The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the Chinese vice-minister for industry and information technology Wang Zhijun said at a press conference in Beijing that the recent moves by Washington to stymie Chinese firms would help them to reduce their reliance on foreign technologies and that their efforts to do so would receive the government’s full backing.

“Recently, the US has taken a series of measures to crack down on Chinese companies for political purposes,” he said.“[But] it is, in fact, a good thing for Chinese firms. China’s manufacturing upgrade requires a breakthrough in key and core technologies, [and] we need to speed up the process.”

Wang also added the government would play a greater role in formulating strategy and increase its support for technology companies through bigger subsidies for research and development, and better protection of their intellectual property.

“We will strengthen the strategic guidance at the national level, devote more resources to achieving a breakthrough in core technologies, and create a market environment for fair competition,” he said. “At the same time, the government will increase its financial support for basic research … and encourage companies to devote more resources to it.”