Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2667 actions· ✨ 89 recent

On 1 February 2026, at Web Summit Qatar, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is expanding its Fund of Funds programme with an additional USD 2 billion in capital, taking the programme's total committed capital from USD 1 billion to USD 3 billion. Five new venture capital managers — Greycroft, Ion Pacific, Liberty City Ventures, Shorooq, and Speedinvest — are joining the programme, spanning AI, fintech, blockchain, infrastructure and special-situations strategies, bringing the total number of participating fund managers to 12 with an aggregate AUM of roughly USD 10 billion.

Dubai's Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched AED 12.8 billion (~USD 3.5bn) in strategic expansion projects for the Dubai Silicon Oasis free zone, comprising a AED 11 billion (~USD 3.0bn) "District IO" technology district and a AED 1.8 billion (~USD 0.49bn) Block 14 mixed-use development. District IO targets smart mobility, 3D printing, robotics, X-Tech, AI, quantum computing and Web3 firms via 25 LEED-compliant buildings, R&D labs and data centres, with capacity for 6,500+ companies and a stated goal of AED 103bn GDP contribution and 70,000+ jobs by 2036. Global Trade Alert classifies the intervention as a financial grant plus an in-kind grant to the free zone.

On 30 December 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufubangui [2025] No. 20, a three-year action plan (1 January 2026 - 31 December 2028) to support the transformation and upgrading of advanced manufacturing. The plan sets quantitative targets — 100 new manufacturing enterprises with annual output above CNY 1 billion by 2028 (cumulative 600+), 500 new above-designated-size supply-chain enterprises, 100+ new national-level green factories, a robot density of 600 units per 10,000 workers, and 70%+ digital-equipment penetration — across next-generation electronics, intelligent connected new-energy vehicles, high-end equipment, advanced materials, green low-carbon and fashion consumer-goods industries, plus emerging bets on the low-altitude economy, commercial aerospace, embodied intelligence (robotics) and biomanufacturing. It is funded through tiered direct subsidies rather than tax relief: one-off R&D subsidies up to CNY 10 million, equipment/new-materials cost-share up to 30% of contract value (capped at CNY 20 million), technical- transformation loan/leasing interest support up to CNY 20 million cumulative, and 0.8-1.3% interest subsidies on component/material backup-inventory financing.

China's National Development and Reform Commission announced a new-type policy-based financial instrument worth CNY 500 billion (~USD 70.3 billion), to be used entirely to replenish capital for infrastructure and industrial projects. Funds are channeled through China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Agricultural Development Bank of China, targeting digital economy, AI, consumption-related infrastructure and urban renewal (transport, energy, underground utility upgrades). By mid-October 2025, China Development Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank had disbursed a combined ~CNY 300 billion, coordinated with the Ministry of Finance and People's Bank of China, with NDRC citing over 2,300 supported projects and roughly CNY 7 trillion in projected total investment leveraged.

On 19 September 2025, the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group, signed a EUR 260 million (USD ~305 million) anchor-investor commitment into Jolt Capital V, a growth-stage deep-technology venture capital fund targeting a EUR 1 billion final close. The commitment is funded largely through the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI), an EU-backed programme that has committed over EUR 2.5 billion across 11 scale-up technology funds and aims to mobilise EUR 10 billion in total resources for late-stage European tech companies. Jolt Capital V will invest in growth-stage B2B companies across semiconductors, cybersecurity, AI, industry 4.0, new materials and mobility, sectors the EIB Group frames explicitly around European strategic autonomy and competitiveness.

On 17 September 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufubangui [2025] No. 8, a five-year (26 September 2025 - 25 September 2030) state-aid framework to accelerate frontier-technology innovation and cultivate "future industries" across six domains — future manufacturing, future information, future materials, future energy, future space and future health. Targeted technology areas include cell and gene therapy, brain-computer interfaces, biomanufacturing, embodied intelligence (humanoid robotics/AI hardware), fourth-generation semiconductors, silicon photonics, 6G, neuromorphic computing, quantum technology, controlled nuclear fusion and regenerative medicine. Support is disbursed as tiered direct subsidies rather than tax relief, with named ceilings up to CNY 30 million per proof-of-concept/R&D platform and CNY 20 million per high-quality incubator or first-product/batch innovation award.

On 25 August 2025, Brazil's federal government launched a combined BRL 12 billion (~USD 2.2bn) subsidised credit line to fund the diffusion of Industry 4.0 machinery and equipment across the Brazilian industrial base. BNDES (national development bank) contributes BRL 10 billion nationwide through its "Crédito Indústria 4.0" line; Finep (research-financing agency) adds BRL 2 billion via its "Difusão Tecnológica" line, reserved for companies in the North, Northeast and Center-West regions to narrow regional investment gaps. Financing covers capital goods incorporating robotics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, sensing, machine-to-machine communication and IoT, at concessional rates of roughly 7.5-8% plus spread; credit approvals began 15 September 2025. The line operates under the Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB) national industrial-policy framework.

