Bid to Tighten Ties among Global Makers

Thousands of participants to discuss future of smart manufacturing at event

The World Manufacturing Convention 2019 opens on Friday in Hefei, capital city of East China's Anhui province, aiming to create a new future for smart manufacturing by connecting with manufacturers around the world.

Bid to tighten ties among global makers

The four-day gala, also aiming to deepen manufacturing ties between Anhui and the outside world, is expected to draw more than 4,000 participants from more than 60 countries and regions, including those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Besides a Chinese senior leader, foreign dignitaries, including former German president Christian Wulff, former French president Fran?ois Hollande and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, will attend the event, along with other foreign and Chinese officials and business leaders.

Themed "Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creativity: Embracing the New Era of Manufacturing", the convention is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Commerce, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Anhui provincial government and other agencies.

Anhui Party Secretary Li Jinbin and Anhui Governor Li Guoying both extended their invitations, at a news conference held in Beijing on August 15, to guests from home and abroad to participate in the grand event.

The convention will seek to promote high-quality development by focusing on advanced manufacturing technologies, new organizational forms and new industrial clusters, thus promoting the BRI and advancing the implementation of the Yangtze River Delta integration development strategy.

According to Anhui Vice-Governor Zhou Xi'an, the main activities include 30 events put into four categories - important events, high-level summits, project matchmaking programs and parallel sessions.

Manufacturing is the foundation of the national economy and also a fundamental support for the high-quality development of China's economy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the added value of China's manufacturing industry surpassed that of the United States for the first time in 2010, becoming the world's largest manufacturing country.

Anhui Party Secretary Li Jinbin said that Anhui is strong in basic research, focusing on major scientific and technological innovations. The province has maintained a global leading position in quantum communication, steady-state high magnetic fields, fusion energy and brain-like intelligence.

Anhui Governor Li Guoying noted that the mission entrusted by the central authorities for Anhui is to consolidate its foundation for manufacturing, extend its industrial chain and improve industrial systems.

The province will rely on technological innovation to promote industrial innovation, with priorities on strengthening key technologies in such fields as smart home appliances, electronic information, new energy vehicles, industrial robots and artificial intelligence, the governor said.

According to Anhui Vice-Governor Zhou Xi'an, the convention will feature 10 exhibition areas covering international manufacturing, Yangtze River Delta integration, intelligent manufacturing, digital economy, commodity trading and autonomous vehicles.

The exhibition areas will focus on the highlights and characteristics of current international and Chinese intelligent manufacturing, as well as a number of new achievements, new ideas and new breakthroughs in the development of manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta.