“Made in China” is accelerating its transition to “Smart Manufacturing in China.”

The Industrial Internet Platform Development Index and the popularity of industrial cloud adoption continue to rise.

　　“Made in China” is accelerating its transition to “Smart Manufacturing in China.”

　　The recently released “2022 Industrial Internet Platform Development Index” and “2022 China Cloud Computing Development Index” show that in 2022, the Industrial Internet Platform Development Index grew by 17% year over year, maintaining an annual growth rate of over 15% for four consecutive years, while the adoption of cloud services across industries continued to surge.

　　Industry insiders note that the rapid growth of data underscores the robust vitality of the industrial internet in recent years, while also reflecting the accelerating transition of “Made in China” toward “Smart Manufacturing in China,” thereby providing strong support for strengthening, optimizing, and expanding the real economy.

　 　The industrial internet has entered a period of rapid growth.

　　Robotic arms deftly swing and flip, electronic dashboards provide real-time monitoring of workshop operations, and “dark factories” run nonstop around the clock… Today, an increasing number of industrial enterprises are embracing such production scenarios.

　　The National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center recently released the “2022 Industrial Internet Platform Development Index” (hereinafter referred to as the “Index”), which serves as a barometer for monitoring the development of the industrial internet sector. The index’s data are collected by connecting public service platforms with 62 industrial internet platforms nationwide, and key metrics are calculated using industrial equipment, industrial models, industrial apps, developers, and service providers. The scope encompasses 41 major industrial categories, including raw materials, equipment, consumer goods, electronics, and energy.

　　Data show that in 2022, the Industrial Internet Platform Development Index reached 251, up 17.23% year on year, maintaining an annual growth rate of over 15% for four consecutive years. The number of industrial apps on key platforms expanded to 291,100, a 54.16% increase compared with 2021, signaling entry into a phase of rapid growth.

　　The industrial internet is becoming a key enabler for China’s manufacturing sector as it transitions from “Made in China” to “Smart Manufacturing in China.” The “14th Five-Year Plan for Digital Economy Development” sets a target of raising the adoption rate of industrial‑internet platforms to 45% by 2025. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the industrial internet has now been fully integrated into 45 major sectors of the national economy, with the industry’s scale reaching RMB 1.2 trillion in 2022.

　　“The industrial internet, as a key enabler and pathway for digital transformation, is witnessing increasingly vigorous adoption of new technologies and the emergence of new industries. In 2022, the empowering impact of industrial‑internet platforms became progressively more evident, with both the number of enterprises served and the geographic reach continuing to expand,” said Li Li, Deputy Director of the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center.

　　The industry cloud‑adoption heat index also reveals that the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector is steadily deepening. According to the “2022 China Cloud Computing Development Index” recently released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, cloud computing applications in China have expanded from the internet sector into traditional industries, with industrial cloud usage accounting for 11.6% in 2022.

　　“Traditional sectors such as industry, government services, and finance are rapidly catching up in their adoption of cloud computing. As the ‘go-to-cloud, leverage data, and empower with intelligence’ paradigm gains traction, the scale of cloud usage across these industries will continue to expand,” said Wei Liang, deputy director of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

　　The industrial chain’s role in empowering and enabling intelligence is evident.

　　At present, 35 key industrial Internet platforms nationwide have connected over 85 million sets of industrial equipment and have provided services to a cumulative total of 9.36 million enterprises, with their role in empowering and enhancing the intelligence of industrial chains becoming increasingly prominent.

　　Located in Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong Huamei Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is bustling with activity as it prepares for the upcoming peak production season. An industrial internet platform seamlessly connects the upstream and downstream segments of the rose‑product supply chain.

　　When purchasing rose raw materials, procurement staff scan a QR code to instantly record information such as the harvest grade and quantity of fresh flowers, automatically generating an incoming‑goods order. In the drying and freeze‑drying workshops, digital indicators on smart monitoring dashboards continuously update, providing valuable insights for intelligent production scheduling and workforce allocation. Meanwhile, data from production, processing, distribution, and sales are aggregated on the Quality Code platform, ensuring that after‑sales traceability is backed by solid evidence.

