Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province, the World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference serves as a grand event for international exchanges and industrial cooperation in China’s intelligent manufacturing sector. At the opening ceremony, Vice Minister Xin Guobin delivered a keynote speech titled Pragmatic Cooperation, Joint Progress, and Jointly Ushering in a New Landscape for Manufacturing Development.

Xin Guobin pointed out that an industrial revolution marked by the integrated development of new-generation information and communication technologies and manufacturing is emerging worldwide, exerting far-reaching impacts on manufacturing production methods, development models and industrial ecosystems. Intelligent manufacturing represents a major trend in manufacturing transformation and upgrading, and lies at the core of the new round of technological and industrial revolution.

Xin Guobin emphasized that China’s manufacturing sector is currently at a stage where mechanization, electrification, automation and informatization coexist, alongside diverse development realities and varied market demands. Therefore, advancing intelligent manufacturing in China will inevitably involve continuous exploration and repeated trials. On the one hand, we shall leverage our solid industrial foundation, take the Intelligent Manufacturing Project as a key starting point, and push forward both R&D and industrial application to reinforce each other. We will strive to make breakthroughs in a batch of key technical equipment, promote new intelligent manufacturing models, and accelerate the intelligent transformation of key industries. On the other hand, we will fully capitalize on China’s advantages in internet scale and application, launch pilot projects for industrial cloud, big data and the Internet of Things, and foster new manufacturing models including internet-enabled mass personalized customization and networked collaborative manufacturing.

Xin Guobin proposed that manufacturing industries across the world remain highly complementary looking ahead, and all countries should strengthen ties and deepen cooperation to boost manufacturing development collectively. First, we will continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation through diverse forms based on existing dialogue mechanisms and cooperation platforms. Second, we will expand cooperation in priority sectors under the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results. Third, we will further improve the cooperation mechanism for intelligent manufacturing standards and boost exchanges and collaboration in standards formulation, evaluation and certification. Fourth, we will actively promote information sharing and opportunity exchange, organize experience-sharing sessions for pilot demonstration projects, and create favorable conditions for multilateral and bilateral cooperation on intelligent manufacturing. Fifth, we will leverage government visits, industrial matchmaking events, academic exchanges, exhibitions and forums to facilitate communication among policymakers, enterprise managers and technical researchers from all sides, as well as training and exchange programs for professionals.

During the conference, Xin Guobin and major leading officials of Jiangsu Province jointly toured the interactive exhibition area of the conference, focusing on the exhibits of enterprises selected under MIIT’s intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration program. The opening ceremony also witnessed the release of the 13th Five-Year Plan for Intelligent Manufacturing and the launching ceremony of the China Intelligent Manufacturing System Solution Suppliers Alliance.

The conference consisted of 1 summit forum, 8 special forums, 1 industrial exhibition and 8 special events. Preliminary statistics show the event drew more than 4,000 participants, including 27 academicians. Over 200 overseas experts and distinguished figures from renowned research institutions in the United States, Germany, Sweden and other countries attended, among whom were 8 foreign academicians. More than 31 Fortune Global 500 enterprises took part, and nearly 300 leading intelligent manufacturing enterprises from 10 countries and regions worldwide showcased their technologies and products at the exhibition.

The opening ceremony and supporting events were attended by competent officials from industrial and information authorities of all provinces and municipalities across the country, executives of key intelligent manufacturing enterprises, representatives of relevant institutions, as well as leading staff from MIIT’s Department of Equipment Manufacturing Industry, General Office, Department of International Cooperation, Department of Raw Materials Industry and Department of Electronic Information.

Source: Department of Equipment Manufacturing Industry, MIIT