Today it is committed to self-sufficiency as a strategic pillar

We are witnessing in real time how China is becoming an increasingly decisive player in a wide variety of sectors. Some of these changes are very visible from the outside, such as its leadership in the production of electric cars. Others, however, understand themselves better by looking inward. In a new video from Xataka’s YouTube channel We analyze one of those less obvious but strategically key turns: how the Asian giant has gone from being the largest importer of liquefied natural gas on the planet to commit decisively to self-sufficiency. The piece that we bring you today is added to other content that we publish regularly, such as our podcast ‘Science and Apart’, ‘Domotize or die trying’ or different videos focused on China. Among them, the one that addressed the transformation of the country into the first “electrostate” in history. On this occasion, it is Ana Boria who delves into the role of liquefied natural gas, with a detailed and well-contextualized approach that helps understand why this movement goes far beyond the energy level. From the world’s largest importer to the search for self-sufficiency It is no secret that energy is a critical issue in any country, but it takes on an especially sensitive dimension in Europe. Therefore, before getting into the matter, our colleague compares the situation of the Asian country with that of the Old Continent. “The European strategy is based on prevention“Not to produce more gas, but to accumulate supply and diversify suppliers to avoid cuts,” he explains, and from there he offers several keys to understand the profound differences between both models. In the Chinese case, remember that “relatively recently, the Chinese model involved importing LNG from many regions of the world: Australia, Qatar, the United States or Russia, and complementing it with gas via gas pipeline, especially from Central Asia and Siberia.” That approach began to change due to a combination of factors, including the implementation of the plan Made in China 2025made official in 2015 with the objective of turning the country into a global technological power and reducing strategic dependencies. For some time now, China has been seeking to leave behind its role as a major LNG importer to become a self-sufficient player, and the data points in that direction. “Between January and June 2025, China produced 130.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 5.8% more than in the same period of the previous year”says our colleague, a figure that illustrates the magnitude of the change that is taking place. Achieving self-sufficiency in a resource as critical as liquefied natural gas is not just an industrial issue. It is also a first-order strategic lever, with economic, geopolitical and energy security implications. “China has invested in new deep drilling techniquesin extraction methods for unconventional gas and in adapting existing technologies to its own geology, which is more complex than that of other large producers,” explains Ana. From there, she outlines the pillars that have allowed the country to advance towards this objective, the advantages it has and the challenges it still must overcome, always relying on figures and context. We invite you to see the full video on our YouTube channel and share your opinion both there and in this article. Images | Xataka In Xataka | China dominates the world of renewable energy, but it has an Achilles heel: it depends on the West more than it admits

China continues to draw up five-year plans in the old communist way. Objective: tech self-sufficiency

Let’s talk about five-year plans. Alexei Grigorievich Stakhanov She had no idea, but her exaggerated productivity ended up messing her up. In 1927 he began working in the Tsentrálnaya-Írmino mine and realized that he was good at it. In fact, he was much better at it than the others. In August 1935 smashed the record of mine productivity and extracted 102 tons of coal (14 times its quota) in five hours and 45 minutes. Days later he crushed it again and extracted 227 tons. He became a hero to socialist workers—in addition to appearing on the cover of Time magazine—and from that was derived the stakhanovismwhich advocated the increase in labor productivity based on the workers’ own initiative. That didn’t matter to Stalin: the Soviet Union was already completely immersed in its second five-year plan with a clear objective: the frenetic industrialization of the country based, of course, on trying to convert all workers into new Stakhanovs. And from those five-year plans we ended up moving on to others. China signs up for the five-year period That idea of ​​five-year plans ended up being used by China, which began to apply them in 1953 – with the help of the former Soviet Union – and has maintained them until now. In fact, the Asian giant has debated these days what will be your 15th Five Year Plan and the focus is clear: technological self-sufficiency. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China published on Thursday a statement in which he made it clear. Its objective was to “greatly increase” the self-dependence capacityand in that plan there are clear fronts for the medium-term future of the Asian giant: Promote R&D in critical technologies such as semiconductors, robotics, high-performance computing and, of course, artificial intelligence. Build a “modern industrial system“that allows reduce dependency of foreign components, equipment and knowledge. Promote the domestic market as a pillar of growth and reduce exposure to possible impacts of the export model Integrate technological development with national security: self-sufficiency not only makes economic sense, but also geopolitical sense. This five-year plan is clearly a consequence of the times we live in: the trade war with the US that it started years ago has marked the apparent end (at least partial) of globalizationand now both are looking for the same thing: not depend on others. China’s new five-year plan goes precisely in that direction, and has a clear impact both for that country and for the rest of the world. On the one hand, greater state investment in strategic sectors and greater interventionism are proposed (Hello Mr. Trump). On the other hand, this move may reduce Chinese demand for foreign technology, exacerbating technological rivalry with the US but perhaps opening new opportunities for collaboration with other countries. If successful, China’s five-year plan can stabilize growth in the face of potential external threats, but if self-reliance is prioritized too much, international openness and competition could be neglected, which could slow innovation or lead to less efficient companies. Source: Bloomberg And there is another problem: as they point out on BloombergChina is the great world exporterprecisely because their internal consumption is insufficient: they produce much more than they need. The contribution of exports to the country’s GDP is getting biggerbut consumption has stagnated or falls. All the details of the final five-year plan will be published in March, and will intensify the focus on everything related to the technological field. This effort, which began after that first veto of the Trump administration on Huaweiseems to be bearing promising fruits for China, which is becoming in an overwhelming machine of technological innovation. That pace will not slow down. Alexei Grigorievich Stakhanov would probably be proud. Image | Chinese Communist Party In Xataka | Spain has an antidote to mental and emotional exhaustion: the nap

