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$1.5 trillion boost for strategic industries mulled

BEIJING (Reuters) China is considering investments of up to $1.5 trillion over five years in seven strategic industries, sources said, a plan aimed at accelerating the country’s transition from the world’s supplier of cheap goods to a leading purveyor of high-value technologies.

Analysts expressed scepticism at the sheer amount of money it equates to about five percent of China’s gross domestic product on an annual basis but said that the eye-popping headline figure was an indication of the government’s determination to catalyse a structural shift in the economy.

The targeted sectors include alternative energy, biotechnology, new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, advanced materials, alternative-fuel cars and energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies.

The central government itself would most likely not deliver the bulk of the money, but would seek to spur spending by corporations, investment by local governments and lending by banks.

The Central Economic Work Conference, the key annual meeting at which top leaders chart out economic policies for next year, is likely to endorse the plan for the seven new strategic industries when it convenes later this month.

“The State Council is considering a plan to invest up to two trillion yuan ($300 billion) each year in the seven new strategic industries over the next five years,” a source with ties to the leadership and direct knowledge of the proposal told Reuters.

The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information. Beijing has said before that it wants to promote the sectors, a policy that it hopes will make the country less dependent on low-end, dirty manufacturing. The value-added output of the seven strategic industries together account for about two percent of GDP now. The government has said it wants them to generate eight percent of GDP in 2015 and 15 percent by 2020.

By pushing these sectors, China would be making a big bet that technology can help bridge the gap between limited supplies of commodities and the rapidly growing demand that has propelled the country to become the world’s second-biggest economy.