On the morning of March 7, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei answered reporters' questions at the National People's Congress about China's industrial internet and industrial robots, and explained the Chinese version of the "Germany Industry 4.0" plan, "Made in China 2025."

　　Miao Wei stated that the industrial internet is a key development area in the new round of industrial revolution and industrial transformation, with the core being the Internet of Things. Over the next 20 years, the development of China's industrial internet is expected to bring about an increase of approximately 3 trillion US dollars in GDP. He also mentioned that by 2020, the plan is to cultivate 3 to 5 internationally competitive leading enterprises and 8 to 10 supporting industrial clusters, with domestic robots accounting for about 45% of the high-end robot market.

　　 The following is an excerpt from the live Q&A session with reporters:

　　Reporter: We noticed that this year's government work report proposed the "Made in China 2025" development plan. Is it the overall plan and roadmap for the future of China's manufacturing industry? What is the basic idea? How does it differ from Germany's Industry 4.0?

　　Miao Wei: This year's government work report at the "Two Sessions" proposed to formulate the "Made in China 2025" planning outline. This is a major event for the development of China's manufacturing industry. Looking back at the response to the international financial crisis, in 2010, China became the world's largest manufacturing country, reclaiming the top manufacturing position after 150 years in history. We are a manufacturing giant but not yet a manufacturing power. We do not yet have a large number of internationally competitive backbone enterprises, and there are still major technological and equipment breakthroughs needed in industrial development. Additionally, we should have some important products occupying a place in the international market. These aspects indicate that we still need to transform from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing power, and strive and work hard for this.

　　Based on this idea, after more than a year and a half of strategic demonstration by over 150 experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, we spent more than a year formulating the "Made in China 2025" planning outline. This plan generally requires about three decades to complete China's transformation from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing power. We also proposed a three-step strategy. "Made in China 2025" is the action guideline for the first decade of the three-step plan, serving as a roadmap with a timetable.

　　After approval and release by the State Council, we will organize the industrial sector to thoroughly promote this outline. The main content of this outline roughly includes several aspects: first, emphasizing innovation-driven development; second, quality first; third, green development; fourth, structural optimization; and fifth, talent-oriented. By implementing this planning outline, we lay a solid foundation for the next two steps. Through ten years of effort, we aim to enter the second echelon of global manufacturing.

　　"Made in China 2025" and Germany's Industry 4.0 share many similarities but also many differences. China and Germany's industrial development levels are not at the same starting point or level. From what we understand, Germany also needs 8 to 10 years to achieve Industry 4.0; it has not yet fully realized it. The timeline roughly coincides with our "Made in China 2025." In terms of content, Germany's Industry 4.0 and our previously proposed deep integration of industrialization and informatization share similar ideas. I saw a vivid and intuitive depiction of Germany's Industry 4.0: Industry 3.0 is about digitalization and intelligence of machinery and equipment, illustrated by a robot grabbing goods from a shelf and loading them onto a truck; Industry 4.0 uses the same image but adds small arcs on the shelf, robot, and truck, indicating that these three are connected through wireless, broadband, mobile, and ubiquitous networks. This clearly shows that in the future, intelligent devices and products will be connected through wired and wireless communication methods, which is the concept we often call the Internet of Things or industrial internet.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping recently mentioned the concept of the network economy. This year, Premier Li Keqiang's government work report introduced the concept of the industrial internet for the first time. We must highly value this development trend, seize this development opportunity, ride the momentum, and leverage the advantage of late development.

　　If there is any difference, it lies in our different development stages and levels. Germany is generally transitioning from 3.0 to 4.0, while some of our industrial enterprises may still need to catch up from 2.0 to 3.0 before moving to 4.0. We need to combine China's national conditions and the actual situation of Chinese industrial enterprises to choose the right development path and take a better and faster development route.

　　Reporter: In China's version of Industry 4.0, is intelligent manufacturing a core part? What is the current level of intelligent manufacturing development in China? What measures will the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology take to promote intelligent manufacturing?

　　Miao Wei: Since last year, we have been studying the connotations of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation internationally. Although opinions vary and are not entirely consistent, there are commonalities. The common point is that the promotion and popularization of wired, especially wireless, mobile, broadband, and ubiquitous networks have brought new development opportunities. The internet can change human lifestyles and industrial production methods, providing many new services, new business forms, and new development models. Moreover, internet technology is far from over, and its applications are emerging rapidly and continuously, so the changes brought by the internet require our high attention and serious study.

　　In this new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, countries are studying how to seize the commanding heights of new development. We believe that the integration of the internet and traditional industrial sectors is an opportunity that must be seriously valued and seized; this is the issue of the commanding heights. There is also the issue of the entry point or the main direction. After research, we believe that focusing on intelligent manufacturing is our main direction. In recent years, we have made some explorations, such as pilot demonstrations of integration of industrialization and informatization. On this basis, focusing on intelligent manufacturing is the fundamental path to transform China's manufacturing industry from big to strong.