China is taking a giant step in its quest for technological self-sufficiency: its own EDA software

A company called Qiyunfang just done a unique presentation at the Bay Area Semiconductor Expo held in Shenzhen, China. In it he has presented two EDA platforms. And with them it has opened the door to something in which the Asian giant totally depended on the US: designing your own chips. What is EDA. Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software is the fundamental tool and the gateway to be able to design chips and printed circuit boards (PCBs). Historically, this segment has always been dominated by American companies: Synopsys, Cadence and Mentor Graphics / Siemens EDA were the absolute references. They “translate” the ideas of the engineers who design the chips, and convert them into functional plans that manufacturers such as TSMC or SMIC can manufacture. Who is Qiyunfang. This company, founded in 2023, is not just any one: it is SiCarrier subsidiarywhich in turn collaborates with Huawei Technologies. As if that were not enough, SiCarrier is a semiconductor manufacturer that has financial support from the Shenzhen government. The US had China tied. In May of this year, China began to block the export of its rare earths, and the United States responded with a blockade that was equally harmful to China: the aforementioned American companies They could no longer sell their services and their EDA software to its Chinese partners. It was one of the most effective ways to “strangle” the Chinese semiconductor industry: if you can’t design the chip, it doesn’t matter if you have factories to produce it. SMIC, for example, it’s been 20 years using Synopsys EDA design suites. With the veto he was left unable to use them. China once again opts for self-sufficiency. The solutions presented by Qiyunfang theoretically allow for domestic solutions for EDA software for both schematic designs (conceptual design) and PCB (physical design of the board). Not only that: these platforms run on a completely Chinese software stack—operating system, database, middleware. Qiyunfang is not a product, it is a break with dependency in two of the crucial stages of chip design. The key is technological independence. If these platforms comply, China will have a solution immune to sanctions, also integrated into the Chinese national technological ecosystem. The trade and technology war that the country maintains with the United States has encouraged both parties to seek precisely to avoid dependence among themselves and also with other countries. It’s the “I’ll stew it, I’ll eat it” taken to the maximum extreme. The other challenge: advanced chips. Even having its own EDA software, China still has a colossal challenge with advanced chips that use 3 and 5 nm photolithography and that take advantage of UVE technologies. They continue working on these types of systems, but until they have them, Qiyunfang’s software platforms are a fantastic option for developing more “mature” but equally important chips such as those for the automotive sector or industrial applications. China continues to move key chips. This news confirms the trajectory that Xi Jingping established with its famous “Made in China 2025” plan. It seeks to conquer the key technologies of the future: AI, robotics, automotive and of course the manufacturing of semiconductors without external dependencies are little by little a reality in the Asian giant, and this new milestone of this Chinese company seems to demonstrate it. In Xataka | Before the tariffs, China bought most of its beef from the US. After the tariffs another country has won

China is very clear about what it has to do to free itself from US pressure: achieve technological self-sufficiency

The geopolitical scenario in 2025 is, if possible, even more uncertain than in 2024. The two protagonists are unquestionably USA and China because they are the two great powers that are disputing world supremacy. And each one of them leads a side with notable allies with whom it shares an evident alignment in the economic, technological and military fields. China’s technological development has been deeply conditioned for more than two years now by the sanctions that the US is deploying and his allies. These bans primarily seek to stop the development of China’s semiconductor industry, but their implications reach many other industries due to the omnipresence of chips, such as the military, robots, electric cars or telecommunications, among others. others. China needs to achieve technological self-sufficiency at any price China’s medium-term economy is at stake. And the world leadership for which it competes with the United States, too. The Government led by Xi Jinping is fully aware of how important it is for its country to put an end once and for all to the dependency that still exists today of many foreign countries from a technological point of view. Precisely this dependency has been taken advantage of by the US to prevent Chinese integrated circuit manufacturers from accessing the most advanced lithography equipment it produces. the Dutch company ASML. “By managing our own affairs well, we can promote the stable and healthy development of China’s economy.” This is the situation in which The Chinese Administration has promoted the holding this Monday of a meeting in which the country’s political and social leaders urged industry executives as a whole to dedicate your resources to the technology sector. Its dual purpose is to materialize new engines of economic growth and promote China’s technological independence under the leadership of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, which will be the institution that will guide the private sector on this path. “By managing our own affairs well, we can promote the stable and healthy development of China’s economy,” has declared Premier Li Qiang. During 2024, the gross domestic product of this country has grown by 5%, and several intensely industrialized regions, including Zhejiang province, aim to grow by at least 5.5% during 2025. The fact that the meeting among Chinese leaders was celebrated on the same day that Donald Trump has returned to the White House It has a marked symbolic character. A fact that is worth not overlooking is that at last Monday’s meeting, in addition to the political and social leaders of China, several very prominent people participated. from the field of science and technology. One of them was Liang Wenfeng, the founder of the investment company High Flyer Quant that backs the startup of artificial intelligence DeepSeek. Wei Hongxing, founder of AUBO Robotics Technology, also participated in this event. What is still not entirely clear is how China is going to act in the face of a probable escalation of the tariffs imposed by the US under the mandate of Donald Trump. We probably won’t have to wait long to check it out. More information | SCMP In Xataka | Historical record for China: its chip industry has produced more than ever in 2024 despite sanctions

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