China exerts grip on tech as Beijing expands economy control

China’s ruling Communist Party will play a bigger role in steering its vast technology industry, the latest sign that Beijing intends to exert more influence over swathes of the world’s No. 2 economy.

The Party will refine a mechanism through which top decision makers on the Central Committee steer technological work, according to a CCTV report on a central government meeting led by President Xi Jinping. While it didn’t go into details, the pronouncement suggests Beijing will accelerate its role in funneling resources toward priority sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence in a technological race with the US.