China’s industrial Internet enters fast lane

China is embracing new growth in terms of the industrial Internet as the country strives to gain a beachhead in the next generation of industrial development globally, the top industry regulator, government officials and experts said.

“China’s industrial Internet sector is entering the fast lane. A slew of new breakthroughs, models and applications have emerged,” Sui Jing, deputy head of information and telecommunications at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the 2020 World Industrial Internet Conference, which opened on Sunday in Qingdao.

Sui said China has already nurtured over 70 industrial Internet platforms that had regional influence with related applications covering over 30 key industries across the country.

Such breakthroughs were in line with President Xi Jinping’s call to enhance the innovative capability of industrial Internet and push forward integration between industrialisation and informatisation, she said.

The industrial Internet, also known as the industrial Internet of things, is a key sector for the country’s new infrastructure construction. It refers to the broader adoption of advanced technologies such as next-generation wireless networks, big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of things.

“China’s industrial Internet is ushering in new growth opportunities amid the industrial revolution.

“It has a potential that goes beyond the imagination, which not only promotes the upgrading of the manufacturing industry but also determines whether China can lead the next round of the technological and industrial revolution worldwide,” said Wang Qingxian, party secretary of Qingdao.