Guangdong hosted a provincial conference on advanced manufacturing in Guangzhou on Oct 9, following the national conference in Beijing on Sept 16-17, the first national meeting centered on advanced manufacturing.

The conference outlined a shift from maintaining a stable manufacturing share to focusing on quality improvement, stressing that advanced manufacturing depends on advanced organization, cutting-edge technology, strong management and visionary leadership. The conference called for the development of industrial clusters and emphasized the importance of using technological advancements to enhance modern enterprise systems.

Guangdong's manufacturing sector has consistently accounted for over 30 percent of its GDP for several years. The province encompasses all 31 major manufacturing categories, accounts for about one-eighth of China's overall industrial scale, and has built eight national advanced manufacturing clusters, 30 characteristic industrial clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises and 10 trillion yuan industrial clusters.

Wang Cheng, CEO of TCL Technology Group, a display and semiconductor company based in Huizhou, said new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are already widely utilized in advanced manufacturing. Zhang Xingong, chairman of Guangdong Dongyue Chemical Technology, a chemical recycling company based in Jieyang, said its waste plastic recycling technology is the world's first and is set to be commercialized after next year's Spring Festival. Liu Chenli, president of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that high-quality manufacturing relies on integrating frontier technology with the broader industrial ecosystem.