China looking to remove foreign technology by 2022

Beijing has ordered all government offices and public institutions to remove foreign software and computer equipment in the next three years, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The newspaper cited a confidential policy, nicknamed “3-5-2,” which states that 30 per cent of the substitutions should take place in 2020, followed by 50 per cent in 2021 and 20 per cent in 2022.

The directive, which the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Office reportedly released earlier this year, comes in the context of the United States excluding Chinese companies such as Huawei from the US market on the grounds of national security.

If implemented, the policy could greatly impact US companies such as Microsoft, HP and Dell.

US technology companies generate as much as 150 billion dollars in annual revenues from China, the Financial Times said.