China doubles down on tech
China closed its Two Sessions and signalled a new five‑year cycle prioritizing technological self‑reliance and investment in advanced manufacturing—the sort of industrial policy that shapes global supply chains (jdsupra.com). At the same time Beijing launched two reciprocal probes into U.S. trade practices after recent U.S. restrictions—an escalation that stops short of immediate tariffs but signals longer, more structured trade friction ahead ( ).
The official 15th Five‑Year Plan outline dedicates a full section to “accelerating high‑level scientific and technological self‑reliance,” including chapters on original innovation, computing power, algorithms and improving the ecosystem for digital intelligence. (qualenergia.it / Xinhua translation of the outline). Premier Li Qiang’s Government Work Report submitted at the Two Sessions proposed 109 major projects across six areas to implement the 2026–2030 agenda and set an economywide orientation for the new five‑year cycle. (english.www.gov.cn). Beijing set quantitative targets inside that framework: an annual average increase of at least 7% in nationwide R&D spending over the 2026–2030 period, a goal to lift core digital‑economy value added to 12.5% of GDP, and a 17% reduction in CO2 emissions per unit of GDP. (People’s Daily / highlights of the Government Work Report). China’s Ministry of Commerce issued two formal trade‑and‑investment barrier investigations effective March 27, 2026 (Announcements No. 17 and No. 18), one probing U.S. measures said to harm global production and supply chains and the other examining actions that impede trade in green products. (ittcnet summary of MOFCOM announcements; MOFCOM Announcement No.18 text). MOFCOM said the inquiries would be handled under trade‑remedy rules and signalled they could find some U.S. measures inconsistent with WTO commitments; the ministry set procedural timetables consistent with investigations that typically run up to six months. (Bloomberg; Reuters). The Chinese probes mirror U.S. Section 301 activity earlier in March — the USTR on March 11–12 initiated investigations into structural excess capacity in manufacturing and into forced‑labor enforcement across multiple economies — actions that create a formal pathway for possible future tariffs or trade remedies. (USTR press release; Federal Register notice). U.S. equity‑index futures dipped on the announcement, and analysts flagged the timing as Beijing and Washington positioning ahead of an expected bilateral meeting between Presidents Xi and Trump in mid‑May 2026. (Bloomberg).
