The “2025 National Manufacturing Power Construction Forum,” held as a key segment of the 2025 World Manufacturing Convention, centered on the theme “Embodied Intelligence Drives Manufacturing Power Construction.” This gathering brought together esteemed experts to analyze emerging trends and characteristics in the embodied intelligence industry, delving into innovative models and pathways for building a robust industrial ecosystem. The forum is poised to have a profound impact on seizing new opportunities in industrial transformation and laying the groundwork for future industry sectors.
Since the term “robot” first appeared in literature in 1920, the concept has evolved over a century. Among these developments, robots with human-like forms, capable of naturally emerging intelligence through real-time interaction between their bodies and the environment, are hailed as the “crown jewel” of the robotics industry. This year, “embodied intelligence” was included in the government work report for the first time, marking it as a national strategic priority. As a pioneer in building a high-level innovation-oriented region, the local area has established a foundation in the embodied intelligence industry, with one of its major cities emerging as a significant hub for research and application of embodied intelligence technologies.
The forum, hosted by the National Manufacturing Power Construction Strategy Advisory Committee, featured authoritative speakers including former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Zhou Ji, President of the China Center for Information Industry Development Zhang Li, Vice Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology You Zheng, and Director of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee Li Peigen. Their professional and profound remarks reflected a keen insight into manufacturing development trends, potentially influencing the region’s ability to grasp industrial transformation opportunities and chart new tracks for future industries.
- Achieving Historic Milestones in Manufacturing
Through the steadfast implementation of the “Manufacturing Power” strategy, China’s manufacturing sector has achieved comprehensive leaps in industrial scale, innovation capability, and international status, resulting in historic accomplishments that have drawn global attention. China is currently the only country in the world to possess all industrial categories classified by the United Nations, boasting the most complete industrial chain. Among over 500 major industrial product categories, more than 220 key products lead the world in output.
Under the guidance of the “Manufacturing Power” strategy, the region has adhered to a “Strong Manufacturing Province” development path, achieving a historic transition from a late-industrializing area to a major industrial hub. Last year, the scale of industrial enterprises above a designated size reached a revenue of 5.5 trillion yuan, rising from 12th place nationally in 2020 to 6th place. The integration of informatization and industrialization indicators jumped from 15th to 6th nationally, and the high-quality development index for manufacturing ranked 6th nationwide, with the structural optimization index soaring to 2nd place. Emerging industrial clusters such as new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, and robotics have expanded rapidly, with the output value of strategic emerging industries accounting for the third-highest proportion of total industrial output nationally.
- Strategic Directions for Future Manufacturing
With these remarkable achievements in mind, what directions should manufacturing focus on for future development? At the forum, Zhou Ji emphasized that “high-end, intelligent, and green development are the essential requirements and strategic directions for building advanced manufacturing industrial clusters and advancing the construction of a manufacturing power.” He elaborated that high-end development must be driven by innovation, rooted in quality, and centered on enterprises to propel the manufacturing sector toward the mid-to-high end of the global industrial chain. Intelligence should prioritize smart manufacturing as the main direction, leveraging artificial intelligence to empower new industrialization and drive technological变革 and industrial upgrading. Green development encompasses both the greening of industries and the industrialization of green initiatives, necessitating strategic support from green energy to foster sustainable manufacturing growth.
“Breakthroughs and widespread application of a new generation of smart manufacturing and green energy will propel the formation of a new wave of industrial revolution高潮, reshaping the technological systems, production models, and industrial forms of manufacturing, and will lead to a truly meaningful Industry 4.0,” Zhou Ji stated. This vision underscores the transformative potential of embodied intelligence and embodied robot technologies in this evolution.
- The Arduous Task of Digital Transformation
“The starting point and ultimate goal of intelligent manufacturing are to achieve high-quality development in manufacturing, with its fundamental task being the digital transformation and intelligent upgrade of the sector,” Zhou Ji pointed out during the forum. Intelligent manufacturing, as an evolving broad concept, has progressed through generations of digital manufacturing and digital-networked manufacturing, and is now entering its third generation—the new generation of intelligent manufacturing characterized by deep integration of artificial intelligence and manufacturing. This represents the highest current paradigm of intelligent manufacturing.
Zhou Ji cited the example of the new energy vehicle industry in China and the region, which achieved a “overtaking on a curve,” attributing this success largely to seizing opportunities in digital, networked, and intelligent development. Data from the region corroborates his view: it is expected that by the end of this year, all industrial enterprises above a designated size will have completed digital transformation. In his keynote speech at the opening of the 2025 World Manufacturing Convention, Zhou Ji outlined that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will complete the digital transformation of its industries, and in the “16th Five-Year Plan” period, it will深入推进 major initiatives for intelligent upgrading in manufacturing. He acknowledged that for the nation as a whole, completing the digital transformation of industrial enterprises above a designated size remains a challenging task. “But this is the foundation; without doing digital transformation well, intelligent upgrading is an empty phrase,” Zhou Ji emphasized. This highlights the critical role that embodied intelligence and embodied robot systems must play in bridging this gap.
