‘Made in China’ will continue, commerce minister says, despite de-risking efforts

China’s commerce minister has pledged to draw foreign investment and activity, but also warned against efforts to ‘sanction’ or ‘suppress’
Wide-ranging interview featured comments on China’s export strengths, countermeasures against plans to diversify supply chains

China trade

Amanda Lee

Published: 6:00pm, 18 Jan 2024

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China’s commerce minister said his office would press on to promote its “Made in China” strategy amid growing efforts from foreign investors to diversify their portfolios, but it would not shy away from protecting against “unreasonable sanctions and suppression”.

Wang Wentao acknowledged that plans such as “China plus one” and “China plus N”, implemented by multinationals to manage risk by diversifying their supply chains from China, are creating challenges while still expressing confidence that China has the ability to overcome hurdles.

“The difficulties and challenges facing China’s foreign trade development cannot be ignored, but favourable conditions are stronger than the unfavourable factors,” said Wang in a Thursday interview with state media outlet People’s Daily. “It is expected that China will remain the largest country in goods trade in 2023.”

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Beijing is struggling to retain its allure for overseas investors as confidence wanes and the country undergoes a shaky recovery. Concerns linger over the unpredictability of policy and tightening controls related to national security, and foreign direct investment declined to 1.13 trillion yuan in 2023, an 8 per cent drop compared to 2022, ministry data showed.

“We will continue to build the Invest in China brand and attract more foreign investment to Made in China and Service in China,” Wang said, referring to government initiatives to bed more economic activity in the country. Overseas companies, he added, will not only be “in China for China” – they will be “in China for the world”.

Wang pointed to China’s success last year in the export of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells as examples of new industries enhancing the country’s status despite weaker global trade growth.

In the face of unreasonable sanctions and suppression, we will take effective measures to safeguard national interests

Wang Wentao

Further, Wang said, China is committed to expanding imports, especially in bleeding-edge technology and equipment.

Wang told People’s Daily that China would strengthen engagement with the US’ commerce department to “expand cooperation and narrow differences” and would be prepared to respond to trade conflicts.

The world’s two largest economies are at odds over a range of different issues, including China’s access to advanced technologies, the South China Sea and other security issues.

Wang raised “serious concerns” last week over US restrictions on chip-making lithography machines, as well as Washington’s investigation into American semiconductor supply chains, in a phone call with US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.

“[We will] enrich the ‘toolbox’ of countermeasures, defend our legitimate rights through legal means such as filing lawsuits at the World Trade Organization, and make good use of the unreliable entity list,” Wang said. “In the face of unreasonable sanctions and suppression, we will take effective measures to safeguard national interests.”

China’s commerce ministry in 2020 issued rules on its list of “unreliable entities” to target foreign firms and individuals determined to be endangering the country’s sovereignty and security.

Last year, US weapons contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles and Defense were added to the list over selling arms to Taiwan, banning them from imports and exports related to mainland China. Neither company sells defence products in the mainland.