Nation widens edge in advanced manufacturing

China has further cemented its lead in global advanced manufacturing by hosting 101 of the world's 224 lighthouse factories, which are widely seen as the benchmark for the most advanced factories globally.

The lead was widened after the World Economic Forum named 16 Chinese sites, more than any other country, among a new batch of 23 Global Lighthouse Network last week.

These factories were recognized for applying advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and automation at scale, delivering measurable gains in efficiency, flexibility and sustainability.

Hou Wenhao, partner at market consultancy McKinsey & Company, said, "As of this round, the number of such factories in China has surpassed 100, a major milestone for intelligent manufacturing."

"This achievement reflects not only the broad adoption of smart manufacturing technologies in China, but also the strong capabilities in large-scale implementation, technological innovation, scenario expansion and efficient commercialization," he said.

"China's manufacturing sector is moving from exploration to maturity, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of global industry," he added.

Kiva Allgood, managing director at the World Economic Forum, said,"Competitiveness today is no longer defined by efficiency alone, but by the ability to sense, adapt and respond at speed."

"This year's industrial transformation sites show how intelligence-led operations are being scaled to place resilience and sustainability at the core of how industry operates."

China's lighthouse factories span a wide range of industries, including steel, new energy, automobiles, electronics and telecommunications. Among the newly recognized sites is Hisense Visual Technology's Qingdao factory, which has become the only lighthouse factory in the global television manufacturing industry.

The plant, located in Qingdao, Shandong province, covers 310,000 square meters and produces, on average, one television set every 20 seconds.

Operating in the mature TV market, the company faced rapidly evolving consumer demand alongside growing cost competition. In this environment, Hisense Qingdao faced challenges in its product development, processes, cost control and manufacturing, WEF said in a note.

To address these, the site adopted AI, big data, simulation and large-scale virtual reality throughout its new product R&D and manufacturing. Its digital transformation resulted in Hisense Qingdao reducing R&D cycles by 34 percent and lowering material costs by 18 percent, and new employee training time by 60 percent, the WEF said.

Yuan Haidong, general manager of the intelligent manufacturing department at Hisense Visual Technology, said the lighthouse factory represents a stepping stone toward an even more advanced model he described as a "factory brain."

"In the future, our factory will evolve into a higher form — a 'factory brain'," Yuan said.

"Like a human brain, it will coordinate people, machines and materials across multiple factories, using AI to support unified management, scheduling and decision-making," he said.