Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

Shandong Province's provincial government General Office issued Notice 鲁政办字〔2025〕183号 on 26 December 2025 ("Notice on Several Measures for Fiscal Support of the Integrated Development of Education, Science and Technology, and Talent"), a package of 30 fiscal-support measures running through end-2028. The measures fund R&D grants (up to RMB 30 million for major academician-led projects), talent awards (up to RMB 5 million per person), university-enterprise collaboration funding (up to RMB 15 million/project), an R&D-spend rebate (up to RMB 5 million/year per firm), and a 40%-of-interest subsidy (capped at RMB 500,000 per loan) for bank loans financing technology-achievement commercialization, plus co-financed non-performing-loan risk compensation of up to 90% on those loans. Global Trade Alert logged the interest-payment-subsidy component as a separate intervention tagged with generic extractive-sector codes (coal, crude petroleum, uranium) that do not correspond to any sector language in the underlying notice — the actual measures are horizontal, applying across education, R&D and technology-commercialization activity rather than to any named industry.

On 24 December 2025 the Minister of Science and Technology signed Decision No. 4386/QĐ-BKHCN defining the functions, tasks, and organisational structure of the Vietnam National Multi-Project Wafer Coordination Centre (VNMPW/CC). The Centre sits under MOST's Authority of Information Technology Industry and acts as a coordinating hub between domestic chip-design firms, research institutes, and domestic / foreign fabrication and packaging partners. It provides shared EDA software access, IP libraries, technical design verification, performance measurement, training programmes, and pilot-production (MPW shuttle) support — the first concrete institutional node operationalising Vietnam's 2024 semiconductor strategy (Decision 1018/QĐ-TTg).

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 75 million loan with AMAG Austria Metall AG on 19 December 2025 (publicly announced 23 February 2026), financing research, development, digitalisation and environmental-sustainability upgrades at AMAG's aluminium plant in Ranshofen, Upper Austria. The credit is the first EIB operation in Austria under its new TechEU programme (accelerating industrial innovation in Europe) and benefits from InvestEU programme backing. It contributes to a wider AMAG investment programme with total projected costs of EUR 168 million over 2025-2028, and the EIB explicitly frames the financing as advancing the EU objective of a sustainable, diversified and stable supply of critical raw materials, including aluminium.

On 19 December 2025 the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government issued Notice 深府规〔2025〕10号, "Implementation Measures for Further Attracting and Utilizing Foreign Investment" (effective 1 January 2026 - 31 December 2028, superseding 深府规〔2024〕6号). The measures combine market-access steps (advanced-manufacturing FDI access, foreign biomedicine clinical trials, cross-border data-flow pilots) with tiered cash rewards for foreign direct investment: up to RMB 50 million/year (cumulative cap RMB 150 million) for large manufacturing FDI, RMB 5-8 million one-time awards for multinational regional/global headquarters, and up to RMB 6 million one-time awards for foreign-invested R&D centers. Global Trade Alert logged the same state act as two separate interventions split by sector tag.

The European Investment Bank agreed to lend up to EUR 870 million to Nokia to accelerate research and development of next-generation mobile network technologies (5G-Advanced and 6G radio access network hardware and software). The facility is structured in two tranches of EUR 435 million each: the first was signed in December 2025, with the second expected to be signed in mid-2026. The financing is delivered under the EIB's TechEU initiative and backed by an InvestEU guarantee, explicitly framed around EU strategic autonomy in mobile-network technology and support for EU security and defence objectives given the cybersecurity features of the radio networks involved.

On 15 December 2025, Canada's Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, announced Phase 1 of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program (CQCP), awarding CAD 92 million (up to CAD 23 million each) to four domestic quantum-computing developers — Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic, and Xanadu Quantum Technologies — to accelerate progress toward fault-tolerant quantum computers with industrial and defence applications. The program is designed to anchor quantum companies, talent and intellectual property inside Canada, moving systems beyond academic prototypes toward real-world testing and practical workloads, and sits within a broader ~CAD 334.3 million, five-year federal quantum-ecosystem commitment tied to Budget 2025 and Canada's National Quantum Strategy.

