and small businesses.

“It is of great significance to develop, cultivate, expand and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry,” the guidelines read.

China’s State Information Centre, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planner, published a report last year on shared manufacturing, saying China had to review its strategy in advanced manufacturing in the context of competition from the likes of US, Germany and Britain.