On 22 August 2025 South Korea's National R&D Program Evaluation Steering Committee, convened by MOTIE, finalized an exemption from the mandatory preliminary feasibility study (예비타당성조사 면제) for the "K-On-Device AI Semiconductor Technology Development" project, clearing the roughly KRW 689.15 billion (approx. USD 496 million) program to proceed toward FY2026 budget allocation without the standard multi-year vetting delay. The project funds full-stack development — custom AI chip design, software, and modules — across four demand-anchored industries: automotive (Hyundai Motor), IoT/home appliances (LG Electronics), machinery/robotics (Doosan Robotics, Daedong), and defense (Korea Aerospace Industries). MOTIE structured the program so end-user demand companies participated directly in project planning, pairing them with domestic fabless design and foundry manufacturing firms to build a domestic on-device AI semiconductor ecosystem, ahead of full budget confirmation and formal program launch.

The Anhui Provincial People's Government issued Wanzhengmi [2025] No. 108 (皖政秘〔2025〕108号), "Several Policies (Version 2.0) for Building a General Artificial Intelligence Industrial Innovation and Application Highland," on 2025-08-11, effective immediately and running through 2027-12-31. The package replaces and expands an October 2023 predecessor version, bundling grants, project subsidies and application-scenario support to accelerate large-model and general-AI adoption across the province's industrial base. The first 2025 disbursement batch under the scheme funded 30 of 34 submitted projects for a combined RMB 49.5831 million (approx. USD 6.9 million).

The Henan Provincial People's Government issued "Several Policy Measures to Support the Development of the AI Industry Ecosystem" (河南省支持人工智能 产业生态发展若干政策措施, Yuzheng [2025] No. 17) on 2025-08-04, effective for three years from issuance. The package establishes a RMB 3 billion (approx. USD 420 million) AI industry investment fund alongside a suite of per-project subsidies: up to RMB 1 million for enterprises passing national generative-AI model filing, an annual RMB 50 million compute-voucher pool (capped at RMB 1 million per recipient), up to RMB 1 million per high-quality training-corpus library, and RMB 2-10 million grants for benchmark application projects, industry-empowerment centres and national-level innovation platforms.

On 28 July 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufubangui [2025] No. 6, the "Shanghai Embodied Intelligence Industry Development Implementation Plan" (上海市具身智能产业发展实施方案), a dedicated municipal state-aid package to build Shanghai into a global innovation hub for embodied intelligence (humanoid robotics / physical AI). The plan targets an industry scale of CNY 500 billion by 2027, alongside at least 20 core algorithm/technology breakthroughs, four or more high-quality incubators, and "100-100-100" targets for leading enterprises, applications and products. Support is disbursed as tiered direct subsidies capped at CNY 50 million (30% of project cost) for core-technology R&D, CNY 40 million per company per year for computing-power credits, CNY 20 million (50% of cost) for public-platform construction, CNY 10 million (20% of cost) for application-demonstration projects, CNY 5 million per company per year for language-corpus services, CNY 5 million (5% of contract value) for robot sales/rental incentives, CNY 5 million per open-source project, and CNY 1 million per leading enterprise for standards development. Target application sectors are logistics, industrial manufacturing, retail, healthcare/eldercare and domestic services.

The Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) passed amendments to Article 10-1 of the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) on third reading on 18 April 2025, promulgated by Presidential Decree on 7 May 2025 and effective for qualifying expenditures incurred from 1 January 2025. The amendment expands the scope of the existing Article 10-1 investment tax credit — previously covering hardware, software, technology, or technical services for smart machinery, 5G network deployment, and cybersecurity — to additionally cover (i) AI products or services and (ii) energy-conservation and carbon-reduction initiatives. The maximum eligible expenditure cap per company per taxable year is doubled from NT$1bn to NT$2bn, and the implementation period is extended through 31 December 2029. Secondary legislation operationalising the amended categories was jointly issued by MOEA and MOF on 27 November 2025 as the "Regulations Governing Tax Credits Claimed for Investments in Smart Machinery, 5G Networks, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Products or Services, and Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction." This is Taiwan's first AI-and-green-tech investment tax credit mechanism in the general-industrial framework, distinct from Article 10-2 (the chip-specific R&D + advanced-equipment credit, "Taiwan Chips Act").