Guangdong held a provincial conference on advanced manufacturing on Oct 9, becoming the first province in China to hold such a meeting after the national conference in mid-Sept.

The province is setting a goal to build more than 1,000 advanced factories and an equal number of green factories by 2028. Furthermore, the initiative aims to increase the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies among large industrial enterprises, with a target implementation rate exceeding 50 percent. The output of humanoid robots is expected to surpass 80,000 units during this period.

Guangdong's manufacturing value added has remained above 30 percent of its GDP for years. The revenue of industrial enterprises above designated size rose from 14.9 trillion yuan (‌$2.23 trillion) in 2020 to 19.34 trillion yuan in 2025, ranking first in China. The province has 10 trillion-yuan industrial clusters, with advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing accounting for 56.2 percent and 34.7 percent of above-scale industry, respectively.

Chen Jin, chairman of CanSemi, a Guangzhou-based semiconductor company, said that the key strengths of Guangdong lie in application-driven development and the integration of manufacturing and services. Xia Yu, founder of Akeso, a biopharmaceutical company based in Zhongshan, said the province's robust manufacturing base and active market ecosystem have supported the company's growth from a four-person team to the Bay Area's most valuable innovative drug company.

Wu Hong, a first-level inspector of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, said Guangdong is committed to advancing new-generation intelligent manufacturing and deepening the digital and intelligent transformation of its manufacturing sector.