The US Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, via its Idaho Operations Office, issued Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0003538 on 15 December 2025, making USD 57 million available for the Fiscal Year 2026 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) program. Individual awards range from a USD 3.1 million floor up to several million dollars, open to US universities, national laboratories, and US industry, with a companion FY2026 Phase II Continuation NOFO for previously-funded university teams. Research areas span continued operation of the existing US reactor fleet, deployment of advanced reactors, next-generation nuclear fuel cycles, and maintaining US nuclear-technology leadership.

The European Investment Bank and STMicroelectronics signed a EUR 500 million financing agreement, the first tranche of a EUR 1 billion credit line approved by the EIB, to support semiconductor research, development and high-volume manufacturing investments at ST's Catania and Agrate sites in Italy and its Crolles site in France. About 60% of the facility is earmarked for high-volume manufacturing capacity and 40% for R&D. It is the ninth financing agreement between EIB and STMicroelectronics since 1994, bringing cumulative EIB financing to the company to roughly EUR 4.2 billion, and is explicitly framed by the EIB around European semiconductor competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

The European Investment Bank agreed to lend up to EUR 300 million to German specialty-chemicals group ALTANA to finance research and development of lower-emission, lower-VOC and critical-substance-free coatings, adhesives, additives and effect pigments over 2025-2028. The facility is split into two tranches (EUR 100 million available from December 2025, EUR 200 million to follow in Q1 2026) and is delivered under the EIB's TechEU initiative. EIB framed the loan around strengthening European industrial competitiveness and keeping German and European specialty-chemicals producers at the technological frontier.

Innovate UK (part of UKRI) opened the Growth Catalyst - Investor Partnerships Round 2 competition on 10 December 2025, allocating a minimum of £100 million in grant funding to UK-registered SMEs at seed-to-Series-A stage. Grants (60-70% of project costs for feasibility and industrial-research projects; 35-45% for experimental development) must be matched by private investment from an Innovate UK-approved investor partner, ranging from an equal match to double the grant amount depending on project category. Applicants must align with one of the priority sectors named in the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy ("Invest 2035"): advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital and technologies, defence, creative industries, life sciences, or the Battery Innovation Programme. The competition closes 3 February 2026.

On 10 December 2025 the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted Law No. 134/2025/QH15 on Artificial Intelligence (8 chapters, 35 articles), Vietnam's first dedicated AI statutory framework and one of the first comprehensive horizontal AI laws in Southeast Asia. The law establishes a three-tier risk-based regulatory architecture (high / medium / low) for the research, development, provision, deployment, and use of AI systems; defines the rights and obligations of providers, deployers, importers, distributors, and users; and mandates state oversight via the Ministry of Information & Communications and Ministry of Science & Technology. Prohibited acts include systematic deception, manipulation of human perception, generation of fake content endangering national security, exploitation of vulnerable populations, and obstruction of human-supervision mechanisms. The law applies to Vietnamese agencies, organizations, and individuals as well as foreign organizations and individuals involved in AI-related activities in Vietnam, taking effect 1 March 2026 with 12-18 month transition windows for existing systems depending on sector.

Singapore's National Research Foundation (NRF), under the Prime Minister's Office, launched the five-year Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 Plan on 5 December 2025, allocating S$37 billion (approximately 1% of GDP) for 2026-2030. The plan succeeds RIE2025 (S$25 billion) and introduces two named RIE Flagships and two RIE Grand Challenges; the first Flagship is in semiconductors and is explicitly aimed at making Singapore a strategically important R&D and manufacturing node in the global semiconductor supply chain. The budget envelope is split 24% foundational research, 20% innovation and enterprise, 17% infrastructure / new programmes ("white space"), 10% talent development.

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.

The US Department of Energy announced $625 million in funding to renew its five National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers for up to five more years, supporting the National Quantum Initiative Act (2018). $125 million is allocated for Fiscal Year 2025, with outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. The renewed centers are hosted at Brookhaven, Fermilab, Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, and Oak Ridge national laboratories. Global Trade Alert logged the announcement as state aid affecting research/computing-machinery trade partners including Australia, Austria and Belgium, though the DOE release itself is domestic-research funding with no explicit foreign-country provisions.

