Officials Release the List of the First‑batch 15 Pilot‑Level Smart Factories; Top‑tier Standards Lead New Industrial Development Direction On November 27, six authorities including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially unveiled the list of the first‑batch 15 pilot‑level smart factories, covering key sectors such as equipment manufacturing, raw materials, electronic information and consumer goods.
What defines a pilotlevel smart factory? According to relevant officials from MIIT, pilot‑level smart factories integrate new‑generation information technologies, advanced manufacturing technologies and lean management concepts, representing the highest standard for smart manufacturing in China.
With the release of the list, China’s smart manufacturing system has achieved a crucial leap. Building upon digitalization and networking, it is advancing toward a new intelligent phase featured by in‑depth application of artificial intelligence.
Building the "Pyramid" System for Smart Factories
The development of pilot‑level smart factories originates from the tiered cultivation initiative for smart factories jointly launched in June by MIIT and five other authorities.
In accordance with the Criteria for Tiered Cultivation of Smart Factories (2025 Version), the initiative classifies smart factories into four tiers: Basic, Advanced, Excellent and Pilot.

Wang Su, Director of the New‑type Industrialization Research Office at China Electronics Information Industry Development Research Institute, stated in an interview that the four tiers correspond to different stages of enterprises’ smart‑manufacturing journey. This progressive framework features differentiated focuses and clear objectives, pointing out definite paths for enterprises’ intelligent transformation. Specifically:
The Basic tier targets enterprises in early‑stage development, guiding them to complete the fundamental shift from “owning equipment” to “utilizing data”. This tier encourages self‑assessment and self‑construction with lowered thresholds, aiming to raise the penetration of intelligence and help more enterprises take the first step toward smart transformation.
The Advanced tier requires enterprises to realize system collaboration and possess certain industrial influence. Accreditation for this tier is organized by local competent authorities and corporate groups, highlighting regional demonstration effects.
The Excellent tier demands enterprises to have intelligent optimization capabilities and act as nationwide demonstration benchmarks.
As the highest tier, the Pilot level focuses on exploring future manufacturing modes, emphasizing the goal of “global leadership” and in‑depth adoption of artificial intelligence.
Strict mechanisms including expert review and on‑site inspection are adopted for selecting Excellent‑level and Pilot‑level factories to guarantee high quality and industrial leading performance.

Top‑tier Standards Chart New Directions for Industries
The Criteria for Tiered Cultivation of Smart Factories (2025 Version) sets stringent access thresholds for pilot‑level smart factories, requiring their key tech‑economic indicators to reach globally leading levels.
Among the requirements, artificial intelligence shall be applied in no less than 60% of scenarios, far above the 20% threshold for Excellent‑level factories. In terms of construction scope, pilotlevel smart factories must cover all five links: factory construction, R&D and design, production operations, production management and business operation management.
From the perspective of technology integration, pilot‑level factories shall realize deep coupling between artificial intelligence and manufacturing, integrated application of industrial internet, digital twin and computing infrastructure, as well as full‑link collaboration covering the whole product lifecycle and end‑to‑end supply chain.
The depth of technology integration defines the core competitiveness of pilot‑level factories. Take Nanjing Iron & Steel, one of the selected factories, as an example: supported by digital twin and AI, it carries out customized special‑steel production with an on‑time order fulfillment rate of 98.5% and new‑product R&D cycles cut by 50% versus traditional modes. XCMG leverages AI‑driven R&D and manufacturing to boost global customization capacity, shortening order delivery cycles by 55%.
Beyond technological breakthroughs, pilot‑level factories also achieve innovations in management and business models. These factories generally deploy operation‑management intelligent agents to realize low‑manpower or unmanned operations for key workflows such as marketing, product service and supply‑chain management. They achieve zero waste, zero inventory and zero emission in production, forming sustainable low‑carbon, shared and net‑zero manufacturing models.
Meanwhile, pilot‑level factories undertake the mission of driving collaborative innovation across upstream and downstream industrial chains via the “mother factory + replication & promotion” mechanism.
Wang Su commented that pilot‑level factories are mostly concentrated in strategic industries including high‑end equipment, core components and new‑generation information technology. They not only demonstrate China’s technological strengths but also serve as vital platforms for elevating Chinese manufacturing’s position in the global value chain. They help Chinese manufacturing build global benchmarks, act as innovation diffusion hubs, support independent control of high‑end industries, and guide capital and policy focus.

Driving More Enterprises toward Intelligent Manufacturing
The launch of the first‑batch pilot‑level factories marks remarkable achievements in China’s smart‑factory development.
Official statistics show that since the 14th Five‑Year Plan period, China has built more than 35,000 Basic‑level, over 7,000 Advanced‑level and more than 230 Excellent‑level smart factories, laying a solid foundation for intelligent transformation.
For Excellent‑level factories alone, after renovation and upgrading, hundreds of them have seen average product R&D cycles cut by 28.4%, average production efficiency rise by 22.3%, average defective‑product rate drop by 50.2% and average carbon emission reduced by 20.4%, fully validating the value of intelligent transformation. Nevertheless, how to push more enterprises to build smart factories remains an urgent challenge.
It is worth noting that smart factories are not exclusive to large corporations. Among over 500,000 industrial enterprises above designated size in China, the vast majority are small‑and‑medium‑sized private firms, which constitute a major force for manufacturing upgrading. Yet these enterprises are confronted with multiple barriers in capital, technology and talent when building smart factories.
Li Muzhai, Assistant Researcher of the Industrial Policy Research Institute at China Electronics Information Industry Development Research Institute, believes that government guidance, supply‑side empowerment, leading‑enterprise driving force and tiered cultivation hold the key to promoting smart‑factory construction among enterprises.
Specifically, governments shall play a guiding role and help enterprises define directions and paths for intelligent upgrading with policy support. Meanwhile, it is necessary to boost the development and application of smart‑manufacturing equipment, industrial software and systems, and accelerate the cultivation of smart‑manufacturing system solution providers.
Leading enterprises shall exert driving effects to foster an industrial ecosystem featuring collaboration between large, medium‑sized and small firms. Enterprises themselves shall advance step‑by‑step. Based on business demands, they can accumulate experience by progressively replacing and upgrading manufacturing links and processes, and move toward higher‑tier smart factories.