Chinese industrial policy in the geopolitics of the information age: The case of semiconductors

Abstract

This paper examines the semiconductor’s industry growing importance as a strategic technology in the modern industrial system and in contemporary warfare. It also analyzes this industry’s evolution in China and the Chinese semiconductor industrial policy over the last years. We review the Chinese interpretation of the ‘revolution in military affairs’ and China’s perception of its backwardness as well as the possibilities of catch-up and evolution in the most sophisticated segments of this productive chain through domestic firms and indigenous innovation.