The European Investment Bank's board approved a EUR 400 million lending envelope on 22 October 2025 under the EIB's TechEU initiative, to co-finance up to EUR 800 million of eligible research, innovation, digitalisation and manufacturing-capacity investment across the EU housing value chain (construction-technology, industrialised/ prefabricated-housing manufacturing, and related building-materials production). Unlike a single-project loan, this is a multi-beneficiary framework instrument: individual mid-cap and large-corporate borrowers ("acceptable corporates") are identified and draw down against the envelope over time rather than at a single signature date. As of the EIB's own project-page metadata the envelope remained under appraisal with no disclosed signature date for the first tranche.

On 21 October 2025, the Government of Quebec and Investissement Québec announced the creation of the Fonds Impulsion, a roughly CAD 200 million equity fund structured as a limited partnership to support early-stage, high-growth-potential technology companies in the province. The fund consolidates the existing Impulsion PME program envelope with an additional CAD 50 million drawn from the Stratégie québécoise de recherche et d'investissement en innovation (SQRI2) 2022-2027, as set out in the Quebec 2025-2026 Budget Plan. Investissement Québec administers the fund with a minimum planned investment horizon of four years, taking equity stakes in Quebec technology firms sourced via incubators, accelerators, and industrial research groups.

On 19 October 2025 the UK government announced an additional GBP 20 million each for Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Glasgow City Region under the GBP 500 million Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF), topping up their original GBP 30 million earmarked allocation (June 2025 Spending Review) to GBP 50 million per region. The three areas were the first cohort to run UKRI's predecessor Innovation Accelerators programme. Funds are channelled through UKRI to local "triple helix" partnerships (civic institutions, business, universities) for innovation-cluster projects in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, AI adoption, and clean-energy/fuel technologies. The announcement preceded the 21 October 2025 Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham.

On 17 October 2025 Türkiye's Ministry of Industry and Technology opened the "HIT-Quantum" call, a USD 300 million support tranche under the HIT-30 High Technology Investment Programme (see `2024-07-26-turkiye-hit-30-high-technology-investment-programme`), aimed at building high-capacity infrastructure for quantum computing services, a scalable quantum hardware/software ecosystem for research centres, universities and the private sector, and skilled-workforce development. The call was announced alongside three parallel HIT-30 sector calls — a USD 1.6 billion "HIT-AI" call (see `2025-10-17-turkiye-hit-ai-cloud-infrastructure-call`), a USD 1.5 billion "HIT-Data Centre" call (see `2025-10-17-turkiye-hit-data-centre-call`), and a USD 1 billion "HIT-Industrial Robot" call (see `2025-10-17-turkiye-hit-industrial-robot-call`). Global Trade Alert logs this single government call as three separate "interventions" (financial grant, state loan, and tax/social-insurance relief) under state act 95017.

On 15 October 2025 the German Federal Cabinet adopted the Microelectronics Strategy of the Federal Government, jointly presented by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE). The strategy is the first comprehensive cabinet-adopted German microelectronics policy framework in over a decade and operationalises Germany's contribution to the European Chips Act envelope. It is organised around three pillars — Research, Skilled Labour and Production — and creates a "Chips Office" to coordinate stakeholder interaction and implementation. It establishes a competence centre for chip design and a flagship "supercomputer in the car" project, and is framed as a key implementation instrument under the High-Tech Agenda Germany (HTAD) and as Germany's contribution to the September 29 2025 Semicon Declaration signed by all 27 EU member states calling for a revised EU Chips Act II.

The European Investment Bank and Spanish infrastructure and renewables group ACCIONA signed a EUR 120 million loan, the first tranche of a EUR 150 million facility approved by the EIB, to finance research, development, innovation and digitalisation across ACCIONA's water desalination and treatment, construction, renewable-energy and circular- economy businesses. The financing targets automation, robotisation, the Internet of Things, data analytics and applied AI, and is framed by the EIB under its TechEU initiative and 2024-2027 Strategic Roadmap priorities of technological innovation and climate action.

