China’s Self-Reliance Gambit

China’s determination to secure every link in its industrial chain has upended traditional expectations about how business is done under Communist Party rule. From the boardrooms of global conglomerates to the trading floors of Western funds, a consensus once held that China’s focus on stimulating consumption would keep the private sector front and center. But that assumption has collided with Beijing’s drive for self-reliance—a mission so urgent that it has overridden concerns about short-term market sentiment.