The Chinese version of the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 'People’s Daily', published (November 25) an article by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is calling for China to move faster toward becoming technologically self-reliant, a goal that he said will play a decisive role in the country’s economic development agenda for the next 15 years. Liu He identified innovation and technological self-reliance as keys to China’s “dual circulation” strategy, a crucial part of the draft proposal of the 2021-2025 Five-Year Plan and long-term development targets through 2035.

(Comment: In the “dual circulation” strategy, policymakers have put greater importance on developing domestic supply chains, especially for high-tech products, and tapping the potential of the domestic market to drive economic growth in the future. Policymakers have justified the strategy by citing changes in the “external environment,” presumably a reference to U.S. bans on selling American technology to some Chinese firms, as well as the rising trends of antiglobalization, populism and trade protectionism in some Western countries.)