Factory of Dreams — Reading Room

A look at Made in China 2025's successes, failures and future. | |

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Weekly newsletter | April 13th, 2025

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| Good evening. Back in 2018, as Robert Lighthizer set about justifying the U.S. tariffs that kicked off the first U.S.-China trade war, he mentioned a single Chinese policy 116 times: Made in China 2025. Beijing’s ambitious industrial policy, which debuted ten years ago next month, alarmed global business leaders and western governments alike. But despite tariffs, various punitive measures, and a few significant failures, it has continued to live on in China, albeit under new names. Our cover story this week looks back at the origins of the landmark policy and assesses how it’s fared and changed over the years. Elsewhere, we have infographics on China’s rare earths retaliation to U.S. tariffs; an interview with Matt Turpin, who served on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, on Trump, tariffs and Taiwan; a reported piece on China’s self-driving danger; and an op-ed from Stephen Roach on America’s version of a cultural revolution. To read these stories, gain access to our extensive archive, and opt-in to our popular daily news round up, subscribe to The Wire today. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to receive our free newsletter. Click here to view this email in your browser.

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Image generated using OpenAI’s ChatGPT with DALL·E, 2025
| Grading Day 2025 has arrived. Has China’s grand vision for tech supremacy lived up to the hype? Eliot Chen looks into the goals, achievements and struggles of Made in China 2025 and how the ambitious industrial policy has changed over the years.

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Workers use machinery to dig at a rare earth mine in Ganxian county, Jiangxi province, China. Credit: Chinatopix via AP Images
| The Big Picture: China’s Rare Earths Riposte As part of its fight against President Trump’s tariff hikes, Beijing has imposed restrictions on the global export of seven rare earths. It’s a tactic Beijing has used before, taking advantage of its dominant position in the world’s rare earth supply chains to hamper U.S. production in industries ranging from autos to semiconductors. In this week’s Big Picture, Noah Berman looks into how the latest restricted rare earths are used and how impactful the Chinese government’s measures might prove to be.

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A Q &A with Matt Turpin

After a two-year stint as the National Security Council’s director for China in the first Trump White House, Matt Turpin has become a leading analyst of Chinese military and political strategy. His weekly commentary on China policy available by email or Substack, is read by government officials and China watchers. Prior to his stint in the White House, Turpin served for 22 years in the Army; from 2013 to 2017, he was China adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and also worked on defense technology innovation. In this week’s interview with Bob Davis, he talks about why China is still the main target of the trade war, Beijing’s response so far and how tensions over Taiwan could play out. Matt Turpin
Illustration by Lauren Crow

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Xiaomi’s SU7 electric vehicle. Credit: Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun via X
| China’s Self-driving Danger Automakers are striving to offer ever more advanced car models, but are they taking too many risks with driver safety? Rachel Cheung reports.

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President Donald Trump attends an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, January 20, 2025. Credit: Matt Rourke via AP Images
| America’s Cultural Revolution In this week’s op-ed, Stephen Roach argues that President Trump is seeking a fundamental break from historical norms in a way that bears comparison with the decade of turmoil Mao Zedong instigated in China, albeit in a much less violent way.

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