Signs that China is stepping back from Made in China 2025

China may be revising a major industrial policy known as Made in China 2025 under pressure from the United States, introducing new measures that will grant greater access for foreign companies to China’s technology sector, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

‘Made in China 2025’ is a comprehensive development strategy in a group of key technological industries, including aviation, robotics and semiconductors, that has previously been strongly promoted by Beijing. The plan has also been a persistent complaint for the US, which has viewed the efforts as China trying to dominate global manufacturing.

The modified plan would appear less ambitious and more open to foreign participation, the sources said.

The nature of the revisions are still unclear, however, and there is ample precedent of Beijing making pledges to “opening up” important markets that doesn’t lead to action.

“While our industry would welcome less discriminatory policy out of Beijing, more needs to be done beyond simply changing the name of this industrial policy,” said John Neuffer, president of US Semiconductor Industry Association. “That would involve meaningful protection of our intellectual property and cessation of forced technology transfer.”