　　In the past five years, the penetration rate of digital tools in R&D and design in China's industrial enterprises has reached 54%, with an average annual growth of 4 percentage points in the past five years. Many industrial enterprises now abandon paper blueprints and adopt paperless design and digital models. The extensive application in these areas has shortened R&D cycles, improved design efficiency, and reduced R&D costs. Additionally, among industrial enterprises above designated size, the proportion of CNC equipment on production lines has reached 30%, also growing at an average annual rate of 4 percentage points in the past five years. These areas show good development momentum.

　　Of course, there is still a gap compared to developed countries, especially in intelligence. The CNC systems and industrial robots we used in the past basically operated according to human-set programs and did not have artificial intelligence. There have been cases where, during robot maintenance, if the power was not turned off, the robot caused injury or even death because it lacked intelligent devices to sense human presence and stop operation. We need to further improve intelligence levels based on high-end sensors, important operating systems, and digital foundations to meet intelligent manufacturing requirements. Regarding products, there are now a series of intelligent products. For example, industrial robots were originally CNC and non-intelligent but may become intelligent in the future. Cars still require human drivers, but countries are researching how to free people from driving, so people truly ride in cars rather than drive them, handing over driving to intelligent cars and intelligent road systems. Of course, there is still a long way to go and many technical challenges to overcome. Some countries already have plans and actual cars running on roads. Another example of intelligent products is the smartphone. Past phones were not intelligent, but now phones integrate many computer functions and network applications. Since 3G, phones have been smart. This is the intelligence of industrial products.

　　We are researching intelligent manufacturing, which is a main focus and an entry point. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is participating in the national organization of major projects on intelligent manufacturing. We plan to spend about three years starting this year to select key areas, regions, and industries to conduct pilot and demonstration explorations, continuously summarize experiences, and promote the development of intelligent manufacturing.

　　Reporter: Please introduce the overall plan and key points for the development of China's industrial robot industry. What measures does the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have for promoting industrial robots?

　　Miao Wei: At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Industrial Robot Industry," proposing that by 2020, 3 to 5 internationally competitive leading enterprises and 8 to 10 supporting industrial clusters should be cultivated, with domestic robots accounting for about 45% of the market share in high-end robots.

　　In recent years, domestic robots have made great progress. About half of the robots were used in the automotive industry in the past, but now this boundary has been broken, and they have begun to be popularized and applied in other industrial sectors such as the electronic information industry. Guangdong has done relatively well in this regard; they were the first to use robots in the electronic information industry. In the past, due to relatively low labor costs, Guangdong was the most developed province in processing trade, employing a large number of migrant workers on production lines to perform simple labor. Due to two changes—one is the increasing integration of products, and the other is the rising labor costs—this has provided huge opportunities for the development and application of robots in this industry.

　　Internationally, the indicator used to measure robot penetration is the number of robots per 10,000 workers. China has 23 robots per 10,000 workers, Germany has 273, and Japan and South Korea have exceeded 300. This shows that there is still great potential and a large market for replacing humans with machines.

　　Of course, this also brings changes to enterprise production organization and management methods, as well as social issues. With a large number of robots replacing humans, what about employment? Therefore, we must also consider China's large population and significant employment pressure, proceeding step by step gradually. It also indicates that labor training is becoming increasingly important. It is becoming more difficult for laborers doing simple work to find jobs, while the demand for laborers who understand software, computers, and operations is increasing. Vocational education must keep up.

　　Overall, to develop industrial robots, on one hand, we must focus on product technology breakthroughs and important supporting organizations; on the other hand, we must focus on applications. Starting from these two aspects will enable China's industrial robot development to occupy a more advantageous position.

　　Reporter: What role will the development of industrial robots play in China's industrial transformation and upgrading?

　　Miao Wei: The promotion and application of industrial robots in the industrial field will improve the automation and intelligence level of China's industrial manufacturing processes, reduce the impact of rising labor costs and diminishing demographic dividends on China's industrial competitiveness, improve production efficiency and product quality, reduce production costs and resource consumption, ensure safe production, and maintain and enhance China's international industrial competitiveness.

　　Reporter: You just mentioned the industrial internet. The industry generally believes that the industrial internet will become a new growth pole for the national economy and the internet industry. What do you think about the scale and potential of this industry?

　　Miao Wei: The industrial internet is a key development area in response to the new round of industrial revolution and industrial transformation, and it is also one of the earliest industries to realize "Internet +" mentioned in the government work report. The industrial internet has enormous development potential, and many enterprises have noticed the application of internet technology to improve their overall competitiveness. According to an estimate by an international authoritative organization, in the next 20 years, the development of China's industrial internet could bring about a GDP increase of approximately three trillion US dollars.

