Chinese cyber operations are deeply integrated with and directly support the country's overarching geopolitical and economic strategies.

They are not isolated acts but rather a calculated, long-term approach to enhance China's global standing, economic power, and national security.

Here's how these operations align:

1. Economic Strategy: Advancing "Made in China 2025" and Technological Self-Sufficiency-

A primary driver for China's extensive cyber espionage has been its ambitious economic development plans, most notably the "Made in China 2025" initiative. This plan aims to transform China into a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse, reducing its reliance on foreign technology and dominating key strategic industries.

• Intellectual Property (IP) Theft: This is the most direct alignment. Chinese cyber groups, like APT41 and APT10, have systematically targeted leading companies in industries identified as crucial for "Made in China 2025," including:

  • High-tech manufacturing: Stealing blueprints, designs, and production processes.

  • Aerospace and aviation: Acquiring sensitive aerospace technology.

  • Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals: Accessing research, clinical trial data, and drug development processes (e.g., Hafnium targeting COVID-19 research).

  • Semiconductors: Given Taiwan's critical role in the global semiconductor supply chain, China-linked groups are intensely targeting Taiwanese semiconductor companies to overcome recent U.S. and Taiwanese export controls and achieve self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing.

  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Stealing algorithms, datasets, and research to accelerate China's development in these cutting-edge fields.

• Reduced R&D Costs and Time: By stealing IP, China can bypass costly and time-consuming research and development phases, allowing its state-owned enterprises and aligned companies to rapidly produce competing products, often at lower costs.

• Gaining Competitive Advantage: The acquired IP gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage in global markets, enabling them to leapfrog competitors and dominate new industries.

2. Geopolitical Strategy: Enhancing National Security, Influence, and Preparedness for Conflict-

Cyber operations are a critical component of China's broader national security doctrine, which increasingly emphasizes "informationized warfare" and achieving information dominance.

• Cyber Espionage (General):

  • Strategic Intelligence Gathering: Continuously collecting information on foreign governments' policies, military capabilities, diplomatic strategies, and leadership intentions. This provides a clearer picture of geopolitical landscapes and allows China to anticipate and react to international developments.

  • Influence Operations: Gaining insights to tailor influence operations, including disinformation campaigns, to sway public opinion or political decisions in other countries.

• Pre-positioning in Critical Infrastructure:

  • Strategic Deterrence and Coercion: Groups like Volt Typhoon are allegedly pre-positioning in critical infrastructure (energy, telecom, water, transportation) in adversarial nations (e.g., the U.S.). This isn't necessarily about immediate destruction but about creating a latent capability for disruption or sabotage during a future crisis or conflict. This serves as a powerful deterrent or a tool for coercion, demonstrating China's ability to inflict significant harm without direct kinetic action.

  • Disrupting Mobilization and Logistics: In a conflict scenario (e.g., over Taiwan), disrupting an adversary's critical infrastructure could severely hamper its ability to mobilize military forces, transport supplies, or maintain public order, giving China a tactical advantage.

  • Asymmetric Advantage: Cyber capabilities allow China to exert pressure and achieve objectives against militarily superior adversaries (like the U.S.) in an asymmetric fashion, avoiding direct conventional confrontation.

• Information Dominance and "Three Warfares":

  • China's "Three Warfares" doctrine (psychological warfare, media warfare, and legal warfare) is heavily supported by cyber operations. Cyber capabilities enable the rapid dissemination of propaganda, manipulation of narratives, and legal challenges to international norms, shaping the information environment in China's favor.

• Protecting Domestic Interests: While less publicized externally, China also develops robust cyber capabilities for internal surveillance, censorship, and control, maintaining social stability and suppressing dissent—a crucial aspect of its domestic governance and party control.

3. "Grey Zone" Tactics and Deniability:

Chinese cyber operations thrive in the "grey zone" of conflict, actions that fall below the threshold of traditional armed conflict but are designed to achieve strategic effects.

• Plausible Deniability: The inherent difficulty in attributing cyberattacks allows China to conduct aggressive campaigns without explicitly violating international law or provoking overt retaliation. This reduces the risk of escalation to conventional warfare while still achieving objectives.

• Testing and Probing: Constant cyber operations allow China to test the defenses of potential adversaries, map their networks, and identify vulnerabilities, building a comprehensive understanding of their digital terrain for future use.

In essence, Chinese cyber operations are a multifaceted and integrated tool that directly serves Beijing's long-term vision of becoming a global superpower. By systematically acquiring foreign technology, preparing for potential conflicts by pre-positioning in critical infrastructure, and gathering strategic intelligence, these cyber activities directly underpin China's drive for economic prosperity, national security, and enhanced international influence.