Beijing is speeding up foreign tech phase-out

China is accelerating plans to replace American and foreign technology, quietly empowering a secretive government-backed organization to vet and approve local suppliers in sensitive areas from cloud to semiconductors.

Formed in 2016 to advise the government, the Information Technology Application Innovation Working Committee has now been entrusted by Beijing to help set industry standards and train personnel to operate trusted software.

The quasi-government body will devise and execute the so-called "IT Application Innovation" plan, better known as Xinchuang in Chinese. It will choose from a basket of suppliers vetted under the plan to provide technology for sensitive sectors from banking to data centers storing government data, a market that could be worth US$125 billion (HK$975 billion) by 2025.

So far, 1,800 Chinese suppliers of PCs, chips, networking, and software have been invited to join the committee, sources said.

Meanwhile, China's Vice President Wang Qishan said the nation and the world must work together to boost global economic growth, and vowed that Beijing will continue opening up more to foreign investment at a time when more countries are raising barriers over national security concerns.

In other news, the New York Stock Exchange sees appetite for Chinese company listings in the US once the two nations' governments resolve a stalemate over regulatory scrutiny, said president Stacey Cunningham.