锦衣卫

原标题：工信部：“十四五”在全国认定200个左右中小企业特色产业集群，引导和支持地方培育一批省级集群每经记者：张蕊 每经编辑：陈星9月13日，工信部印发《促进中小企业特色产业集群发展暂行办法》（以下简称《暂行办法》）。    Editor's Note:
August 15 marked the 81st anniversary of Japan's announcement of its unconditional surrender. Eighty-one years on, Japan, the defeated aggressor in World War II (WWII), has not only failed to conduct a thorough reckoning with its wartime aggression, but has instead intensified its drive to expand military power. In its newly released 2026 Defense White Paper on August 4, Japan says that "defense business not only possesses a high degree of public value by directly contributing to the protection of citizens' lives, but also contributes to Japan's economic growth through ripple effects into the civilian sector."
This line of argument, along with Japan's defense policies in recent years, in fact reflects a form of "military Keynesianism" - the use of military spending as a means to stimulate overall economic development. However, this logic of "trying to boost the economy through military buildup" has faced widespread skepticism inside Japan. Some scholars have also warned that Japan pursued a similar policy during WWII, which led to the expansion of the military-industrial complex (MIC) and, in objective terms, fueled the scale of Japan's war of aggression, bringing profound suffering to the peoples of Asia and the world.
    People take part in a protest march in Tokyo, opposing politicians making ritual offerings to or visiting the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, on August 15, 2026. Photo: cnsphoto
Pursuing a military Keynesian path
Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper, at 598 pages, has set a record as the longest in history. More alarming than its length, however, is the document's first-ever explicit definition of the development of the defense industry as an effective means of promoting "economic growth." 
"The white paper 'stresses that investment in defense benefits the wider economy and people's lives,' according to a Defense Ministry presentation document," reported Reuters on August 4. "That message aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's broader use of strategic state spending in an effort to drive economic growth," Reuters commented. Previously, The Asahi Shimbun warned in an opinion piece that this entanglement of defense buildup with economic policy will, over time, slide into "military Keynesianism."
"Military Keynesianism" refers to the use of military spending as a tool to stimulate overall economic development. Since the Takaichi administration took office, Japan has been expanding its domestic defense market through year-on-year increases in the defense budget, while at the same time opening up international sales channels for defense production by relaxing export controls - thereby systematically pursuing a military Keynesian path.
In fiscal 2026, Japan's defense budget for the first time exceeded 9 trillion yen ($56.5 billion). Its defense-related spending has already reached 2 percent of GDP, according to The Japan Times. This not only means Japan's defense budget has risen for 14 consecutive years, but also indicates that the government is using fiscal stimulus to artificially create a large and relatively stable "arms market." The resulting closed-loop logic is clear: the government increases defense spending to expand procurement; defense companies receive orders and scale up production; and, through industrial-chain spillovers, related industries also expand output.
As Japan's new Defense White Paper says, higher defense expenditures will not only significantly increase orders in the defense industry, but also reinforce the defense production base through measures such as introducing mechanisms to assess corporate efforts and calculate appropriate profits for companies. These measures, the paper claims, are expected to generate economic ripple effects, "as well as technological ripple effects into the civilian sector." 
What is even more alarming is that Japan is systematically removing the institutional barriers to the growth of its defense industry. 
One long-standing challenge in postwar Japan has been the limited size of its domestic defense market and restrictions on arms exports, which have kept defense firms' profits relatively low and prompted some major companies to withdraw from parts of the military supply business, observers pointed out.
In 2022, however, Japan elevated the defense industry to a national strategic priority in its three key security documents, National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program. In 2023, it enacted the Act on Enhancing Defense Production and Technology Bases, allowing the government to sustain and reinforce defense manufacturing through subsidies, capital investment and other measures. And in April this year, the Takaichi administration formally lifted the ban on exports of lethal weapons, fully opening the door for Japan's defense industry to enter global markets.
Together, these moves show that Japan is no longer content with relying on its Self-Defense Forces' limited procurement needs. It seeks to turn itself into a global arms supplier. This will inevitably intensify the regional arms race and seriously destabilize the security landscape in East Asia, warned some experts reached by the Global Times.
Of particular concern is that the focus of Japan's military Keynesianism has shifted from traditional weapons such as guns and artillery, to high-tech fields including artificial intelligence (AI) and drones, with an explicit emphasis on civil-military integration. Japan's new Defense White Paper places special emphasis on AI and unmanned systems, which are expected to become central issues in the year-end revision of its three key security documents.
Widespread criticism and concern
Japan's bid to jolt economic growth through higher military spending amounts to little more than a wishful gamble that "guns for butter" can be turned on its head. But when the fiscal question of "where will the money come from?" collides with public anxiety over "where is people's livelihood headed?", voices from international media outlets to Japanese scholars, lawmakers and ordinary citizens alike, are warning that the narrative of arms-led prosperity is not only unlikely to work, but could also drag Japan's economy into dangerous territory, observers noted.
Japan's fiscal expenditure faces "competing demands on the public purse," "but Takaichi has yet to explain clearly how she would pay for a further expansion without adding pressure on Japan's already stretched public finances," Reuters said on August 4.
In a Japanese-language editorial piece on August 8, The Asahi Shimbun pushed the debate further toward livelihoods, saying that military expansion would place a direct strain on the daily lives of Japanese people. The piece also cited a United Nations study saying that reallocating the same resources to education and healthcare rather than the military could generate more jobs. The International Monetary Fund has also warned that rising defense spending may, in the medium term, increase economic vulnerabilities, including through wider fiscal deficits, it said. 
 Opposition within Japan's academic circles runs equally fierce. Yuko Tanaka, a professor emeritus at Hosei University, argues the Takaichi administration's military buildup policies are driving Japan's economy toward collapse. The continuous depreciation of the yen and climbing government bond yields have rendered its "responsible proactive fiscal policies" unsustainable in the eyes of markets. If military expansion takes precedence over people's livelihoods, Japan's economy will fall into prolonged stagnation and recession, culminating in bankruptcy, Tanaka told the Global Times. 
Strong criticism also echoes across Japan's political arena. House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto accused the Takaichi administration of doubling defense spending and lifting bans on weapons exports, while shifting healthcare costs onto patients and eroding elderly care systems. If left unchecked, Japan will gradually turn into a nation sustained by the arms trade, seriously violating people's right to subsistence guaranteed by law, Yamamoto told the Global Times. 
A risky gamble

