China’s Future Industries plan, introduced in 2024 and reiterated in the recent five-year plan, marks the next phase in the nation’s long-running push to upgrade its industrial base The plan targets six key industries – energy, materials, health, IT, space and manufacturing – many of which overlap with previous strategies, and the overarching objective remains the same (to reduce reliance on foreign inputs while developing new domestic “productive forces”) However, the plan’s stated ambitions are much more ambiguous than its