　　We should attach great importance to it, actively guide it, and do a good job in the application and development of the industrial internet. We approach it from two aspects to achieve integrated development. The first aspect is the intelligent manufacturing mentioned earlier. The second aspect is to guide the internet into industrial enterprises and industries. In terms of internet development, China has a group of internet companies that have become leaders in international competition. Mobilizing these companies to closely integrate with industrial enterprises and build a good framework for the development of the industrial internet will provide more opportunities for the future development of enterprises. According to international authoritative estimates, after applying the industrial internet, enterprise efficiency can increase by about 20%, costs can decrease by 20%, and energy saving and emission reduction can decrease by about 10%.

　　The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is organizing the demonstration of the overall architecture of the industrial internet. The internet era is a top-down architecture, while the industrial internet is a bottom-up development strategy, starting from how to build data centers, how to use cloud services, and how to analyze big data, from enterprises to industries, to the country, and even internationally. At the same time, we must maximize benefits and minimize harms, seeing both the advantages and the negative impacts it may bring, such as how to ensure network security, prevent attacks and tampering, and protect users' personal information security. These aspects still require research to maximize benefits and minimize harms and make better plans for development.

　　Reporter: It should be said that there is still great space for the integration and application of the internet and industry.

　　Miao Wei: There is still great space. Currently, internet applications are mostly in marketing, after-sales service, and procurement, such as B2C and B2B. In the future, in manufacturing and between enterprises, there will be disruptive or revolutionary changes to existing production methods.

　　For example, now manufacturing large-scale consumer products must be intensive manufacturing, which is the most economical and reasonable, but the problem is that it does not meet personalized needs well. Usually, a company manufactures products in large quantities, sends them to various places, and they reach users through distribution channels. In the future, with the popularization of the internet, everyone may become a designer. The materials and parts you need can be purchased online, and you can also produce them yourself. This is the best production method to meet personalized needs.

　　It is well known that personalized customization has the highest added value. Mass-produced suits are not very valuable. Clothes made to measure are definitely more valuable than those produced in large quantities.

　　Reporter: In this year's government work report, the Premier mentioned the dual engines for economic growth. One engine is the traditional one, expanding public products and public services; the other is the new engine of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. How do you view the driving force generated by the new engine?

　　Miao Wei: In the past, we usually focused on the first engine, the development of public service products, and did not pay enough attention to the role of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. For example, our development mainly focused on some large enterprises and standardized products. Policies encouraging research and development often mostly benefit large enterprises and institutions. In fact, small and micro enterprises have natural and intrinsic motivation and vitality. Don't underestimate small enterprises; entrepreneurs who start these enterprises definitely want to grow them from small to large and from weak to strong. Let's also look at the technological research and development achievements in developed countries. Of course, some are invested and developed by large enterprises themselves, but a large amount is still purchased from small and micro enterprises for their own use.

　　The most typical example is Silicon Valley in the United States. Some companies develop products themselves and grow step by step from small to large, such as HP and Google. Many companies also believe it is unnecessary to do everything from start to finish themselves. They just need to turn ideas into phased or industrialized products, sell the technological achievements, get money, and then develop new results in this field. Conversely, large companies do not do everything themselves; many scientific research results are discovered in the market, bought, and continued.

　　Therefore, we must attach great importance to the second engine proposed by Premier Keqiang. Last year, through government reforms, especially the reform of the industrial and commercial registration system, we abolished the paid-in capital system and replaced it with the subscribed capital system, turning many pre-approvals into post-approvals. This has sparked a lot of entrepreneurial enthusiasm and led to a large number of new startup enterprises. We need to better nurture these enterprises, ensuring they can survive, grow big, and develop well. When these enterprises develop well, China's economy will definitely improve. Therefore, we must highly value these small and micro enterprises and startups. Each of them has great ideas, and everyone has a good vision. We should pay attention to protecting and fully utilizing their enthusiasm, as the vitality and potential of China's economic development will be limitless.

　　Reporter: You just mentioned the industrial internet. Is it the same concept as the Internet of Things?

　　Miao Wei: It can be said that they are basically the same concept. The internet solves information exchange and sharing between people, while the Internet of Things aims to solve information exchange and sharing on a larger scale among people and things, things and people, and things and things. The industrial internet is an important part of the Internet of Things, but the application scope of the Internet of Things is broader than that of the industrial internet. Besides industry, it also includes finance and various other sectors.

　　Reporter: You also mentioned entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized enterprises just now. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has a service platform for SME entrepreneurship, and there are many private entrepreneurship service platforms such as Garage Cafe in Zhongguancun. Does the large emergence of private entrepreneurship service platforms indicate that the government's entrepreneurship service platforms are still insufficient and that the market prospects are very broad?

　　Miao Wei: No matter what, the government cannot outperform private service platforms because their vitality, motivation, and desire for development far exceed those of government-established platforms. We have also made some distinctions based on the current development situation. The government's platform integrates various platforms to establish a hub, enabling interconnection and interoperability, providing more combinations and services to service targets. Therefore, we have established government service platform hubs in provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and cities specifically designated in the state plan, linking public service platforms run by local governments and private entities to this hub. Through this hub, we build an interconnected and accessible service system. This is our overall consideration, organizing everyone to build a good public service platform system together.