China's State Council promulgated Order No. 818 on 28 September 2025 (effective 1 May 2026), establishing a comprehensive dual-track regulatory framework for biomedical new technologies — defined as techniques operating at the cellular or molecular level not yet clinically applied in China, covering cell therapy, gene editing, CAR-T, stem-cell, xenotransplantation, brain-computer interfaces, and nucleic-acid therapies. The regulation creates two parallel pathways: a traditional NMPA drug/device registration route and a new NHC-supervised clinical-research-to-commercialization track applicable to highly personalised or rare-disease therapies meeting staged safety and efficacy thresholds. Commercialisation under the NHC track is initially restricted to accredited Grade-3A medical institutions without full NMPA marketing approval, potentially accelerating patient access for qualifying technologies by 5–8 years relative to the standard registration pathway.

The Hong Kong government launched the Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme (FTRSS) on 26 September 2025, a HK$3 billion matching-grant fund administered by the Innovation and Technology Commission. The scheme funds the eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities to attract international top-tier researchers and procure research facilities in frontier-technology fields, with each successful application eligible for HK$100-300 million. The government frames the scheme as dovetailing with national strategic planning for frontier technologies; applications closed 25 November 2025 with results expected in H1 2026.

Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and the Serviço Geológico do Brasil (SGB) released the final report of the Plano Decenal de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais (PlanGEO 2026-2035) on 24 September 2025. The plan defines 145 priority research areas selected through public consultation for ten years of focused geological mapping and mineral-resources research, prioritising ten commodities — rare earths, lithium, copper, nickel, manganese, graphite, tin, gold, phosphate, and potassium — covering the battery / magnets demand spectrum plus food-security inputs. The plan is enabled by Portaria Normativa nº 72/GM/MME of 13 March 2024 and operates on a 2026-2035 horizon, with a SGB/MME budget-and-staffing scenario proposing up to a 50% increase in execution team and a 100% expansion in annual financial investment.

On 18 September 2025 the Bundestag adopted the Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens "Infrastruktur und Klimaneutralität" (SVIKG), authorising up to EUR 500 bn of additional federal borrowing over a twelve-year horizon outside the constitutional debt brake, on the basis of the new Article 143h Grundgesetz inserted by the March 2025 constitutional amendment. The envelope splits into up to EUR 100 bn for Länder and municipal infrastructure (channelled via the companion Länder- und Kommunal-Infrastrukturfinanzierungsgesetz, LuKIFG, passed 9 October 2025), EUR 100 bn transferred to the Klima- und Trans- formationsfonds (KTF) in annual instalments through 2034, and up to EUR 300 bn for additional federal investments in transport, energy/ heat, hospital, education, digitalisation, civil protection and R&D infrastructure. Investments are eligible retroactively from 1 January 2025 and may be approved through 31 December 2036; loan repayment begins no later than 1 January 2044. SVIKG is the largest single industrial-finance instrument launched by an EU member state in the post-2022 industrial-policy cycle.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 450 million loan with Thales to finance the group's 2025-2027 research and development investment programme in aeronautics and radar. The aeronautics stream targets safety and efficiency improvements for civil and military flight; the radar stream funds modernisation of existing equipment and development of a new generation of civil and military radar systems and software. The EIB frames the deal as its first-ever corporate loan to Thales and one of the largest it has extended to Europe's security and defence sector, part of a EUR 3.5 billion (3.5% of 2025 financing) EIB Group allocation to security and defence.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add 32 entities to the Entity List, with the largest bloc — 23 entries — under the destination of China, plus India (1), Iran (1), Singapore (1), Taiwan (1), Turkey (3), and the United Arab Emirates (2). The rule also removed two addresses from one Russian entry (Intertech Rus LLC) and made 27 typographical corrections to existing entries. Several Chinese additions — including Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics, Sino IC Technology, GMC Semiconductor (Wuxi), and Chinese Academy of Sciences units (National Time Service Center; Aerospace Information Research Institute) — were given footnote 4 designations, extending the EAR's foreign-direct-product (FDP) reach to non-US-origin items destined for Russian military end use. Three Turkish entries (Atempo, EB Teknoloji, Dentun Elektronik) and one Indian entry (AR Sales Pvt Ltd) were footnote-3 Russian Procurement Entity designations. The rule is a final rule effective September 12, 2025; all listed parties are subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the EAR with a presumption-of-denial review policy.

