(JW Insights) Jul 26 -- China's accelerated efforts to develop the industrial internet and build more lighthouse factories will inject new vitality into the country's industrial economy, and empower high-quality development of the digital economy, China Daily reported on July 26.

The industrial internet, a new type of manufacturing automation that combines advanced machines, internet-connected sensors and big data analysis, is expected to boost productivity and reduce costs in industrial production.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the country has nurtured over 240 industrial internet platforms that have strong regional and industry influence, with more than 81 million units of industrial equipment connected to the platforms, which have served 250,000 enterprises covering over 40 key sectors.

Revenue from China's core industries related to the industrial internet reached more than RMB1.2 trillion ($166.5 billion) in 2022, up 15.5 percent year-on-year, said the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Liu Xiangdong, a researcher with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the booming industrial internet will see surging demand for accuracy in data acquisition, transmission speed, storage space, computing capacities and intelligent application, which will drive the development of big data and cloud computing infrastructure and foster a batch of industrial internet companies that are globally competitive.

Zhou Yunjie, chairman and CEO of Chinese home appliance giant Haier Group, said the industrial internet has become a new engine driving the growth of the digital economy, and will play a bigger role in deepening digital transformation in manufacturing, operational management and marketing services.

Haier has invested heavily in the industrial internet to develop COSMOPlat, which is designed for companies to customize products quickly by collecting and analyzing data from consumers, suppliers and factories, while boosting productivity and cutting costs.

Powered by COSMOPlat, six factories owned by Haier have been included in the Global Lighthouse Network, an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with market consultancy McKinsey in 2018.

Lighthouse factories represent the highest level of global intelligent manufacturing by boasting high efficiency, intelligence and sustainability. Currently, there are 50 such factories in China, the highest number among any country, which make up more than one-third of the global total.

“Digital transformation in manufacturing has become an irreversible global trend, and Foxconn takes the industrial transformation trend as a new opportunity to further enhance its manufacturing capabilities,” said Brand Cheng, CEO of Foxconn Industrial Internet(FII), the Shanghai-listed unit of Apple's key supplier Foxconn.

FII, which currently has six lighthouse factories, said it will continue to increase investment and accelerate its presence in the high-end intelligent manufacturing segment, said the China Daily report.

(Yuan XY/Gao J)