China has pledged to double down on production of high-end tech goods to bolster its status as a manufacturing powerhouse — even as Beijing's ambition raises alarms in foreign capitals. China unveiled a series of steps to improve its manufacturing prowess in its 15th Five-Year Plan draft released on March 5. To strengthen the country's supply chains, China will continue investing in rare earths, rare metals and superhard materials to maintain a competitive edge, the report said.
Critical minerals have become a key point of leverage for China as it flexes its muscles in tariff negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump. China dominates the mining of rare earths, the essential raw materials in powerful magnets ubiquitous across modern manufacturing. The country controlled 90% of global market share in 2024 — but that is poised to dip to 69% by 2030 according to Bloomberg Intelligence, as other countries seek to boost their own extraction and mining capabilities.
China also seeks to invest more in foundational capabilities — including advanced ceramics, super-precision bearings, domestic software and high-end CNC machine tools used in aerospace and automotive manufacturing. Beijing is further targeting several emerging technologies, including advanced chips, robotics, batteries and brain-computer interface, according to the draft. China launched a major effort in 2015 to upgrade its manufacturing capabilities to move away from low-cost goods to higher-end technologies under its "Made in China 2025" plan.
From a supply chain perspective, this plan reinforces China's strategic dominance in the global critical minerals supply chain. For EV manufacturers (Tesla, BYD, Volkswagen), wind turbine producers (Vestas, Siemens Gamesa) and the defense industry (particularly the F-35 program), strategies to reduce dependence on China — such as USA Rare Earth, MP Materials and Australia's Lynas Rare Earths — become vital. Meanwhile, in robotics and HBM memory, China is accelerating its domestic ecosystem — ushering in a new phase of global tech competition.