　　“Leveraging the Inspur CloudState industrial internet platform, we have achieved seamless connectivity among people, machines, and objects, boosting rose‑harvesting and settlement efficiency by 90% and enhancing collaborative processing efficiency by 30%. Each production line now saves over RMB 100,000 in labor costs annually,” said Zhang Jifang, General Manager of Shandong Huamei Biotechnology Co., Ltd. He added that more than 30 similar enterprises have already joined the industrial internet platform, accelerating the coordinated transformation of the industry and supply chains.

　　From the perspective of industrial and supply chains, the index indicates that industrial apps are increasingly focused on production and operations, with strengthening and supplementing supply chains emerging as a key theme. In 2022, industrial apps in the categories of operations management, production manufacturing, and operations & maintenance services collectively accounted for more than 64% of the market.

　　“Open cooperation has become a crucial pathway for collaborative development across industries, with closer coordination between upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain,” said Li Li. She added that, amid global economic uncertainties, companies are increasingly seeking to strengthen external collaboration, driving strong demand for “strengthening and supplementing supply chains.” As a result, the number of supply-chain management apps has risen by 51.1%, actively fostering the optimization of industrial and supply-chain services and bolstering resilience.

　　From the perspective of corporate development, digital and intelligent transformation is driving profound changes that enhance quality and efficiency. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has established more than 2,100 high‑level digital workshops and smart factories, including 209 benchmark demonstration facilities. Analysis of these 209 enterprises reveals that, following intelligent upgrades, product R&D cycles have been shortened by 20.7%, production efficiency has improved by 34.8%, the rate of defective products has declined by 27.4%, and carbon emissions have been reduced by 21.2%.

　　Continuously unleashing the momentum for manufacturing upgrading.

　　Looking ahead, multiple stakeholders are actively rolling out plans to accelerate the large-scale deployment of the industrial internet, foster deep integration between the digital and real economies, and continuously unleash momentum for industrial upgrading.

　　This year’s Government Work Report stated, “We will vigorously develop the digital economy, accelerate the digital transformation of traditional industries and small and medium-sized enterprises, and focus on raising their sophistication, intelligence, and greenness.”

　　Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong stated that China’s industrial economy is large in scale, its digital economy ranks second globally, and the prospects for integrated development are broad. The country will prioritize breakthroughs in digital technology innovation and the expansion of its applications, while intensifying the integrated development of informatization and industrialization.

　　In particular, to vigorously advance the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector, we will develop roadmap frameworks for key industries and cultivate a group of benchmark enterprises in digital transformation. We will deepen the integrated application of “5G + Industrial Internet,” promote the deployment of the Industrial Internet across industrial parks, and build a number of fully 5G‑connected factories. In addition, we will establish a cohort of world‑class smart factories and intelligent supply chains.

　　Top-level design continues to be refined, with localities rolling out a range of measures to advance the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector: Jiangxi will accelerate efforts to strengthen the innovation-driving capacity of platforms such as the National Virtual Reality Innovation Center; Guangdong plans to support 9,000 industrial enterprises in undertaking technological upgrades in 2023, promote the digital transformation of 5,000 large-scale industrial firms, and help 100,000 SMEs adopt cloud-based solutions; Anhui intends, starting in 2023, to launch 100 provincial-level model projects for digital transformation each year, offering subsidies of up to RMB 5 million for projects designated as exemplary.

　　“The new generation of information technology is in sync with the development of manufacturing, opening up vast prospects for integrated innovation, empowering more industries, and injecting vigorous vitality into high-quality growth,” said Li Li. She added that the coming years will be a critical period for advancing the core technologies of a new wave of industrial revolution—such as the Industrial Internet and intelligent manufacturing—and that Chinese manufacturing is poised for leapfrog development. (Reporter Guo Qian, Intern Yang Lewen)

[Editor-in-charge: Wang Di]

Source: Economic Information Daily