China Issues Guidelines to Upgrade Traditional Craft and Heritage Sectors

Six Chinese government ministries have issued a joint policy guideline to modernize the country's historical and classic industries, spanning silk, tea, porcelain, traditional Chinese medicine, and brewing. According to official media, the designated sectors generate approximately 8 trillion yuan annually across 25,000 major enterprises. The initiative establishes concrete benchmarks: by 2028, authorities plan to cultivate 50 leading firms with annual revenues exceeding 10 billion yuan each, establish 100 well-known consumer brands, and build several 100-billion-yuan clusters. By 2030, the policy seeks to advance these domestic sectors toward the higher end of global value chains through technological adaptation and cluster-based planning.

China's historical and heritage industries encompass critical traditional manufacturing fields that support regional economies, rural revitalization, and nearly 3.5 million jobs. Historically constrained by fragmented production, homogeneous competition, and brand underdevelopment, these sectors are now being steered into coordinated national industrial policy. Upgrading them with digital manufacturing and brand protections aims to transform cultural assets into higher-value consumer engines domestically and internationally.

Six Chinese central government departments have released a comprehensive policy guideline aimed at modernizing and scaling the nation's traditional heritage industries, according to state media reports. The document, approved by the State Council, outlines targets to upgrade sectors including silk, tea, ceramics, traditional Chinese medicine, brewing, arts and crafts, and stationery. According to an official policy interpretation published by Xinhua, the historical classic industries encompass approximately 25,000 enterprises above designated size, employ nearly 3.5 million workers, and generate an aggregate annual operating revenue of roughly 8 trillion yuan. Despite their economic footprint, policymakers noted that these sectors face structural challenges, including inadequate top-level planning, lagging brand equity, shallow cross-sector integration, and talent shortages. To address these gaps, the directive establishes a two-phase roadmap. By 2028, authorities aim to nurture 50 anchor enterprises with annual revenues surpassing 10 billion yuan, develop 100 recognized Chinese consumer brands, and foster several regional industrial clusters valued at 100 billion yuan or more. By 2030, the initiative aims to guide these industries toward the mid-to-high end of global value chains by establishing world-class brands and internationally competitive enterprises. The framework sets out 20 tasks organized into five broader categories. These include strengthening systematic planning, accelerating digital and intelligent transformation, deepening green manufacturing, cultivating supportive industry ecosystems, and expanding international market presence. Specific operational measures encourage regions to avoid duplicative construction and homogeneous competition by constructing coordinated 'industrial corridors' for silk, tea, and porcelain, alongside the adoption of 'studio plus digital workshop' production models. The document was jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration for Market Regulation.