Nanjing hosts world manufacturing conference highlighting new quality productive forces

The three-day 2024 World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference (WIMC) concluded in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on Sunday, drawing the participation of enterprises from nearly 10 countries and regions, with many showcasing their latest cutting-edge products and technologies at the show, the CNR reported on Sunday.

From eVTOL to humanoid robots and new energy products, enterprises from home and abroad took this opportunity to present their latest products involving a total of 20 key manufacturing sectors, as the nation pursues new quality productive forces, according to media reports.

A total of 263 companies flocked to the event, 51 of which are among the world's top 500 companies and industry representative companies, the report said.

Foreign companies have taken this occasion to tap into the vast Chinese market potential. LG Energy Solution, a South Korean technology company, participated in the show for the first time, and brought a batch of their latest battery products there, the Global Times learned from the company.

At the closing ceremony of the conference, the company's headquarters was officially established in the Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, as part of its efforts to explore the Chinese market.

The company vowed to further increase investment in the Chinese market and continuously improve its core competitiveness, the company told the Global Times on Sunday.

"In recent years, international product conferences such as the WIMC held in Nanjing have grown in number and are widely favored by domestic and foreign companies... These activities provide companies with a platform to showcase the latest technologies and products, and promote international exchanges and cooperation," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Through such conferences, companies can gain an in-depth understanding of the latest trends and policy directions in the development of new quality productive forces in China, Wang said.

China's manufacturing sector is experiencing a rapid transformation toward intelligent manufacturing, with new industries mushrooming, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

China has established 50 international standards for intelligent manufacturing, and is home to more than 6,500 intelligent manufacturing system solution providers, offering services that span the entire manufacturing sector, said the ministry.

Xin Guobin, a vice minister of the MIIT, said at the forum that China will focus on nurturing a group of intelligent manufacturing solution providers that master core technologies specialize in a niche industry, and drive further integration, innovation, and large-scale 5G application in the manufacturing sector.

The active participation of foreign companies deserves special attention, the Chinese expert said, noting that this conveys the strong confidence that foreign companies continue to have in the dividends of the development of China's new quality productive forces.