Future Industries

Chinese policy term for industries still at an early technical stage that could become tomorrow's pillar sectors.

Future industries is a category in Chinese industrial policy: fields driven by frontier technology that are currently still incubating or just emerging, but could grow into large-scale industries later, as distinct from the already-formed “strategic emerging industries.” In January 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments issued the “Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovation and Development of Future Industries,” proposing six priority directions — future manufacturing, information, materials, energy, space, and health — and listing humanoid robots as a high-end equipment product to be developed. Embodied AI has since also been written into the future-industries list in the Government Work Report. Understanding this term helps explain why local governments set up dedicated robotics funds, innovation centers, and pilot-scale testing bases.

ExampleThe “Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovation and Development of Future Industries” calls for breakthroughs in high-end equipment products such as humanoid robots, quantum computers, and ultra-high-speed trains.

Related

New Quality Productive Forces · Guiding Opinions on the Innovative Development of Humanoid Robots · 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) · Embodied AI First Named in the Government Work Report · Patient Capital

Sources

工业和信息化部等七部门关于推动未来产业创新发展的实施意见（中国政府网） (Chinese)

As of

2024-01