Made in China 2025 has, then, achieved most of its aims. But at what cost?
the answer will shock you
The fiscal expense is impossible to calculate. One attempt by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank, estimated that China spent over 1.7% of GDP on industrial policy in 2017-19, which would add up to over $3trn in today’s dollars if sustained for a decade. That money could have been spent on other things, such as health care, which might have better served the public: fewer EVs, more ICUs.
Did you miss it? Less than 2% of GDP. I assume you have now fainted in horror at the cost.