The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released on June 1 a study drawing on its MAGIC (Manufacturing Groups and Industrial Corporations) database, finding that nearly 60% of Chinese companies’ gains in global market share between 2005 and 2024 can be attributed to state subsidies — versus roughly 22% for manufacturing firms globally. Chinese companies received three to eight times more government support than competitors across 15 industrial sectors including semiconductors, solar panels, steel, shipbuilding, automobiles, chemicals, and aerospace. The backing took the form of direct subsidies, tax breaks, and below-market loans from state-backed financial institutions. In the semiconductor sector alone, subsidies climbed to nearly 10% of company revenue. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann drew an explicit comparison to performance-enhancing drugs: “Just like doping in sports, the risk is that subsidies help less productive players win unfairly at the expense of better, more innovative and more efficient ones.”
Counterintuitively, the OECD found that subsidies did not improve productivity or profitability for the firms that received them — suggesting that rather than driving efficiency, state support may entrench incumbents and deter genuine investment. The report also noted that government aid to large manufacturers in 2023 and 2024 reached levels not seen since the global financial crisis, marking what the OECD described as a structural shift in the global economy rather than a cyclical one. The findings arrive as the EU weighs new countermeasures against Chinese industrial aid, with its automotive sector facing intensifying competition from subsidized Chinese-made EVs. China has not filed a complete WTO subsidy notification since joining the organization over two decades ago, according to a 2025 report from the US Trade Representative — a transparency gap the OECD’s methodology, which tracks actual support received by firms rather than government announcements, is designed to help fill.