The digital-intelligent transformation, a key priority outlined in China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), is reshaping the country's manufacturing landscape by significantly boosting production efficiency.

At Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG), a leading heavy machinery manufacturer in east China's Jiangsu Province, AI technology has been applied to 25 out of 38 scenarios across five major operational stages, including plant construction, research and development, design and production, involving 35 intelligent models.

At the company's smart manufacturing research and development center, researchers can use digital twin technology to remotely monitor production progress in real time.

From digitalization to digital-intelligent transformation, the overall production efficiency of XCMG has increased by about 30 percent.

"Once the program is sent to the on-site robot, it can start production work using my program," said Zhao Meng, a process engineer at the Intelligent Manufacturing Institute of XCMG's Hoisting Machinery Division.

XCMG is now also developing a new intelligent welding model for crane production.

The model integrates cutting-edge digital technologies such as digital twins, 3D vision, and AI-driven reverse modeling. Expected to become fully operational in 2027, it could fundamentally reshape current production methods.

China is currently fostering 15 pilot smart factories like XCMG, covering sectors such as steel, refining, automobiles, and electronics. These factories have driven collective upgrades across more than 1,300 upstream and downstream manufacturing facilities.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China plans to build dozens more such leading factories.

"During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China made phased breakthroughs in smart factory construction. The focus of the 15th Five-Year Plan will be on expanding coverage, improving quality, and consolidating advantages, and laying a solid foundation for the broader application of intelligent manufacturing across various industrial sectors. The 15th Five-Year Plan period will be a critical phase for accelerating the digital-intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry," said Ao Li, vice president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.