Military Keynesianism is not only unlikely to sustain long-term economic growth in Japan, but also carries hidden security risks. Koji Sonoda, deputy editor at The Asahi Shimbun's Political News Section, recently cautioned that if defense budget expansion, initially justified by a deteriorating security environment, comes instead to serve the goal of economic growth through industrial promotion, the risk grows that spending will lose any effective restraint. 
History has already proven this point. The global economic depression of 1929 triggered the Showa Depression in Japan, pushing the country's economy to the brink of collapse. At the time, rather than pursuing structural reforms, Japan's political and military leadership shifted the national economy onto a wartime footing, using military spending to boost demand and mask unemployment.
Meng Mingming, assistant researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that in 1932, Korekiyo Takahashi, Japan's then Finance Minister, rolled out stimulus policies including yen depreciation and expanded fiscal outlays. Massive military spending paired with public works projects lifted domestic demand and enabled Japan to recover from the recession earlier than many nations. Takahashi became known as "Japan's Keynes."
However, the prosperity driven by fiscal deficits and military-industrial expansion was ultimately a shortsighted fix. Meng pointed out that, first, while wartime demand boosted Japan's heavy chemical and weapons manufacturing sectors to some extent, most military output was removed from the social reproduction cycle and constituted sheer waste. Second, heavy chemical industries relied heavily on resources such as oil, which Japan lacked domestically. This created a vicious cycle: military demand expanded heavy industrial capacity; that expansion increased Japan's dependence on overseas resources and markets; rising resource needs drove further military expansion to secure supply chains; and that expansion in turn required even more defense spending, further militarizing the economy. Finally, a coalition of interest formed among heavy industrial capitalists, emerging zaibatsu and the military. Military adventurism was no longer driven solely by the armed forces, but was backed by industrial and financial power.
    People hold placards reading "No war" and "Stop constitutional revision, military expansion" during the Grand Constitution Rally 2026 to mark Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3, 2026. Photo: vcgOnce the narrative that "military demand brings prosperity" gained mainstream acceptance, cutting military spending became a political taboo. Takahashi later sought to rein in military budgets and was assassinated in the February 26 Incident of 1936. His successor as finance minister, Eiichi Baba, treated military expansion as a long-term necessity. After the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, Japan enacted the National Mobilization Law in 1938, ushering in a full wartime system. "History shows the defense industry is never a silver bullet for economic prosperity," Meng said. Growth driven by arms expansion only leads to economic distortion, depletion of national strength and eventual self-destruction, he said. 
Currently, many Japanese citizens have recognized the dangers of the Takaichi administration's policies and taken to the streets to protest. 
Kazuo Adachi, a sexagenarian, told the Global Times in Japan that behind the administration's claim that the defense industry fuels growth lies the profit motive of the military-industrial complex. From policy deregulation launched under the Abe administration to accelerated implementation under the Takaichi administration, the path of military expansion catering to arms capital is akin to poison, fraught with alarming risks.
Marin Toyosu, a member of Japan's Generation Z, said the Takaichi administration's aggressive push for war preparedness essentially hides a self-serving agenda under the slogan of a "virtuous cycle between security and the economy." It abandons vulnerable groups to benefit a small circle of arms capitalists and represents an administration bent on stoking conflict. 
"This military expansion agenda harms Japanese citizens and endangers people across the world," she noted.
Tatara Satoshi, an anti-war activist, pointed out that the Takaichi administration hypes up the "China threat" to justify military buildup while pushing the flawed argument that the defense industry can boost the economy. 
This does not reflect the genuine aspirations of Japanese society or ordinary citizens. "Japanese people do not want war with China. They should unite to firmly oppose efforts to advance military expansion by stoking tensions and overstating supposed economic benefits," he said.
Global Times
。中小企业特色产业集群（以下简称集群）是定位在县级区划范围内，以新发展理念为引领，以中小企业为主体，主导产业聚焦、优势特色突出、资源要素汇聚、协作网络高效、治理服务完善，具有较强核心竞争力的中小企业产业集群。《暂行办法》指出，集群促进工作以增强中小企业核心竞争力、激发县域经济活力、提升产业链供应链韧性和关键环节配套能力为目标。

