China is softening its rhetoric on a contentious industrial policy that set it on a collision course with the US and Europe in a bid for foreign investments to keep its economy on track.
The shift on the Made in China 2025 policy — now being played down by the media and the subject of assurances to foreign governments — comes as Beijing seeks to improve ties with European companies that have complained about forced technology transfer and subsidies for national champions.
The policy, unveiled in 2015, set out 10 sectors — such as robotics, semi conductors and advanced medical technology — in which domestic companies were expected to dominate in the Chinese market and compete globally.