On 15 September 2025, Brazil's national development bank BNDES and research-financing agency Finep announced the results of a public call (Chamada Pública) to attract, implant or expand corporate research, technological-development and innovation (PD&I) centres in Brazil. The call, launched in February 2025 with an initial R$3 billion budget, drew 618 proposals worth R$57.4 billion in prospective investment — more than 19x the original allocation. BNDES and Finep selected 88 proposals and expanded the committed budget to R$8.9 billion (of a total R$10 billion in associated project investment), delivered through a mix of credit, equity participation, non-reimbursable cooperative-research grants and economic subsidies. 27 of the selected proposals target the North, Northeast and Center-West regions (R$4bn in investment); a further 27 are exclusively new-centre implantations (R$3.4bn). The selected projects project hiring of 935 qualified researchers (572 master's, 363 doctoral). The call operates under Brazil's Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB) framework and is explicitly aligned to NIB's six industrial-policy missions.

On 15 September 2025, the Government of Ontario announced a CAD 18 million (USD 12.97m) grant to McMaster University to expand medical isotope production at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor in Hamilton. The funding moves the reactor to 24/7 operation, adds 16 jobs, and is projected to raise custom-isotope output from roughly 70,000 to up to 84,000 patient treatments annually (Holmium-166 for liver cancer, Iodine-125 for prostate-cancer and ocular/brain tumour therapy). The investment follows Ontario's July 2025 launch of the Nuclear Isotope Innovation Council of Ontario (NIICO), which aims to double provincial isotope output within four years.

The US Department of War announced three Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III investments totaling USD 39.6 million to expand the domestic solid rocket motor (SRM) industrial base: USD 25.2 million to Materials Resources LLC (Xenia, Ohio) for prototype production capability for SRM metallic cases using additive manufacturing; USD 9.3 million to ICF Mercantile LLC (Warren, New Jersey) to establish the first domestic production source of rayon filament cellulose precursor used in ablative SRM insulation; and USD 5.1 million to SPARC Research LLC (Warrenton, Virginia) to develop a dedicated and affordable supply of rocket motor components. The awards bring the total number of DPA Title III awards for the SRM industrial base under the related Defense Industrial Base Consortium Other Transaction Agreement solicitation to four, with a cumulative value of USD 53.9 million.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 150 million loan agreement with Soitec SA on 10 September 2025 to finance research, development and innovation (RDI) activities and associated capital expenditure for the next generation of engineered substrates (silicon-on-insulator, SOI) used in the semiconductor industry. The financing covers a first industrial deployment line for the new substrate technology plus a related water-treatment facility, against a total project cost of approximately EUR 358 million. The loan was approved by the EIB Board on 16 July 2025 and carries a two-and-a-half-year grace period followed by a ten-year amortization schedule.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 400 million loan agreement with Fresenius on 8 September 2025 in Bad Homburg, Germany, to finance research, development and innovation activities and capacity expansion for Fresenius Kabi's manufacturing of biosimilars, generic drugs, infusion therapies, clinical nutrition products, and associated medical devices across EU member states. The financing is explicitly framed by both parties as strengthening the resilience of European pharmaceutical production and security of supply for EU healthcare systems.

NIB, the multilateral development bank owned by the eight Nordic and Baltic member states, signed an 8-year EUR 150 million loan with Volvo Car AB to finance research and development on Volvo's next-generation scalable EV platform (SPA3) and the new EX60 model, covering the 2024-2026 investment period. NIB below-market development-bank financing functions as a state-adjacent subsidy to a domestic automaker's EV transition, framed by NIB as support for Sweden's decarbonisation and regional innovation-capacity goals.

