How China is betting big on state-led research to drive a tech revolution
Though start-ups like DeepSeek are winning headlines, a key pillar of China’s tech revolution is its massive state-directed research programme
China’s state-owned industrial giants have set up nearly 100 new research hubs as part of a government initiative launched in 2022 to drive technological breakthroughs in a slew of strategic fields.
The huge state-directed effort is part of a broader push by Beijing to counter Washington’s attempts to contain China’s technological progress and revitalise the Chinese economy through game-changing innovations.
The project – which is being led by China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) – has identified 201 research fields in 60 industrial sectors in which it aims to achieve breakthroughs, according to government announcements and state media reports.
It was launched with the approval of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform – a body headed by President Xi Jinping – in February 2022.
SASAC, which oversees 90 trillion yuan (US$12.3 billion) of assets belonging to 98 centrally-controlled state-owned enterprises (SOEs), set up a tech innovation bureau the following month.
Much about the campaign remains shrouded in mystery, with the government yet to release a full list of the state-owned industrial giants involved and the research projects they are pursuing.
