The "Made in China 2025" Economic Development Strategy, which Beijing announced its launch in 2015, implies that by 2025, China should become the world leader in 10 high-tech industries. The United States sees such ambitious intentions of the Celestial Empire as a threat to its own technological superiority, which is why the Chinese information and communications technology sector has become one of the main targets of the United States in the trade war.
In 2018, the United States introduced import tariffs on Chinese products worth about $ 250 billion. Pressure on the Chinese market is growing - for example, in December 2018, the volume of Chinese exports decreased by 4.4% compared to the same period in 2017, so experts believe that Beijing may make concessions so as not to aggravate the trade conflict. p>
“It is unlikely that China will radically revise its strategy. ... However, the pressure on the economy is becoming more tangible, so it is quite possible that Beijing will soften the rhetoric and amend certain points of the plan ", - Carlos Casanova, Coface economist for the Asia-Pacific region, commented in an interview with the Japanese television channel NHK World .
In particular, first of all, China can make concessions on the trade front and reduce the speed and volume of import substitution, the expert said. The US previously described China's import substitution plan as an attempt to squeeze foreign business out of the market by providing local enterprises with preferences that make American manufacturers notoriously uncompetitive.
“It is also possible to ease the conditions of access to the economy of foreign capital and increase the share of foreign participation in a number of industries - for example, in the automotive industry, insurance and financial services” , - said the economist.
Despite the trade war unleashed by the Donald Trump administration, the export of Chinese products to the United States grew by 11.3 percent in 2018. Beijing has repeatedly stated that it considers the tariff war to be unprofitable for both sides, as it harms free trade and multilateral economic cooperation.