Currently, artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid pace, with continuous innovation and application of key technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and deep learning driving AI into a new phase of general artificial intelligence represented by large models. Cutting-edge disruptive technologies are emerging one after another, evolving quickly. Many experts and scholars agree that the new generation of AI will lead industrial变革, deeply empowering thousands of industries, and becoming an important engine driving industrial transformation. Manufacturing methods, development models, and corporate forms will undergo fundamental changes, with embodied intelligence at the forefront of this shift.
From the forum, it was learned that in terms of intelligent upgrading, the region is accelerating its efforts, planning to allocate over 3 billion yuan at the provincial government level over two years, using various methods to encourage enterprises to expedite the completion of intelligent empowerment. This investment is crucial for fostering the development of embodied intelligence applications.
- The Promising Horizon of Embodied Intelligence
Advanced manufacturing inevitably demands high-end, intelligent, and green development, and embodied intelligence, as a frontier direction in AI development, offers a全新的 pathway for the intelligent leap in manufacturing. The forum conducted in-depth discussions on the prospects and application scenarios of embodied intelligence.
Experts noted that the embodied intelligence industry represents a new paradigm as AI reaches a certain stage of development. As a cutting-edge direction at the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics, embodied intelligence is being前瞻布局ed and gradually becoming a key technological foundation supporting the high-level development of intelligent manufacturing. It endows machine systems with closed-loop capabilities of perception, decision-making, and execution, enabling intelligent manufacturing to advance to higher levels of autonomy and intelligence. An embodied robot, for instance, can be a machine arm, a quadruped robot, a hexapod robot, a wheeled robot, or a humanoid robot. It is the embodiment of artificial intelligence, especially large model technology, entering the physical world and integrating with different hardware. Zhou Ji expressed that in the new generation of intelligent manufacturing, the relationship between humans and information systems has fundamentally changed, shifting from “giving a fish” to “teaching how to fish,” which aligns with the adaptive nature of embodied intelligence.
- Global Landscape and Challenges in Embodied Intelligence
In his presentation, Zhang Li analyzed the global landscape of the embodied intelligence industry. He pointed out that the United States leads in innovation in core algorithms, dynamic control, and system integration. China, leveraging its strong manufacturing foundation and rich application scenarios, has become the world’s largest consumer market and producer of robots. The European Union holds significant advantages in industrial automation. Domestically, cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou have formed industrial systems with distinct characteristics. However, the development of embodied intelligence still faces numerous technological and implementation challenges, such as high research and development costs, stringent requirements for software and hardware ecosystems, reliance on imported core components, lagging standard construction, high data acquisition costs, and manufacturing costs far exceeding market acceptance levels.
He proposed five areas for breakthrough: improving policies, regulations, and lifecycle监管 systems; strengthening technology research and development and the cultivation of interdisciplinary talent; establishing graded and classified standard testing and safety assessment systems; building an open and shared industrial ecosystem; and constructing general technology platforms and interoperability standards. These measures are essential for advancing embodied intelligence and embodied robot technologies on a global scale.
- Regional Advances in Embodied Intelligence
At this year’s World Manufacturing Convention, the region’s embodied intelligence industry attracted significant attention. In recent years, relying on platforms such as a major university, a comprehensive national science center, and an artificial intelligence research institute, the region has deeply implemented the “AI+” initiative, accelerating breakthroughs in key core technologies. A local company’s large model has become the first deep reasoning large model trained using a fully domestic computing power platform. Another company has emerged as a national leader in the robotics industry chain and developed a general technology base for intelligent robots. Last year, the revenue of large-scale AI enterprises in the region exceeded 170 billion yuan, with the evaluation of AI industry development ranking fifth nationally.
Building on this foundation, the region has 13 university and research institute teams involved in humanoid robot research and development, approximately 40 industrial chain enterprises, and has formed 8整机 products. This includes 10 entities engaged in本体 research, development, and manufacturing, and 30 enterprises focused on “big and small brains” and key components. Particularly noteworthy is the intelligent robot general technology base developed by a local company, which is equivalent to the “HarmonyOS” of the intelligent robot world—a foundational system that supports embodied intelligence functionalities.
This left a deep impression on Xiong Meng, Executive Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Federation of Industrial Economics, who stated, “The region demonstrates first-mover advantages and deployment speed in the field of embodied intelligence from strategic height, technological dimensions, to变革 intensity, and its future development is highly anticipated.” The progress in embodied robot applications here sets a benchmark for other regions.
In summary, the forum underscored that embodied intelligence is not just a technological trend but a transformative force for manufacturing. By integrating embodied robot systems into production lines, industries can achieve greater flexibility, efficiency, and autonomy. The repeated emphasis on embodied intelligence throughout the discussions highlights its critical role in driving the next wave of industrial advancement. As countries and regions navigate the complexities of digital transformation and intelligent upgrading, the development of embodied intelligence will be pivotal in shaping a resilient and innovative manufacturing landscape for the future.
Looking ahead, the continued investment in research, talent development, and ecosystem building for embodied intelligence will determine how swiftly manufacturing sectors can harness its full potential. The challenges of high costs and technical barriers must be addressed through collaborative efforts, ensuring that embodied robot technologies become accessible and scalable. With the strategic focus seen in forums like this, the journey toward a manufacturing power fueled by embodied intelligence is well underway, promising a new era of smart, sustainable, and high-value production.