China Accelerates New Generation Smart Manufacturing Deployment
China is rapidly accelerating the deployment of a new generation of smart manufacturing across its industrial base, driven by top-down government policy initiatives and widespread enterprise adoption. The State Council has formally designated “developing new generation smart manufacturing” as the main strategic direction for advancing new industrialization, signaling its centrality to China’s economic transformation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Policy Framework Takes Shape
At a June 5 executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang, the State Council designated new generation smart manufacturing as the primary focus for new industrialization, alongside implementing industrial foundation reinforcement projects and ensuring high-quality development of key manufacturing supply chains. This follows the March 2026 State Council 11th Plenary Meeting, which listed “accelerating the development of new generation smart manufacturing” as one of six priority tasks for the 15th Five-Year Plan.
The policy push builds on the “AI + Manufacturing” Special Action Implementation Opinion, jointly issued in December 2025 by eight ministries including MIIT, NDRC, and the Ministry of Education. According to the MIIT policy document, the initiative sets ambitious targets of 1,000 high-level industrial intelligent agents and 500 typical application scenarios by 2027.
Market Opportunity and Scale
The economic potential is substantial. Sun Jie, Deputy Director of the Operations Management Department at CAICT (China Academy of Information and Communications Technology), stated that new generation smart manufacturing is expected to drive rapid development of smart equipment, next-generation industrial software, industrial intelligent agents, and industrial digital twins, accelerating smart factory construction and forming a multi-trillion yuan market space. The smart manufacturing system integration services market has already exceeded 770 billion yuan (approximately $107 billion USD).
China has cumulatively built 35,000 basic-level, 8,200 advanced-level, and over 500 excellence-level smart factories, with 15 enterprises selected for the “pilot-level” smart factory cultivation list.
Enterprise Adoption in Action
Major manufacturers are already implementing these technologies at scale. At BMW Brilliance’s Tiexi Plant, AI-powered virtual simulation is being used for 6th-generation power battery R&D. Factory Director Zhang Tao noted that “future cars are becoming increasingly complex, and smart manufacturing allows quality management to be further front-loaded.”
FAW Jiefang’s Dalian Diesel Engine subsidiary has deployed an “AI Master” digital employee system in its “Super Factory.” Smart Manufacturing Team Leader Ju Jiaqi explained that “AI is no longer a single-point technical tool, but the core engine driving business optimization. Maintenance generates data, data trains AI, and AI in turn feeds back into operations, forming a positive cycle.”
In a milestone for domestic robotics, nearly 100 new Song (SIASUN) industrial robots were deployed on a Geely automotive welding main line, marking the first batch application of domestically-produced spot-welding industrial robots in an automotive welding line. Zhang Jin, President of SIASUN Robot & Automation, stated that the deployed robots achieve a full-stack self-developed technology closed loop, driving independent innovation in core components such as controllers, servo motors, and drives.
A Decade of Strategic Evolution
China’s smart manufacturing push is the culmination of a decade-long strategic effort. As Qiushi Network noted in an April 2026 analysis by NDRC researcher Zhang Linshan, the journey began with “Made in China 2025” in 2015 and progressed through the New Generation AI Development Plan (2017) and the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). Zhang Linshan described the transformation: “If traditional automation equipment is the ‘bones and muscles’ of manufacturing, then the new generation of intelligent technologies represented by AI, big data, and digital twins are the ‘soul’ and ‘brain’ of manufacturing.”
Analysis and Implications
Zhu Yiming, a member of the National Smart Manufacturing Expert Committee, characterized the shift as a full-industry transformation: “New generation smart manufacturing is not a single-point technology upgrade, but a full-industry, full-scope, multi-level driving force.” The ecosystem spans upstream infrastructure (computing power, networks, chips), midstream enabling technologies (smart equipment, industrial software, robotics), and downstream applications across automotive, electronics, aerospace, and other sectors.
Xin Yongfei, Director of the Institute of Policy and Economics at CAICT, placed the development in historical context: “China’s industrial development has undergone a process from quantitative accumulation to qualitative improvement, and is now at a critical period of transitioning from large to strong.”
What to Watch
As China executes this ambitious strategy, key questions remain about how small and medium enterprises will finance smart manufacturing adoption, how international technology restrictions on advanced chips will affect progress, and how the workforce will transition to new skill requirements. The forthcoming Smart Manufacturing Engineering Implementation Guide is expected to provide more specific targets and timelines for the 15th Five-Year Plan period.