The Chinese military must increase the private sector’s role in research to prevent Western sanctions from “strangling” the country’s efforts at defence innovation, a top official of the People’s Liberation Army has urged.
Major General Zhang Zhan, political commissar of the National University of Defence Technology (NUDT), said China’s hi-tech industries were facing a “grim and complex” situation as the United States and its allies intensified their campaign to curb access to technology.
“[Western] technical restrictions are becoming increasingly surgical, with the strategic focus shifting from ‘choking current operations’ to ‘strangling future growth’,” Zhang wrote in an article published on Wednesday in the official Study Times.
The newspaper is affiliated with the Central Party School, the Communist Party’s top academy for training officials.
China must take concrete measures to “thoroughly reverse the situation of being choked by others”, Zhang asserted, identifying several sectors as “critical chokepoints” that China must master – including semiconductors, high-end industrial machine tools and fundamental software.
He also listed a few “frontier and emerging fields”, which he described as a “breeding ground” for future combat power, such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, aerospace technology and deep-sea exploration.
The US has imposed strict export controls on China, limiting its ability to import advanced chips, as well as the machines and software used to make them. Washington has also blacklisted hundreds of Chinese entities, including many universities and research organisations – such as the NUDT, the PLA’s top research institution.
AI has now become the focus of these sanctions, with measures ranging from curbs on US investment in Chinese firms to blocking Chinese access to US cloud computing services.
Zhang proposed several courses of action, including cultivating talent in key fields and initiating national-level projects focusing on frontier subjects.
In particular, he highlighted the necessity of integrating the industrial facilities and production chains of the commercial and defence sectors through improved planning, resource allocation and infrastructure connectivity between the military and civilian industries.
“[We must] promote the joint construction of civilian and military infrastructure in critical fields [and] shared use of data and computing power,” he wrote, while calling for the standardisation of dual-use technologies and the “mutual acceleration of technological development”.
The “military-civil fusion” initiative aims to use the private sector’s capacity for innovation to drive the PLA’s modernisation. It has been a national strategy since 2015.
The key to making this strategy a success is allowing enterprises to have a greater voice in military-civilian collaboration, Zhang argued.
He suggested that private firms be encouraged to invest in emerging fields and boost their involvement “in major national and military science and technology innovation decision-making”.
He proposed setting up technology transfer mechanisms for the military, such as incubation funds, concept verification centres and pilot-scale testing platforms. He also said China should build a strong team of “tech managers” to apply scientific achievements to military development.
“We must improve agile response mechanisms for military needs, and establish ‘priority channels’ for private-sector participation in defence research and development,” Zhang wrote.
“The goal is to accelerate the conversion of innovation into real-world productivity and effective combat power.”
China should leverage its “state system” and “proactive government” to break through development barriers, pool resources, set industrial policies and create a favourable legal environment, he wrote, adding that the country should also use its “effective market” to improve resource allocation and incentivise participants.
“We must both strengthen the ‘towering trees’ by harnessing the leading role of traditional defence and military giants, and cultivate the ‘shrubs and grasses’ by tapping into the ‘small, fast and agile’ advantages of tech start-ups.”
However, Zhang stressed that political reliability was crucial.
“It must be ensured that hi-tech equipment remains in the hands of a talent pool who are politically loyal,” he said.