Source: Xinhua | 02-Dec-2021

Original link: http://www.news.cn/english/2021-12/02/c_1310345858.htm

Robots dismantle automatically a scrap freight wagon at the intelligent production base for recycling railway materials in Ma'anshan, east China's Anhui Province, July 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

China will take firm measures to push forward the deeper integration of informatization and industrialization in the next five years.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Tuesday released a development plan on integrating its industrial sector with information technologies, specifying key goals and measures in the field for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

The plan, building on the full completion of objectives under the 13th Five-Year Plan, is the second five-year plan in this regard, Xie Shaofeng, an official with the MIIT, said at a press conference Tuesday.

Progress occurred in integrating informatization and industrialization during 2016-2020 with improving policy systems and infrastructure. It played a significant role in promoting the upgrade of traditional industries.

As new technologies, including big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, are triggering technological breakthroughs and industrial transformation, the manufacturing industry needs to deepen its integration with the new technologies to achieve high-quality development, noted Xie.

The move is also an inevitable choice for enterprises to cope with disruptions in supply chains and the increase of production cost in the context of COVID-19, Xie added.

Both qualitative and quantitative objectives are detailed in the plan for the integration work during the next five years.

By 2025, the deeper and higher-level integration of informatization and industrialization should occur in more fields, said the document.

In terms of quantitative targets, the national integration development index, a key barometer measuring industrial sector and information technology integration, should reach 105 by 2025, an increase of about 20 from 2020.

The country also aims to achieve an 80 percent usage rate of digital tools across corporate management and operation by 2025.

In addition, China targets 85 percent of research and development design tools becoming digitalized, 68 percent of crucial production procedures being digitally controlled, and 45 percent of industrial internet platforms penetration rate.

The plan highlights the need to accelerate digital transformation and upgrading in six industries and sectors, including raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, and electronic information.

To achieve these targets, China will facilitate new business models and push the digital transformation of industries, the document outlined.

China will also promote new intelligent products such as smart robots, industry-level smart hardware, unmanned aerial vehicles, and smart wearable equipment, and develop new application scenarios for intelligent products, said the document.