On 3 September 2025 the Qianhai Authority (前海管理局) issued 深前海规〔2025〕4号, "Measures to Support R&D Centre Development (Trial)", effective 13 September 2025, the first Shenzhen-district-level policy dedicated specifically to R&D centres. Qualifying R&D centres receive a one-time R&D reserve-fund grant of up to RMB 2 million (paid 40/30/30% over three years), with multinational global R&D centres eligible for an additional RMB 6 million. Centres also receive rent relief on Qianhai office space (up to two years free for MNC global R&D centres), a subsidy of up to RMB 3 million/year (20% of qualifying R&D spend), a reduced 15% corporate income tax rate, and technology-breakthrough project grants of up to RMB 30 million (open-competition projects) or RMB 100 million (feasibility-study projects) via Shenzhen's municipal key-industry R&D programme. Distinct from the broader Shenzhen Municipal Government FDI-attraction package (深府规〔2025〕10号, effective 2026-01-01, filed separately) — this is a Qianhai free-trade-zone-level scheme targeting R&D centres specifically, issued three months earlier by a different authority.

On 29 August 2025 the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce issued Notice 沪商外资〔2025〕271号 opening the 2025 annual application round for the Shanghai Multinational Corporation Regional Headquarters Development Fund, implementing the underlying scheme 沪商规〔2025〕3号 ("Measures to Support the Enhancement of Multinational Corporation Regional Headquarters," effective 1 March 2025 - 28 February 2030). The fund pays tiered one-time and multi-year cash awards, jointly financed by municipal and district fiscal budgets, to multinationals that establish or upgrade regional headquarters, global R&D centers, or corporate functions (finance, procurement, R&D) in Shanghai. Applications for the 2025 round were due 22 September 2025.

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 25 August 2025, ARPA-E launched the Magnetic Acceleration Generating New Innovations and Tactical Outcomes (MAGNITO) program, a funding opportunity making up to USD 20 million available for research into new permanent-magnet materials with saturation magnetization or maximum energy product exceeding any known material — using computational materials discovery, AI/machine learning, and high-throughput experimentation. The goal is to unlock stronger, lighter, cheaper motors and generators and reduce US dependence on rare-earth magnets and their foreign-controlled supply chains. The program was announced the same day as the companion ROCKS ore-characterization program, together framed by DOE as a USD 60 million package.

On 25 August 2025, ARPA-E launched the Reliable Ore Characterization with Keystone Sensing (ROCKS) program, a funding opportunity (FOA DE-FOA-0003592) making up to USD 40 million available for projects developing faster, cheaper drilling, sensing, and analysis technologies to characterize rare-earth-element and critical-mineral ore deposits in months rather than years. Individual awards range from USD 2 million to 5 million. The program is part of a wider USD 60 million ARPA-E package announced the same day alongside the companion MAGNITO program for advanced permanent-magnet materials.

On 16 August 2025, Ukraine's President signed Decree No. 599/2025, enacting an NSDC decision "On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)" against 39 individuals and 55 legal entities identified as involved in developing, manufacturing, or supplying components for Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with artificial-intelligence elements. The list covers 43 Russian entities (including drone makers Prognatik, Rozumni Ptakhy, Zala Aero, and KB Vostok, plus AI research centres Neurolab and TsBST), 10 Chinese suppliers of navigation receivers, engines, cameras, and microchips (including Dongguan Standard Trading, Zhejiang Lianxing Machinery, Shenzhen Sky Bow Navigation Technology, and Topscom Precision Industry), and 2 Belarusian component suppliers. Sanctions impose asset freezes and restrictions on commercial transactions and investment instruments, entered into force immediately upon signature and revocable no later than 15 August 2035.

On 12 August 2025 Switzerland amended the Ordinance on Measures concerning Moldova (SR 946.231.156.5) — published as AS 2025 496 — adding the Russian company A7 LLC to Annex 2, the frozen-funds list. Under the ordinance, A7 LLC's funds and economic resources held in Switzerland are frozen and Swiss persons/entities are prohibited from making funds or economic resources available to it. The listing targets a single entity alleged to be involved in Russian-led efforts to influence Moldova's 2024 EU-membership referendum and presidential election; the EU had added the same entity to its own frozen-funds list roughly a month earlier, in July 2025.

