In our last article, we talked about how China became the world's leading manufacturing center and the leading industry clusters in this country. Now, in this article, we will talk more in depth about the “MADE IN CHINA 2025” development plan.
The Made in China 2025 plan is a strategic initiative with the aim of moving the current growth engine (public investment and exports) to a model focused on consumption and private investment, relying on automation and sustainable production; in other words, moving from “made in China” production to “created and designed in China”. It was made by the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang, in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), for two and a half years, with 150 experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Like other Chinese government plans, it is a medium-term strategy that consists of three phases: the first, which runs from 2015 to 2025, focusing on reducing the differences with the most advanced countries; in the second phase, which runs until 2035, it aims to strengthen China's position, so that, in the third phase, which runs until 2045, the country can position itself at the forefront of global innovation.
The industries that Made in China 2025 focuses on are the following:
- Information Technology: with the aim of overcoming the disadvantage of relying on intellectual property and components from Western countries, the “Made in China 2025” aims to accelerate the development of semiconductors and expand the market share of the 5G network of Chinese companies.
- Automated machines, tools and robotics: China cannot continue to depend on massive and cheap labor, so the plan seeks to increase the density of industrial robots to 150 units per 10,000 employees and place the Asian giant in the top 10 worldwide.
- Aerospace and aeronautical equipment: since China depends on foreign suppliers for components, engines, software, avionics, among others, the “Made in China 2025” expects that COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) can serve at least 10% of national demand.
- High-tech maritime transport and equipment: derived from the need to expand shipbuilding capabilities and maritime infrastructure, China sets in its plan the goal of making the shipbuilding industry the world's supplier of at least half of maritime equipment.
- Modern railway transport equipment: China aims to boost the railway industry to surpass international competitors and achieve hegemony in this mode of transport.
- Energy saving equipment and alternative energies: the development plan "Made in China 2025" has very ambitious goals such as achieving that 40% of domestic car sales are made up of electric cars by 2025, as well as 80% of the components and equipment necessary for the development of hydraulic, nuclear and thermal energy are produced domestically.
- Agricultural equipment: the Chinese rural population is increasingly migrating to the cities, so the government plans to expand the number of high-tech agricultural machinery, of which at least 70% must be manufactured within the country.
- New materials: since the military industry is strategic in China, the “Made in China 2025” initiative seeks to increase the production of new advanced materials such as superconductors, graphene, nanomaterials, biomaterials, among others.
- Biopharmaceutical and advanced medical products: China is projected to experience a demographic crisis during the 21st century, so the "Made in China 2025" prioritizes the domestic development of pharmaceutical companies, aiming for biotechnology to conform at least 4% of the country's gross domestic product even before the year 2025.
The role of quality management in the Made in China 2025 Plan
With the "Made in China 2025" development plan, the Asian giant wants to change its image, so the Chinese government aims to promote product quality, as well as facilitate innovation and modernize industrial sectors. This means that more and more Chinese companies will implement quality system management throughout their supply chain.
Based on data from ISO (2019), China is the country that has the largest number of companies certified with ISO 9001. This is because consumers abroad, as well as in the domestic market of China, trust more in companies that implement a quality control and management system, which has become important for companies that sell and / or manufacture their products in China.
At SBE Inspection & Compliance we support buyers around the world by conducting quality inspections. Despite the fact that many suppliers already have an ISO quality system, this does not guarantee that the merchandise purchased will meet the buyer's expectations, so it is important to have a quality control plan that allows reviewing the specifications determined by the client, detect any defect and if it is the case, carry out functional tests.
Quality control can be carried out at any stage of the production line through Pre-Production Inspections (PPI), First Run Inspections (FRI), On-Process Inspections (OPI), and Final Product Inspections (FPI), supporting us with real-time reporting tools, which adds transparency to the process.
Sources:
ASIADÓNDE. (2020). Made in China 2025: objetivos y obstáculos. Retrieved from: https://asiadonde.com/made-in-china-2025/
Departamento Latino. (s.f.). La calidad de productos y la gestión de calidad en China – los posibles riesgos de empresas extranjeras. Retrieved from: http://departamentolatino.com/?p=8249
ISO. (2019). ISO Survey 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.iso.org/the-iso-survey.html
Perona, M. P., y Martínez-López, F. (2020). El nuevo modelo productivo chino y el plan Made in China 2025 amenazado por la pandemia del COVID-19. Análisis comparado desde 2014 hasta la actualidad. 3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crítico. Edición Especial COVID-19: Empresa, China y Geopolítica, 29-51. https://doi.org/10.17993/3cemp.2020.edicionespecial1.29-51