China's Civil-Military Fusion policy, which fuses civilian industry into military goals.
The engine describes a state program where the military sits on top and directs civilian technology toward defense.
A stated roadmap builds interlocking 'systems of systems,' while Article 7 of the National Intelligence Law forces every organization and citizen to help the intelligence services, and the 2021 Data Security Law makes private companies assist the security ministries.
The upshot the engine draws: there's no real line between a private Chinese tech firm and an arm of state intelligence — each one is a dual-use collection point.