Why Chinese Manufacturing Continues to Rank First in the World

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiao Yaqing recently stated that since 2010, China's manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years, indicating that China's position as a major manufacturing country is very stable.

However, "large but not strong" has always been a problem that China's manufacturing industry needs to solve urgently, especially in solving core basic components and parts, key basic software, key basic materials, and advanced basic processes. This requires strengthening basic technical innovation, promoting the transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China."

Continuous Upgrading of the Manufacturing Industry

China's position as a major manufacturing country is further consolidated, reflected in several aspects.

First, it is reflected in the large volume. From 2012 to 2020, China's industrial added value increased from 20.9 trillion yuan to 31.3 trillion yuan, of which the added value of the manufacturing industry increased from 16.98 trillion yuan to 26.6 trillion yuan, accounting for the global proportion increased from 22.5% to nearly 30%.

Second, it is reflected in the complete system. China's industry has 41 major categories, 207 medium categories, and 666 minor categories, making it the most complete industrial system in the world. Among the 500 main industrial products, more than 40% of the products' output ranks first in the world.

Third, it is reflected in the strong product competitiveness. Currently, China's photovoltaic, new energy vehicles, home appliances, smartphones, consumer drones, and other key industries are among the top in the world. Communication equipment, engineering machinery, high-speed rail, and many high-end brands have gone global, and the manufacturing industry continues to move towards high-end.

Why has Chinese manufacturing been able to rank first in the world for 11 consecutive years? Xu Zhaoyuan, Deputy Director of the Industrial Economy Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that China's economic system and business environment are conducive to the development of manufacturing. Since the reform and opening up, China has fully utilized its comparative advantages, especially its human resources advantages, and has also fully utilized the industrial matching advantages brought by China's large economic and population scale. At the same time, China has fully participated in international competition within the framework of the World Trade Organization and under the principles of a socialist market economy, better coordinating and integrating domestic and international resources.

*Continue to Enhance Industrial Chain Resilience

"Complete industrial categories and good enterprise matching will be important advantages for China to transform from a major manufacturing country to a strong manufacturing country," said Xu Zhaoyuan. China has strong production capabilities in most mid-to-low-end industrial sectors, and some high-end products also have strong production levels. The current shortcomings are mainly concentrated in high-end sectors and basic capabilities.

Pan Helin, Executive Dean of the Digital Economy Research Institute at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, believes that China's manufacturing industry has shortcomings, manifested in the weak technical capabilities of key nodes in the supply chain and the need to improve process precision. These two problems ultimately need to be solved through technological breakthroughs to achieve "strengthening chains and making up for weaknesses."

How to Make Up for Shortcomings?

Xiao Yaqing stated that on the one hand, the industrial technology reengineering project should be promoted, focusing on areas with concentrated weaknesses and shortcomings, organizing research through new mechanisms such as application-driven, overall driving, and revealing the leader. On the other hand, the construction of national manufacturing innovation centers should be accelerated.

How to Strengthen?

"It is necessary to promote the transformation and upgrading of the entire industrial chain of traditional industries, and also focus on new-generation information technology, new materials, new processes, new equipment, as well as emerging industries such as aviation, aerospace, and marine, vigorously developing industrial digitalization and digital industrialization, forward-looking layout of future industries, and grasping the initiative in industrial development," said Tian Yulong, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"Hidden champions" are the key to China's transition to a strong manufacturing country. Liu Zhibiao, Dean of the Yangtze Industrial Economics Research Institute at Nanjing University, believes that attention should be paid to cultivating "specialized, refined, special, and new" small and medium-sized enterprises because some key products, core technologies, and key links that may be "stuck" in the industrial chain are often provided by these small and medium-sized enterprises.

Intelligent Manufacturing is the Direction of Breakthrough

With the support of intelligent technology, the production rhythm of Sany Group is getting faster and faster. It takes 45 minutes to produce a pump truck, and only 20 days from order to delivery. With the help of JD Industrial's intelligent supply chain decision-making system, Sany Group has realized the digital unified scheduling of industrial product materials, shortening the delivery cycle and making the supply chain run efficiently, ensuring efficient production.

Intelligent manufacturing is an important direction for the transformation of the manufacturing industry from large to strong. Data shows that the digital transformation of China's manufacturing industry has accelerated comprehensively. As of the end of May this year, the popularization rate of digital research and development design tools and the numerical control rate of key processes in Chinese enterprises have reached 73.5% and 52.4%, respectively.

The digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is a "required course" related to survival and development. Xiao Yaqing introduced that on the one hand, the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry should be promoted, pushing digital technology to be deeply applied in the entire process and all fields of manufacturing, cultivating and developing new formats and models such as networked research and development, personalized customization, and flexible production. On the other hand, the deployment of 5G networks should be accelerated, constructing application scenarios and industrial ecosystems based on 5G, and cultivating and growing emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain.

Xu Zhaoyuan said that "Internet + Manufacturing" should be promoted, leading the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry to digitalization, networking, and intelligence, comprehensively improving the intelligent level of enterprise research and development, production, management, and services, and realizing the transformation from a large manufacturing country to a strong manufacturing country through the aggregation and fission of the Internet and manufacturing.