Su Po: Building a Batch of Leading Global Flagship Intelligent Factories to Drive Digital and Intelligent Transformation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

China Development Forum 2026 Annual Conference

The China Development Forum 2026 annual conference was held in Beijing from March 22 to 23. During the “Digital and Intelligent Transformation of Manufacturing” seminar, Su Bo, Vice Chairman of the National Strategic Advisory Committee for Building a Strong Manufacturing Nation and former Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, stated that through the in-depth implementation of intelligent manufacturing projects, China has achieved historic accomplishments in leading and promoting the construction of a strong manufacturing country. It has successfully taken the first strategic step from being a major manufacturing nation to becoming a world manufacturing power, with the overall manufacturing level steadily rising from mid-to-low end, and many key sectors entering the mid-to-high end. Notably, fields such as 5G communications, high-speed rail equipment, shipbuilding, new energy vehicles, wind power, and solar power generation have reached world-leading levels, contributing 50% of global capacity.

He introduced that China’s smart factory construction has gradually expanded from pilot demonstrations to large-scale upgrades, significantly enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of manufacturing. To date, over 35,000 basic-level, more than 8,200 advanced-level, over 500 excellence-level, and 15 leading-level smart factories have been built.

Su Bo emphasized that the digital transformation of manufacturing has spawned new technologies, industries, and business models, driving rapid development in manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and intelligent manufacturing system solutions, forming a market valued at five trillion yuan. Meanwhile, China has issued 497 national standards related to intelligent manufacturing, established over 500 undergraduate programs in smart manufacturing at higher education institutions, and deepened international exchanges and cooperation. These efforts provide solid standard support, talent assurance, and a foundation for international collaboration to facilitate the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing.

Regarding current industry development trends, Su Bo pointed out that the new generation of artificial intelligence is evolving from general large models to industry-specific large models. Industrial intelligent agents and embodied intelligence have become core variables in the digital transformation of manufacturing. These technologies, deeply integrated with advanced manufacturing, form a new generation of intelligent manufacturing technologies characterized by self-perception, self-decision-making, self-execution, self-adaptation, and self-learning, pushing intelligent manufacturing into a new stage of high-level development.

He clarified that in the next decade, China will remain committed to intelligent manufacturing as the main focus, a core direction established 15 years ago when China implemented its manufacturing power strategy. The future will revolve around the deep integration of new-generation artificial intelligence with manufacturing, with innovation in intelligent manufacturing systems as the key and breakthrough point. Efforts will be made to address weaknesses in foundational industrial intelligence technologies, promote advanced exploration and widespread application, and strive to create an upgraded version of intelligent manufacturing that combines virtual and physical elements, is autonomous and evolving, and is safe and efficient. By 2030, large-scale manufacturing enterprises are expected to broadly adopt digital and networked manufacturing, with phased progress in new-generation intelligent manufacturing innovation; by 2035, most manufacturing enterprises will have achieved digital, networked, and intelligent manufacturing, with new-generation intelligent manufacturing applications leading globally.

To achieve these goals, Su Bo proposed four key tasks: First, strengthen strategic guidance, improve comprehensive promotion mechanisms, create new architecture and development pathways for intelligent manufacturing, and summarize effective experiences and regularities to support the upgraded construction. Second, promote innovation in intelligent manufacturing technologies and equipment, strengthen key core technology breakthroughs, and overcome multi-dimensional intelligent perception, industrial AI, factory operating systems, and other core foundational technologies, supporting system integration innovation and accelerating the development of a new generation of intelligent manufacturing technology systems, and developing a batch of advanced intelligent manufacturing equipment.

Third, accelerate the exploration and cultivation of new business models and modes in intelligent manufacturing, promote graded and categorized construction of smart factories, create demonstration benchmarks, widely promote mature models and solutions, and popularize digital and networked manufacturing; support leading enterprises in applying deep learning, large models, digital twins, and other technologies to build a number of globally leading pilot smart factories, driving the digital and intelligent transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, and cultivating new pathways for leapfrog development in intelligent manufacturing. Fourth, strengthen international cooperation, optimize the ecosystem for intelligent manufacturing development, continuously iterate national standards, deepen international exchanges and cooperation, actively promote the internationalization of smart factories, equipment, software, standards, and solutions, and enhance China’s international competitiveness and influence in intelligent manufacturing.

Sina Statement: All conference transcripts are compiled from on-site shorthand notes and have not been reviewed by the speakers. The publication of this article by Sina.com aims to convey more information and does not imply endorsement of its views or verification of its descriptions.

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Editor: Li Siyang