Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2680 actions· ✨ 93 recent

On 31 December 2025, China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly published Announcement No. 91 of 2025, releasing the 2026 edition of the Catalogue of Dual-Use Items and Technologies Subject to Import and Export Licence Administration, effective 1 January 2026. The update replaces the 2025 catalogue and is issued under the Export Control Law of the PRC and the Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items. Key additions to the export-licensing perimeter include samarium, gadolinium, and lutetium compounds — mid-to-heavy rare earths critical for permanent magnets (EV motors, wind turbines), phosphors (medical imaging, displays), and defence applications — requiring MOFCOM export licences for all covered shipments from 1 January 2026.

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA, also known as Yizhuang) Management Committee issued Notice 京技管发〔2025〕33号 on 9 December 2025 ("Several Measures to Accelerate the Cultivation of the Future Energy Industry"), effective through 31 December 2028. The package subsidises R&D, shared technology platforms, industrialisation projects and demonstration deployment across new-type energy storage (solid-state batteries, supercapacitors, flow batteries), clean-energy generation (advanced wind, perovskite solar, hydrogen production/storage), low-carbon transition tech (CCUS, smart grid control) and fusion energy (magnetic and inertial confinement). R&D support runs up to 30% of annual enterprise R&D spend; demonstration-scenario procurement is subsidised up to 30% of cost capped at RMB 500,000 per project; first-of-kind product recognition pays up to RMB 150,000 per project per year. Global Trade Alert logged the underlying state act (95719) as a single "state aid, unspecified" intervention (151443).

On 12 November 2025 Beijing's Dongcheng District (via the Zhongguancun Science Park Dongcheng Zone Management Committee and the district Science and Technology Commission) issued Notice 东城园文〔2025〕12号, "Several Measures of Beijing Dongcheng District on Promoting Science and Technology Innovation Development," effective 12 December 2025 through 31 December 2028. The package tiers cash grants by milestone: up to RMB 100,000 for first-time high-tech-enterprise certification, RMB 1 million for first-to-market new technology/products, RMB 10 million for incubator and specialised industrial-park upgrades, and up to RMB 30 million for "chain-leader" enterprises or innovation-driving market entities judged to have significant regional radiating/spillover effect. Eligible sectors span new-generation information technology, cultural technology, pharmaceuticals and health, intelligent manufacturing, new materials, and green energy/environmental protection.

On 5 August 2025 the municipal government of Xianning (Hubei Province) launched the "Hubei-Xianning High-Tech Industry Regional Mother Fund" (湖北咸宁高新产业区域母基金) at a launch ceremony attended by a Hubei provincial Finance Department official and Xianning's executive vice mayor. The fund was jointly capitalised by the Hubei Provincial Government Guidance Fund, Changjiang Growth Capital, the Xianning Municipal Government Guidance Fund, Xianning Chengfa Group, and Xianning Gaotou Group at a total scale of CNY 3 billion (~USD 420 million), the first city-level regional mother fund set up under Hubei's provincial guidance-fund restructuring programme. It operates a "sub-fund + direct project investment" model and is projected to leverage CNY 15 billion in social capital toward Xianning's "5+5" modern industrial system (big health, electronic information, clean energy, and new materials, among other priority sectors). At launch it signed cooperation-intent agreements with 5 sub-funds (CNY 2 billion combined scale) and investment agreements with 5 enterprises (CNY 200 million combined).

On 11 June 2025, at the second Belt and Road Science and Technology Exchange Conference in Chengdu, Sichuan Province formally launched the "Sichuan Sci-Tech Achievement Transformation Investment Guidance Fund" (四川省成果转化投资引导基金) with a total scale of CNY 5 billion (~USD 700 million). The fund is capitalised 40% by the Sichuan Provincial Industrial Investment Guidance Fund, 40% by other in-province state funds, and 20% by capital raised from outside the province. It targets "invest early, invest small, invest in hard tech" bets across seven priority areas — tech/communications, new materials, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, medical and pharmaceutical, energy conservation/environmental protection, and specialised industries — aligned to Sichuan's "15+N" priority industrial-chain plan. Seven sub-funds (one seed-stage, three angel-stage, three venture-stage) totalling CNY 4.05 billion were already established at launch, and the fund's operator (Sichuan Industrial Revitalization Fund Investment Group) stated a 2025 investment target of over CNY 500 million, with CNY 150 million already committed across 4 AI and energy-equipment projects and a further CNY 390 million quasi-approved across 10 projects.

On 7 May 2025 the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture People's Government (Hunan Province) approved the establishment of a CNY 1 billion ($~140 million) Xiangxi Industrial Development Guidance Fund, publicised the following day on the Hunan provincial government portal. The fund runs a "1+X+N" mother-fund structure — 30% of its scale for direct investment, 70% seeded into sub-funds with social capital — and is earmarked for 11 priority industry chains, including manganese-zinc and aluminium-based composite materials and vanadium-lithium battery new-energy and electronics, alongside ecological-culture tourism, liquor/tobacco, traditional Chinese medicine/biopharma, and specialty agriculture. It is managed by the prefecture finance bureau and capitalised by consolidating existing industrial-subsidy funds, rolling investment returns, and new budget allocations.