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China is putting artificial intelligence at the heart of its next manufacturing push, seeking to make factories smarter and critical supply chains more resilient, while keeping the world's largest manufacturing base plugged into global markets, officials, company executives and industry experts said on Sunday.

中国正把人工智能置于新一轮制造业升级的核心位置，推动工厂更加智能、关键供应链更具韧性，同时保持全球最大制造业基地与国际市场的紧密联系。官员、企业高管和行业专家周日表示。

The message was delivered as the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention opened on Sunday in Hefei, Anhui province. It came just days after China's top leadership called for sustained efforts to expand and strengthen advanced manufacturing, and make the country's industrial chains more self-supporting and risk-resilient at a national advanced manufacturing conference in Beijing last week.

2026世界制造业大会周日在安徽合肥开幕，上述信号在会上得到进一步释放。就在几天前，中国最高领导层在北京举行的全国先进制造业会议上提出，要持续做大做强先进制造业，提升产业链自主可控水平和抗风险能力。

The timing of the two gatherings underscores a shift in the country’s industrial priorities. Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said at the Anhui convention that China will make a new generation of intelligent manufacturing a priority and push for the deeper integration of AI in manufacturing.

这两场会议接连举行，凸显出中国制造业发展重点正在发生转变。工业和信息化部副部长辛国斌在安徽举行的大会上表示，中国将把新一代智能制造作为重点方向，推动人工智能与制造业深度融合。

“China will cultivate smart factories, develop open-source foundation models and industry-specific AI models, strengthen domestic manufacturing software and hardware, and accelerate the low-carbon transformation of factories,” Xin said.

辛国斌说：“中国将培育智能工厂，发展开源基础模型和行业专用人工智能模型，强化国产制造业软件和硬件，加快工厂低碳化转型。”

That transition is particularly visible in Anhui. Liang Yanshun, Party secretary of Anhui, said that every minute, factories across the province produce about 190 home appliances, 50 laptop computers and four new energy vehicles.

这一转型在安徽表现得尤为明显。安徽省委书记梁言顺表示，全省工厂平均每分钟可生产约190台家电、50台笔记本电脑和4辆新能源汽车。

“Such momentum benefits from Anhui's decades of technological innovation and intelligent transformation. More and more Anhui-made products are setting sail overseas and benefiting consumers around the world,” he said.

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