China’s push to develop industrial internet will inject a fresh impetus to the smart manufacturing as well as the integration of the industry and the internet, analysts said on Nov 29.
“Accelerated steps on industrial internet are of significance to China’s advanced manufacturing amid fierce competition from abroad. It will help promote deeper integration of the country’s real economy with internet, big data and artificial intelligence,” said Yang Chunli, a researcher at the China Center for Information Industry Development, a Beijing-based think tank.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, earlier this week unveiled a guideline that aims to build three to five industrial internet platforms, which will reach international standards by 2025 and lead the world in key areas by 2035.
Specifically, the country will build about 10 cross-industry platforms by 2020 to accelerate digital transformations at enterprises. The industrial internet refers to a network of combined, advanced machines with internet-connected sensors and big-data analytics. It is designed to boost the productivity, efficiency and reliability of industrial production.
Qianzhan Industry Research Institute forecast that the market size of China’s industrial internet sector will hit 10.8 trillion yuan ($1.64 trillion) in 2025, without disclosing the figure for this year.
“To compete with the world in internet and manufacturing, China must foster national platforms, which will act as main pillars of future industrial transformation. Key industries such as automobiles, digital, energy and aerospace are some of the potential areas to establish such national platforms,” Yang said.
According to a recent report from Alliance of Industrial Internet, China’s industrial internet sector is still in its infancy, as a group of Chinese companies, including Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd, started tapping into the sector several years ago.
