China's Industrial Strategy ...

Last week, China revealed the ambition to double the size of the economy by 2035. This week, plans were revealed to become the advanced manufacturing super power by 2025.

The renewed focus on advanced manufacturing, is planned to offset rising labour costs and reliance on foreign technology.

The plan, which was introduced at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, is focused on rare earth metals, special materials, robotics, aircraft engines, new energy vehicles, smart cars, high-end medical equipment,  innovative medicine, agricultural machinery and equipment for shipbuilding, aviation and high speed rail.

Manufacturing, accounted for 33 per cent of China’s gross domestic product in the first half of 2020. It is considered to be the backbone of the country’s industrial economy. China is already, the world's largest manufacturer in terms of output.

China is looking to boost research into what it calls “frontier technology” including quantum computing and semiconductors. The frontier technologies include, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, semiconductors, brain science, genomics and biotech.

Space exploration has become a top priority for China. Beijing said it will focus on research into the “origin and evolution of the universe,”. The exploration of Mars, as well as deep sea and polar research, will feature.

In the UK this week, UK exporters struggled to get product to Northern Ireland. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng shut down the Industrial Strategy Council. Kwarteng, who took office in January, as the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS), notified the 16 members of the council their services were no longer required.

He said the government had “decided to mark a departure from the industrial strategy brand” ... it may now go to Treasury, as a reward for partial location to the North East perhaps ...