B | 工业和信息化部建立集群动态管理和跟踪监测机制。“十四五”期间，在全国范围内认定200个左右集群，引导和支持地方培育一批省级集群。在唐山市一家电机制造企业，工人在生产线上工作 图片来源：新华社将在全国范围内认定200个左右集群 中小企业是我国经济韧性、就业韧性的重要支撑，是激发创新的重要力量。促进中小企业发展，对推进高质量发展至关重要。去年12月，工信部联合国家发展改革委、科技部、财政部等19个部门和单位发布了《“十四五”促进中小企业发展规划》（以下简称《规划》）：力争到2025年，中小企业整体发展质量稳步提高，创新能力和专业化水平显著提升。推动形成一百万家创新型中小企业、十万家“专精特新”中小企业、一万家专精特新“小巨人”企业。今年5月，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于推进以县城为重要载体的城镇化建设的意见》（以下简称《意见》）：提出到2025年，以县城为重要载体的城镇化建设取得重要进展，县城短板弱项进一步补齐补强，一批具有良好区位优势和产业基础、资源环境承载能力较强、集聚人口经济条件较好的县城建设取得明显成效。赛迪顾问消费经济研究中心主任余德彪接受《每日经济新闻》记者微信采访时表示，国家出台了《规划》来促进中小企业发展，出台了《意见》来促进县域发展。而中小企业与区域经济增长呈高度正相关性，相关系数超过0.8，中小企业发展活跃的地区恰恰是经济发达和择业热点地区。“所以此次政策的出台，通过中小企业特色产业集群可以激发县域经济活力，同时也能更好促进县域的中小企业高质量发展，提升中小企业产业集群专业化、特色化、集群化发展水平。”余德彪说。《暂行办法》提出，“十四五”期间，将在全国范围内认定200个左右集群，引导和支持地方培育一批省级集群。

C | 余德彪认为，依托具有龙头企业的地区发展中小企业特色集群，产业生态才会更稳固，集群活力才会更高，发展才会更可持续。同时，特色产业集群发展的关键是品牌的打造，打造集中度好，特色鲜明的中小企业特色产业集群。构建多层次集群创新平台 《暂行办法》在培育要求中提出，各级中小企业主管部门要重点围绕提升集群主导产业优势、激发集群创新活力、推进集群数字化升级、加快集群绿色低碳转型、深化集群开放合作、提升集群治理和服务能力等六方面开展集群培育工作。

D | 在激发集群创新活力方面，《暂行办法》提出，要构建多层次集群创新平台，集成和开放创新基础设施和服务资源，推动集群与大型企业、高等院校和科研院所建立稳定的创新合作机制，开展主导产业大中小企业融通创新、共性技术产学研协同创新，强化知识产权运用和标准研制。中国中小企业发展促进中心专精特新服务部处长尹晓萌在接受《每日经济新闻》记者书面采访时表示，中小企业是推动创新、促进就业、改善民生的重要力量。

E | 促进中小企业创新发展，是一项长期的系统性的重要工作。

F | 《规划》中也将创新作为“十四五”促进中小企业发展工作的两个基本原则之一，推动完善中小企业创新服务体系，营造鼓励和保护创新的外部环境，激发企业创新内生动力。在推进集群数字化升级方面，《暂行办法》提出，要加强集群新型信息基础设施建设，建立健全工业互联网安全保障体系，推动先进安全应急装备应用，搭建资源共享和管理平台，提升集群数字化管理水平。引导集群企业运用中小企业数字化转型指南及评测指标，推广智能制造装备、标准和系统解决方案，深化工业互联网、工业软件集成应用，提高数字化转型水平。

G | 在加快集群绿色低碳转型方面，《暂行办法》提出，优化集群能源消费结构，推广清洁能源应用，开展节能改造和绿色低碳技术改造，强化资源综合利用与污染防治，完善绿色制造体系。此外，《暂行办法》还明确，工业和信息化部建立集群动态管理和跟踪监测机制。

H | 集群有效期为三年。有效期满后，由工业和信息化部组织开展复核工作，并考核集群三年发展规划目标完成情况，复核通过的有效期延长三年。每日经济新闻返回搜狐，查看更多责任编辑：