Digital transformation of China's manufacturing sector is in the spotlight, after a recent guideline was jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

This initiative seeks to accelerate the widespread application of next-generation information technologies across all industrial processes and supply chains, reshape business models and organizational structures, and enhance the overall digitalization level of manufacturing enterprises.

According to MIIT, the digital transformation of China's manufacturing industry has progressed from conceptual discussions to large-scale implementation. The guideline aims to address challenges,  such as unclear transformation demands and uncertain implementation pathways, by clarifying transformation strategies and strengthening the support systems.

Scenario-based solutions

By mapping out digital transformation scenarios for key industrial chains and sectors, the guideline identifies the demands for industrial data elements, knowledge models, tools and skills in each scenario, helping enterprises clarify their transformation goals and assess the potential benefits of various scenarios.

Focusing on core business processes, the guideline proposed six measures to accelerate transformation, including strengthening cloud-based R&D and design collaboration, promoting intelligent transformation of production processes, accelerating innovation in operation and maintenance service models, optimizing business management processes, enhancing supply chain resilience and flexibility, and exploring cross-scenario integration and optimization.

For instance, enterprises are encouraged to adopt generative AI technologies in customer management and after-sales services to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Meanwhile, they are urged to develop AI-enhanced R&D tools, such as generative design software and real-time simulation applications, to accelerate product innovation.

Differentiated transformation strategies

The guideline categorizes enterprises into three groups based on their scale and digitalized levels — industry leaders, large enterprises, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

These industry enterprises, which have strong digital foundations, are required to focus on improving supply chain integration and industry collaboration to solidify their market dominance.

SMEs, whose digital foundations are weak, are expected to adopt tailored approaches focusing on high-impact areas and achievable goals. Specialized SMEs can explore more advanced scenarios such as digital twins and integrated design-manufacturing systems.

As for large enterprises, they should develop holistic transformation strategies, and build industrial internet platforms to integrate digital capabilities across all processes and scenarios to achieve data-driven decision-making and optimization.

Data-driven transformation is another priority. Leading enterprises are encouraged to build industrial data corpus to support AI training and unlock the latent value of industrial data.

Efforts will focus on mobilizing financial institutions to develop innovative financial products and services that support digital transformation. The government plans to establish a comprehensive standardization framework for manufacturing digitalization, promote the adoption of national standards, and foster a unified approach to digital transformation across the sector, said MIIT.