China's push for dominance in global value and supply chains: Implications for Europe

By 2049, the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic, the government in Beijing wants China to become a global superpower in the field of industrial manufacturing and innovative research and development (R&D). Industrial policy programs such as "Made in China 2025" (MIC25) and "Internet+" aim to improve the innovative and competitive capacity of the Chinese economy.

Stable, modern and competitive production and supply chains as well as economic development along value chains are crucial to reach these goals. To strengthen China's position in global value chains, Beijing is still relying heavily on international cooperation in addition to state support in the form of funds or tax breaks. In the medium and long term, however, as State and Party Leader Xi Jinping emphasized in a much noticed speech just recently in August this year, China wants to reduce its dependence on foreign countries by building up its own capabilities and replacing foreign products and technologies with Chinese alternatives.

Max J. Zenglein, Anna Holzmann and Claudia Wessling have analyzed China's push for dominance in global value and supply chains and implications for Europe in a new report supported by the Foundation for Labour and the Environment of the Trade Union IG BCE. You can find the full study in German here.