Miao Wei is the vice-chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former minister of industry and information technology. [Photo/cppcc.gov.cn]

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always attached great importance to the development of the manufacturing industry. President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has reiterated on various occasions the importance of the manufacturing industry as the lifeblood of the national economy and foundation of the nation. He noted that a country must make the right strategic choice and that the right choice for China is to continue to strengthen the development of the manufacturing industry.

I. China has made amazing achievements in the development of its manufacturing industry.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people to successfully find a suitable path to industrialization with Chinese characteristics. With a spirit of self-reliance, perseverance, endless explorations and practices, the nation has built a modern industrial system with complete categories, and completed a process of industrialization that took developed countries several centuries to do in the space of mere decades.

The first phase: from the founding of the PRC to 1978. China organized and implemented 156 major projects and stepped up efforts in the development of defense-related science and technology with "Two Bombs, One Satellite" as leading examples, and laid a solid foundation for its modern industrialization.

The second phase: from 1979 to 2012. China realized a leapfrog in terms of its industrial development, and topped the world in production in 40 percent of the world's 500 major industrial products. The country was fully integrated with the global industrial structure, and its manufacturing scale had been on a track of rapid expansion since its accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The third phase: from 2012 to now. China has further consolidated its strength in the manufacturing sector and made noticeable progress in the improvement of national comprehensive strength, the quality of its supply and demand systems, and the innovative development of key areas. In addition, the strength of Chinese enterprises has been significantly increased.

II. Grasp new opportunities in the development of smart manufacturing

In recent years, the new generation of information technology has been flourishing, and has rapidly penetrated and been integrated with the manufacturing chains, leading to the emergence of the new production mode of smart manufacturing. All countries have shifted their focus to smart manufacturing and endeavored to gain the upper hand in international competition. China has made positive results in its implementation of smart manufacturing projects, launching demonstration pilots, and building digital workshops and smart factories.

1. Deepened smart transformation to consistently improve the efficiency of industrial production

China has rolled out 305 smart manufacturing demonstration pilot projects and 420 application projects with new modes, fostered over 6,000 solution suppliers of smart manufacturing, and met over half the market demand for smart manufacturing equipment. It has become a global leader in the smart manufacturing of refining, dyeing and home appliances.

2. Fostered service-oriented manufacturing and accelerated the birth of new business forms and models

Large-scale customized production modes have become increasingly popular in textiles and garments and home appliances. The network-supported collaborative design has been widely applied in the aerospace and automobile sectors. Remote operating and maintenance services have witnessed dynamic developments in engineering machinery, electricity equipment and wind turbine manufacturing. Many manufacturing firms are heading to new development approaches characterized by "manufacturing plus services" and "products plus services" modes.

3. Sped up the construction of the industrial internet to benefit various industrial sectors

The network, platforms and security systems of the industrial internet have been formed in China. The country has fostered over 150 large-scale industrial internet platforms, connected with more than 78 million sets of equipment and brought benefits to over 10,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

III. Promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry with smart manufacturing

China has embarked on a new journey towards fully building a modern socialist country in all respects, therefore it should continue to adhere to a new industrialization path with Chinese characteristics, focus on smart manufacturing, boost the development of the digital economy, promote the integration of the digital and real economies, and realize the comprehensive optimization and upgrading of the economic structure.

1. Accelerate the digital industrial transformation

The country should speed up the integrated development of the manufacturing industry and new technology, such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence. It will also promote the digital renovation and smart upgrading of major industries, build smart industrial and supply chains, and create new smart manufacturing scenarios on the basis of smart factories.

2. Promote digital industrialization

The country should promote the coordinated development of the hardware and software of the electronic information sector, deepen the convergence of the electronic information and telecommunication sectors, support the development of such emerging industries like new-type display, blockchain, internet of vehicles and virtual reality, and nurture a group of world-class clusters of digital industries.

3. Build an information infrastructure

The country should take a moderately proactive approach in advancing the technological innovation and construction plans of information infrastructure, strengthening the integration and application of 5G, the internet of things (IoT) and big data in all sectors and arenas, promoting the development of the industrial internet, and facilitating the access of industrial enterprises and facilities to online platforms.

4. Formulate ecological systems of the smart manufacturing sector

The country should improve its smart manufacturing standard systems, speed up making breakthroughs in key and core technologies, advance the production of smart manufacturing equipment and products, foster a group of high-level and professional suppliers of systematic solutions, and promote the application of mature experience and modes.

5. Strengthen talent cultivation

The country should beef up discipline building related to smart manufacturing, advance the cultivation of versatile and cross-discipline talents, and nurture a large number of masters in smart manufacturing.

(The author is Miao Wei, vice-chairman of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former minister of industry and information technology. The article is translated from Chinese to English by en.cppcc.gov.cn.)