context: The Fourth Plenum has set goals for the 15th 5‑year plan. Western tech sanctions and chokepoints have pushed Beijing to strengthen its self‑reliance, especially in semiconductors and rare earths. The question is whether such a move would eventually reopen global cooperation in the supply chain.
Beijing has set tech self‑reliance at the core of its economic strategy, reports Caixin. The Fourth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee, held in Beijing from 20–23 October 2025, called for faster gains in high‑level tech self‑reliance to lead the growth of 'new‑quality' productive forces. The Communiqué also set targets for the 15th 5-year plan and 2035.
According to Caixin, the Plenum highlights
- gains from the new wave of tech and industry change
- tying together strong education, tech, and talent
- performance of the national innovation set‑up
- home‑grown innovation
- winning the ‘high ground’ in tech
- deeper fusion of tech and industry with education-tech-talent in one track
- building Digital China
‘Marked results in high‑quality growth’ and a ‘big rise in tech self‑reliance’ are set as main goals for the 15th 5-year plan, according to Caixin. By 2035, Beijing aims for large gains in economic, tech, defence and broad national strength and global clout and targets per‑capita GDP at the level of a mid‑developed country by 2035, with better living standards and basic socialist modernisation.
During the 14th 5‑year plan, tech strength was already listed alongside economic and defence strength. Putting high‑quality growth and tech self‑reliance first for the 15th 5-year plan shows a sharper stress on tech, says Zhou Chengxiong 周城雄 Chinese Academy of Science Institutes of Science and Development innovation researcher.
Beijing has moved from point breakthroughs to set‑up‑wide innovation by bundling education, tech and talent, and by pushing for higher performance across the innovation set‑up, adds Zhou. Global rivalry now turns on the efficiency of an innovation setup, and even front‑runners can fall behind if efficiency drops.
AI chips seen as a main front for tech self‑reliance. US curbs on Nvidia sales to the PRC have lifted local players’ profile.