Grasp the trend of transformation and upgrading in the manufacturing industry Product | Industry | Trend
A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is flourishing, with the rapid development of general-purpose technologies represented by digital technology, promoting profound changes in various fields of the national economy, and the development of the manufacturing industry also showing a new trend of transformation and upgrading.
The trend of industrial development is obvious
China's per capita GDP has remained above 12000 US dollars for two consecutive years, and significant changes have occurred in resource endowments, development stages, external environment, and development goals. These all require the manufacturing industry to accelerate its upgrading to industries and value chains with higher technological levels, production efficiency, and added value, and to accelerate its development towards knowledge-based, digital, low-carbon, and service-oriented directions.
Knowledge oriented. The process of modern economic development is the continuous innovation of technology and the increasing intensity of technology and knowledge in production activities. From the perspective of industrial structure, the proportion of knowledge intensive industrial sectors is constantly increasing; From the perspective of industrial chain composition, the proportion of knowledge intensive industrial chain links is constantly increasing. The product architecture and production process of the manufacturing industry are complex, and the knowledge intensive characteristics are particularly prominent. In the period of highly deepening global industrial division of labor, due to the participation of developed and developing countries in global division of labor based on their respective comparative advantages, the knowledge-based manufacturing industry is more prominent in developed countries. With the deepening development of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, new technologies are constantly emerging, including disruptive technologies and general-purpose technologies that have a significant impact on various fields of the national economy. This will not only further promote the emergence and rapid development of new knowledge intensive industries, but also further increase the knowledge intensity of existing industrial sectors. The knowledge-based manufacturing industry in developing countries has greater room for improvement.
Digitalization. Digital technology is a typical general-purpose technology that contains a huge amount of empowerment. It is spreading and integrating into national economic industries outside of the digital economy, causing profound changes in innovation capabilities, production efficiency, economic benefits, product quality, and environmental friendliness in various industries. Digitization has become an important source of competitiveness and a driving force for sustainable development in various industries. Artificial intelligence is a fundamental digital technology and an important driving force for digital transformation. The advanced stage of intelligent manufacturing development is digitalization, networking, and intelligent manufacturing, which means that the machinery and production systems in the manufacturing industry have self perception, self-learning, self decision-making, self execution, and adaptive capabilities. The digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is comprehensive, not only reflected in the production process of the enterprise, but also in the entire field within the enterprise, the entire process of the product value chain, the entire lifecycle of the product, and the entire business ecosystem in which the enterprise operates.
Low carbonization. Against the backdrop of global consensus on carbon reduction, the level of carbon emissions in industries greatly affects their international competitiveness, and low-carbon competitiveness has become an important component of industry international competitiveness. Low carbonization development not only imposes greater constraints on the manufacturing industry, but also brings new opportunities for its development. In this regard, various manufacturing sectors need to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption intensity in order to reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, the manufacturing industry also needs to provide technical and material support for the green and low-carbon transformation of the entire society.
Service oriented. Traditional manufacturing provides various material products to society through the processing and reprocessing of natural resources. With the increasing complexity of manufacturing product architecture and the diversification and personalization of user needs, more and more manufacturing enterprises are providing value-added services to users based on the accumulation of manufacturing product capabilities. The manufacturing industry has transitioned from being mainly focused on processing and assembly to "manufacturing+services", from simply selling products to selling "products+services", and from obtaining product sales revenue at once to continuously obtaining service revenue.
Enhance key areas of capability
The scale of China's manufacturing industry has ranked first in the world, but there is still a gap in technological level compared to world manufacturing powers. We must not only quickly narrow the gap with the world's leading level, but also actively adapt to the trend of knowledge-based, digital, low-carbon, and service-oriented manufacturing in the world, and focus on enhancing the following capabilities.
One is manufacturing capability based on comprehensive cost advantages. After the reform and opening up, China relied on a rich working age population and lower wage levels to form a low-cost advantage in the manufacturing industry. But in recent years, the traditional advantages of manufacturing have gradually weakened. The cost advantage of manufacturing industry not only depends on the prices of factors such as wages and land, but also on good infrastructure, meticulous industrial division of labor, complete industrial support, and high-quality labor force. At present, the labor quality, infrastructure, and industrial support of low-income developing countries limit their labor cost advantages from being transformed into final product price advantages; Compared to developed countries, China has high-quality engineering and technical talents, complete industrial support, and strong manufacturing capabilities. It still has relatively low costs in research and development design, processing and manufacturing, product services, etc. Therefore, its price advantage in mid to high end products is still very obvious. Therefore, China's manufacturing industry should strive to maintain labor-intensive links and product price advantages, while forming a more comprehensive cost advantage reflected in medium and high-tech products.
