Technology Policy Under Xi Jinping, 2012–2022

This chapter discusses the successes and failures of China’s technology policy during the first two decades of the 21st century and evaluates how Xi’s broader policies have attempted to resolve but ultimately exacerbated many of the institutional constraints undermining the Chinese state’s technological efforts. While China has achieved tremendous successes in R&D investment and the sheer numbers of patents and scientific papers produced, quality concerns about this output remain. Institutional constraints inhibiting the flow of information and efficient allocation of resources also continue as demonstrated in the chapter’s examination of the largest technological policy effort under Xi, the Made in China 2025 policy. The chapter examines three critical sectors of the Made in China 2025 policy: semiconductors, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence. Of the three sectors, technology policy in semiconductors has been the least successful, policy for artificial intelligence has not realized the sector’s promise, and policy for electric vehicles is the closest to a true policy success case. The conclusion examines how China’s tensions with the United States and other advanced economies potentially will further constrict the scope of China’s technological development.