During the term of the current government, “Made in China 2025” was mentioned at least 16 times at the State Council executive meetings. Premier Li Keqiang has stressed that economic and industrial upgrade will be achieved by strengthening “Made in China”.

Over the past five years, the real economy, Made in China 2025, smart manufacturing, craftsmanship spirit, integrated development of big, medium and small-sized enterprises and Internet Plus advanced manufacturing were frequent topics at the executive meetings.

To implement Made in China 2025 as a means to speed up manufacturing, one of the philosophies China upholds is to boost the real economy through an innovation-driven strategy.

By 2025, manufacturing quality will make big strides with better innovation and labor productivity as industry and information are further integrated.

To carry out the quality reform of Chinese manufacturing, the consumer goods industry should add variety, increase quality and create brands, as mandated at the executive meetings.

In addition, China will set smart manufacturing as a main direction, and combine it with Internet Plus and mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

Meanwhile, advanced standards will be set for equipment manufacturing to produce high-quality products.

The craftsmanship spirit will be highly appreciated as the pursuit of refinement is encouraged to produce more creative, high-quality, and popular goods.

An array of pilot cities or zones will be established for Made in China 2025 and smart manufacturing, where new policies and mechanisms will be first tested.

To implement the National Innovation-Driven Development Strategy Outline, a slew of companies and industrial clusters that excel in brand images, service platforms and quality will be forged.

Manufacturing upgrade cannot advance without talent. A mechanism combining schools and enterprises to cultivate technical talent will be established, as well as a system in which salaries and honors can properly reflect technicians’ value.

So far, a lot of changes are underway. China has made many breakthroughs in high-end equipment manufacturing, including space flight, large aircraft, express railways, numerical control machine tools, and new energy cars, scaling up in international high value-added industries.

In cutting-edge manufacturing, China broke the international monopoly, creating new industrial clusters such as 5G, super computers, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Through these efforts to implement the Made in China 2025 strategy, China is to transform from a manufacturing big country into a manufacturing power.