Progress in Developing the Industrial Internet in China

In 2017, China issued the Guidelines for Advancing the Development of the Industrial Internet Through Internet Plus Advanced Manufacturing. The document set out the objectives, tasks, and measures for the Industrial Internet (II) development. In 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Promoting the Accelerated Development of the Industrial Internet, which listed 20 measures in the following six areas: construction of new infrastructure, expansion of integrated and innovative applications, development of a sound security system, strengthening of innovation and development driving forces, improvements to the industrial ecology, and increased policy support. Thanks to the joint efforts of the government, industry, academia, research institutions, and users, remarkable achievements have been made in II innovation and development in China, and a new stage of high-quality development and large-scale promotion of II is underway. In 2023, II applications in China had been integrated into 49 major categories of the national economy, and the added value of the core II industry reached 1.35 trillion yuan. It is estimated that every 1 unit of growth in the value added of the core II industry causes the value added of other industries to grow by approximately 4 units, producing a strong spillover effect on economic growth.

New digital infrastructure is constantly being constructed

High-speed, low-latency, and reliable II extranets cover our major cities nationwide, and new network technologies, such as 5G, are enabling the speeding up of corporate intranets. By November 2024, more than 45,000 5G virtual private networks for industry and 700 high-level “5G factories” had been developed. An II identity resolution system has also been developed, which plays an important role in supply chain management, quality management, and product traceability. II platforms are being developed rapidly, and the number of valuable industrial equipment devices being connected to networks is increasing. China has also built a national II big data center, and work is progressing on the construction of several regional sub-centers in major industrial provinces. A security monitoring and service system for II that is coordinated at the national, provincial, and enterprise levels has started to take shape, strengthening situational awareness, risk warning, and resource convergence capabilities.

New technological breakthroughs are accelerating

Major improvements have taken place to industrial-grade 5G chips, modules, and gateways, with the cost of industrial-grade 5G modules dropping by 90% compared to their initial commercial release, enabling the high-speed and stable transmission of data between industrial equipment and the evolution of equipment terminals toward intelligence. Industrial Ethernet switches, edge gateways, and other new industrial networking equipment are also developing rapidly. Network slicing has supported the creation of on-demand networks in industrial settings and enabled the flexible allocation of network resources, thereby facilitating the low-cost and convenient transformation and development of factory intranets. Cloud-based programmable logic controllers (PLCs) can decouple industrial hardware and control software, allowing an II platform to control multiple items of equipment of various types. This offers a feasible approach for overcoming traditional dependence on the PLC technologies of others. Applications of artificial general intelligence (AGI) in industry are increasing, with some industrial models possessing question and answer, code generation, and equipment control capabilities, which can offer solutions for technological breakthroughs, product innovations, and changes to production methods.

Integration with new ecosystems is continuing

II applications have expanded into all 41 major industrial categories. They have penetrated every link of manufacturing, including research, production, supply, marketing, and service provision, promoting the intelligent and digital transformation as well as network connectivity of industry. They are supporting the development of advanced hardware, enabling green and low-carbon development, upgrading consumption, and ensuring safe production. By June 2024, the numerical control rate of key processes and the penetration rate of digital R&D design tools in large industrial enterprises had reached 64.9% and 83.1%, respectively, and 421 national intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories had been established. By September 2024, there were more than 15,000 “5G Plus Industrial Internet” projects in operation in China, covering key industries including mining, equipment production as well as electronic equipment manufacturing, and with typical applications including machine-vision quality inspection, equipment predictive maintenance, and factory smart logistics. Explorations are also progressing into the integration of AI and II in areas such as product design, pilot-scale testing, process optimization, and quality inspection, producing new forms of digital design, human-machine collaborative manufacturing, and lean operations management. 

Editor: Li Xiaoqiong