About a decade ago, a think tank led by consulting giant McKinsey & Company recommended that China bar foreign companies from sensitive industries as part of a project of the communist regime, setting the stage for growing tensions between China and the United States. A surprising new report has revealed that. .
The Urban China Initiative, a think tank, published a 310-page book in 2015 suggesting that the central government secure the country’s status as a technology superpower and reduce dependence on global technology imports. The Financial Times reported Friday.
The recommendations included a “Made in China 2025” policy and advised governments to deepen cooperation between business and the military, according to a review of the study obtained by the FT and not previously reported in Western media. .
The book, titled “The World’s Scientific and Technological Revolution,” features a foreword by Laura Wetzel, one of McKinsey’s most senior staffers based in its Shanghai office.
The book was commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission and was part of the Chinese government’s study for the 13th Five-Year Plan from 2016 to 2020.
In total, “The World Science and Technology Revolution” made 61 recommendations across 14 different technologies.
According to the FT, Wetzel wrote in his foreword: “Based on research from the McKinsey Global Institute and the Urban China Initiative, we hope this book will provide useful input for the planning and development of Chinese technology companies and government agencies. I believe that China’s science and technology has great potential in the coming years.”
The government ultimately adopted several policies, including the “Made in China 2025” strategy, which called for setting global market share targets for key industries such as robotics, aerospace and new energy vehicles, the FT reported. Ta.
This move prompted then-President Donald Trump to launch a trade war against China, further escalating tensions that continue to this day.
The New York-based company closed its think tank in 2021 and sought to minimize its ties to the Chinese government after US lawmakers raised concerns that its consulting work would conflict with its contract with the US Department of Defense. I’ve been doing this.
Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey, sought to allay those concerns during a Congressional hearing earlier this month.
“We have never worked for the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese central government, and to my knowledge we have never worked,” Sternfels said.
“The majority of the work we do in China is for multinational companies. Many of them are American companies and private companies in China.”
The Post has reached out to McKinsey for comment.
After the FT article was published, Consulting firm releases statement The company said on its website that it “stands by its previous statements regarding its activities in China.”
The think tank also claimed that it “did not perform any work on behalf of McKinsey.”
Rather, UCI “is a nonprofit initiative co-founded in 2011 with Columbia University and Tsinghua University,” the company said.
McKinsey participated in the launch of UCI with partner universities more than a decade ago, during a different geopolitical climate, the FT reported.
In 2017, McKinsey partnered with Tsinghua University, a public institution in China, to launch a digital capabilities center in Beijing. The center aims to “help businesses take advantage of the powerful new technological changes that are disrupting industries around the world.” According to a news release on McKinsey’s website.
McKinsey has earned at least $450 million in work for the Pentagon since 2008, the FT reported, citing government databases.
According to NBC research Around the time McKinsey discontinued UCI, the global company’s contracts with the federal government gave it top-secret insider insight into U.S. military planning, intelligence, and high-tech weapons programs.
But at the same time, McKinsey was helping Beijing build its navy in the Pacific and contracting with Chinese state-owned companies that played a key role in China’s global efforts to expand its influence, NBC reported.
McKinsey has not been charged or prosecuted for harming U.S. national security, but lawmakers have criticized McKinsey for violating its alliances with the U.S. and China.