On 12 August 2025 Switzerland amended the Ordinance on Measures against Belarus (SR 946.231.116.9) — published as AS 2025 495 — adding eight Belarusian companies active in the arms industry to the frozen-funds list. Under the ordinance, funds and economic resources belonging to listed entities are frozen within Switzerland and making resources available to them is prohibited. The listing was adopted the same day Switzerland moved an interim tranche of EU 18th-package Russia measures into force via a parallel ordinance (AS 2025 497), aligning Swiss Belarus sanctions with the broader EU sanctions architecture targeting Russia's war effort and its Belarusian military-industrial suppliers.

On 12 August 2025 the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (WBF) amended the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), published as AS 2025 497, adopting — within its own delegated competence and ahead of the full Federal Council decision — an interim tranche of measures aligning Switzerland with the EU's 18th Russia sanctions package (Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494, 18 July 2025). The amendment lowers the Russian-crude price cap and updates the associated Annex 28 price-threshold table, extends export prohibitions on transport services, adds port-access restrictions covering 105 additional shadow-fleet vessels, and widens controls on commercial transactions and investment instruments for Russian financial institutions. It also extends asset-freeze listings to entities in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Azerbaijan, India and the UAE implicated in circumvention. The measure took effect 12 August 2025. The Federal Council closed out the remaining goods, finance and services elements of the 18th package on 29 October 2025 (see responds_to).

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 250 million financing package with Nexans SA on 31 July 2025 (project reference 20240854, "Nexans Recycling and Electrification Investment"; publicly announced 22 September 2025), against a total project cost of approximately EUR 382 million. The loan backs Nexans' 2024-2029 research, development and innovation programme for high-, medium- and low-voltage power cables, plus copper-recycling and manufacturing-capacity investments across France, Belgium, Sweden and Norway. The financing is structured as a EUR 190 million tranche carrying an InvestEU guarantee and a EUR 60 million second tranche.

Federal Law No. 351-FZ, signed 31 July 2025, amends the 2009 Federal Law "On the Basics of State Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation" (No. 381-FZ) to bar foreign persons from conducting commodity-market research inside Russia. The prohibition covers foreign states, international organisations, foreign legal entities and individuals, stateless persons, and Russian legal entities in which foreign participation exceeds 20%; it also reaches dual-national Russian citizens. Data on Russian commodity-market structure collected under the law may only be processed at facilities located inside Russia. The measure takes effect 1 March 2026; a temporary exemption mechanism was subsequently clarified in mid-2026.

On 23 July 2025 the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued Hufu Bangui [2025] No. 5, "Several Measures to Support Enterprises in Strengthening Basic Research and Enhancing New Momentum for High-Quality Development," effective 1 August 2025 through 31 July 2030. The measure tiers one-time subsidies of CNY 2m-10m/year to enterprises based on basic-research investment (CNY 10m-50m, 50m-100m, and 100m+ investment bands), reimburses 50% of shared scientific- equipment usage fees (capped CNY 1m/year), and grants a 100% tax deduction for corporate donations to basic research at nonprofits and universities, with integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence named as priority participating industries.

On 18 July 2025 the Council of the European Union adopted Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1469, implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006, adding eight Belarusian entities to the Annex I asset-freeze list for supporting Belarus's military-industrial complex. The listed entities — State-owned Foreign Trade Unitary Enterprise Belvneshpromservice, OKB TSP Scientific Production LLC, KB Unmanned Helicopters (UAVHeli), Legmash Plant OJSC, Research and Production Unitary Enterprise "Scientific and Technical Center 'LEMT' BelOMO", Laser Devices and Technologies LLC, JSC Vistan, and Rukhservomotor LLC — span defence-export trading, artillery-shell and MLRS-rocket manufacture, unmanned military aircraft, optical weapon sights, and dual-use CNC machine tools supplied to Russian defence-related enterprises. Funds and economic resources belonging to the listed entities are frozen within the EU and the EU prohibition on making resources available to them applies with effect from 19 July 2025 (date of publication in the Official Journal). The listing was adopted the same day as the EU's 18th Russia sanctions package, as a parallel complementary measure under the separate Belarus sanctions regime.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 385 million financing agreement with Spanish technology group Indra on 15 July 2025 to fund research, development and innovation in defence and space technologies — radar, electronic defence, electro-optics, command-and-control communications and advanced digitalisation. The financing backs construction of the Indra Technology Hub, an integrated R&D and advanced-manufacturing centre in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid region), and covers Indra's planned 2025-2028 capital and operating expenditure in Spain. The EIB describes it as its largest financing agreement in Spain to date and part of a EUR 3.5 billion (3.5% of 2025 Group financing) EIB allocation to European security and defence capability-building. Global Trade Alert separately logged the transaction as a "red"-flagged state-linked lending-support intervention.

