Industrial policy, techno-nationalism and Industry 4.0: China-USA technology war
Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the evolution of the technology war between
China and the USA in a context of exacerbation of techno-nationalist strategies for
industrial and technological development. This analysis refers mainly to the Chinese
strategy to deploy Industry 4.0 and the implications derived from US imposed restrictions
on Chinese efforts to develop indigenous technologies that are central in the forthcoming
paradigm. The hypothesis is that such policies, by boosting Industry 4.0, aim to create a
new techno-economic paradigm and thus reconfigure the bases of inter-capitalist and interstate competition. The main contribution to the literature is providing an analysis of
the implications of the technology war between China and the USA in different layers of the
Industry 4.0 techno-economic paradigm, in addition to the mainstream debate about the
transition to 5G communication networks.
JEL Classification: O53; O14; O25; O33; O38; L52.
Keywords: Technology war Techno-nationalism Industry 4.0 Industrial Policy Chinese economy