The second is the ability to control the industrial chain based on the industrial ecology. The ability to control the industrial chain determines the position of a country's industry in the global production pattern. In recent years, the trend of anti globalization has risen, with unilateralism and protectionism clearly rising. The principle of countries participating in global division of labor has shifted from prioritizing efficiency to emphasizing both efficiency and security, and the global industrial chain is facing restructuring. From the perspective of a country, the control of the industrial chain comes from the level of its important industries and key links in the industrial chain. The production enterprises, upstream and downstream suppliers and service providers, research and development institutions, and productive service enterprises in these important fields and key links constitute a country's industrial ecosystem. In this regard, China's manufacturing industry needs to make up for the shortcomings in important industrial areas and key links in the industrial chain, and ensure the smooth flow of the industrial chain and the stable and healthy development of the manufacturing industry by improving the level of industrial autonomy and controllability, and improving the industrial ecology.
The third is the industry leadership capability based on technological innovation. In the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, new disruptive technologies continue to emerge, mature, apply, and spread, thereby giving rise to new industries and products. In these cutting-edge technologies and the emerging industries they form, countries around the world are on a similar starting line, facing high uncertainty in terms of technological routes, application scenarios, and industrialization practices, which provides opportunities for latecomer countries to catch up. Accelerating the development of strategic emerging industries and forward-looking layout of future industries can cultivate and strengthen new drivers of economic growth, seize the commanding heights of industrial development in the future period, and enhance industrial chain security by establishing leading advantages in new tracks and important industrial chains. Therefore, China's manufacturing industry needs to strengthen technological innovation and enhance its leadership ability in emerging industries.
The fourth is the ability to acquire value based on key elements. The factor of production is the most upstream competitive condition in any industry. Primary production factors are innate or can be obtained with only a small amount of investment, and the supply is generally very abundant. Therefore, enterprises that mainly invest in primary production factors have weak premium ability and can only obtain meager profits. The acquisition of advanced production factors has a high threshold and requires continuous investment and development. Countries that can provide abundant advanced production factors and enterprises that master advanced production factors are relatively limited. Therefore, enterprises that mainly invest in advanced production factors have strong spillover ability, high value-added and profit margins. The industrial structure of the manufacturing industry needs to be upgraded towards high added value, and industrial development should shift from primary production factor investment to advanced production factor investment. With the deepening integration of digital technology and manufacturing, data has become a key production factor. We must attach great importance to the production, transmission, storage, trading, processing, and utilization of data in the manufacturing industry and related fields. Through the development and control of data elements, we can enhance the competitiveness, value chain control, and value acquisition ability of the manufacturing industry.
Focus on key areas and make efforts
The upgrading of China's manufacturing industry requires multiple approaches, taking into account enhancing the competitiveness of traditional industries, promoting the strengthening and optimization of high-tech industries, cultivating and strengthening strategic emerging industries, and forward-looking layout of future industries.
Enhance the competitiveness of traditional advantageous industries. To actively respond to rising production costs, we should not only seize the opportunity of digital technology maturing and spreading its application to the manufacturing industry, accelerate the application of roboticized production equipment, industrial Internet, artificial intelligence and other technologies in various sub sectors and links of the manufacturing industry, but also promote the transfer of labor-intensive processing and manufacturing links from the eastern region to the central and western regions with lower factor costs according to the characteristics of large heterogeneity of factor endowments among regions in China, so as to maintain the cost competitiveness of labor-intensive manufactured products in China as far as possible. At the same time, by improving product design, optimizing production processes, and strengthening marketing communication, we aim to produce and sell mid to high end products with better quality and greater brand influence, accelerate green and low-carbon transformation, optimize process flow, adjust energy structure, and collaborate to promote green digital transformation.
Promote the strengthening and optimization of high-tech industries. The growth rate of high-tech industries is faster than the average level of manufacturing, and their proportion in China's manufacturing structure is constantly increasing. However, there are still shortcomings in terms of technology level and structure. In this regard, we need to expand the supply capacity of intermediate products, increase investment in basic research and industry commonality research, and climb towards the field of intermediate products with higher technological content and added value; Improve the technical level of terminal products, comprehensively enhance the development, design, production and manufacturing capabilities of terminal products, and comprehensively enhance product performance; Enhance the integration capability of complex products, improve the development and design capabilities of product architecture, enhance the attractiveness to suppliers of raw materials, components, and other materials in the global supply chain, and form a more complete industrial ecosystem.
Cultivate strategic emerging industries and forward-looking layout of future industries. To accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries, we need to make good use of our advantages in areas such as super large population, land space, economic size, and super large markets, promote technological breakthroughs and iterative upgrades, and promote the large-scale and upgrading of segmented markets with good market prospects and fast growth rates in areas such as digital technology, biotechnology, green and low-carbon technology, new materials, and high-end equipment. Prospective planning for future industries should be based on a comprehensive analysis of technological development stages and application prospects, selecting areas with huge and fundamental impacts such as brain intelligence, quantum information, genetic technology, future networks, deep sea and aerospace development, hydrogen energy and energy storage for forward-looking layout. Through support in research and development investment, application scenarios, and other aspects, technological breakthroughs should be accelerated to promote the formation of future industries and their transformation into strategic emerging industries.