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone (BDA / Yizhuang) Management Committee issued Jingjiguanfa [2025] No. 15, "Several Measures on Promoting Quantum Technology and Industry Development in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone," on 2025-07-14, effective immediately and in force through 2027-12-31. The package spans ten support lines covering the full quantum stack (computing hardware/software, communications, sensing): up to RMB 2,000,000 one-off support for disruptive early-stage R&D projects, R&D-investment matching at 20% of an enterprise's prior-year R&D spend capped at RMB 5,000,000, 1:1 matching up to RMB 30,000,000 for enterprises undertaking state/municipal quantum research tasks, RMB 500,000 per product for new-technology/product certifications, up to RMB 100,000 per flagship application-demonstration project, up to RMB 30,000,000/year (three years max) for quantum-computing cloud platforms and compute centers, up to RMB 5,000,000/year (three years max) for operating industry-ecosystem platforms, rent subsidies up to RMB 1.5/sqm/day (max 2,000 sqm, three years), and talent, financing ("patient capital"/future-industry guidance fund), and international- cooperation support. The zone targets an internationally influential quantum industry cluster by 2027.

The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone (BDA / Yizhuang) Management Committee issued Jingjiguanfa [2025] No. 14, "Several Measures on Accelerating 6G Technology and Industrial Innovation Development in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone," dated 2025-07-08 and effective 2025-07-09. The package funds the 6G stack end to end: up to RMB 5,000,000 start-up funding for provincial/municipal-level 6G laboratories, matching funds up to RMB 30,000,000 for enterprises undertaking national/municipal 6G research tasks, up to RMB 2,000,000 in rewards for accepted 3GPP standard proposals, up to RMB 1,000,000 for standard implementation, up to RMB 30,000,000/year (three-year cap) for test and verification platforms, up to RMB 5,000,000 for "first-order" product support, and testing vouchers of up to RMB 5,000,000 covering 50% of actual testing costs. The zone targets 50+ breakthrough 6G core technologies and standards, 20+ prototype devices, 10+ leading enterprises, 200+ national/municipal high-tech enterprises, and an RMB 50,000,000,000-scale industry cluster by 2030.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 150 million loan agreement with Italian pharmaceutical group Alfasigma SpA on 8 July 2025 to finance the company's 2025-2027 research and development programme in rare diseases and specialty care (gastroenterology/hepatology, vascular medicine, rheumatology). The EIB framed the operation as part of its agenda to bolster competitiveness and innovation in the European healthcare sector. Global Trade Alert logged the announcement and implementation date as 27 June 2025 (state-act 92597); the EIB's own press release places the signing on 8 July 2025.

On 1 July 2025 India's Union Cabinet approved the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme, a six-year, ₹1,00,000 crore (≈USD 11.68 bn) fund to catalyse private-sector investment in research, development and innovation, with ₹20,000 crore allocated for FY2025-26. The scheme finances transformative RDI projects (TRL 4 and above) in strategic and sunrise sectors — deep tech, AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, robotics, space, energy transition and the digital economy — through long-tenor, low-or-nil-interest loans and equity, up to 50% of assessed project cost. Grants and short-term loans are explicitly excluded. Funds flow through a Special Purpose Fund under ANRF (first-level) to second-level fund managers — Alternate Investment Funds, Development Finance Institutions, NBFCs, and focused research bodies including the Technology Development Board (TDB) and BIRAC — which began issuing project calls in February 2026.