Logo 29 May 2025

Beijing shifts development zone focus to “new quality productive forces” amid FDI slump

Subscribe to keep reading.

Sign up to stay briefed on what the Chinese government is doing, thinking, and saying.

Try it free

Already a subscriber? Log in.

On May 21, the Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) unveiled a new blueprint for reforming China’s National Economic and Technological Development Zones. ICYDK: These zones – descendants of Deng Xiaoping’s original Special Economic Zones – have been a mainstay of China’s opening-up strategy since the 1980s...



More recent developments

Logo March 18, 2026
MIIT launches new program to pool industrial data for AI development

What happened: On March 10, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice launching the "Industrial Data Foundation Action." The program aims to establish industrial data consortiums that collaborate to create shared data pools, AI models, AI… Read More »

Logo March 18, 2026
MIIT sets priorities post-Two Sessions

What happened: On March 16, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Lecheng (MIIT) headed up a meeting of his department to digest the key messages coming out of the Two Sessions and 15th Five-Year Plan, and set ministry priorities… Read More »

Logo March 18, 2026
Hua Hong eyes 7nm chip production

What happened: On March 16, Reuters reports that Hua Hong Group is preparing 7 nanometer (nm) production at its Shanghai fab Huali Microelectronics.   If successful, Hua Hong would become China’s second foundry after SMIC to produce at the 7nm process… Read More »