The industrial internet has entered a phase of rapid growth: its development roadmap is now clear, and a trillion-dollar market may be on the horizon.

【文章概要】The industrial internet has once again received a major policy boost. On the 13th, reporters learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that the ministry recently issued the “Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Industrial Internet (2021–2023)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan highlights that 2021–2023 will be a period of rapid growth for China’s industrial internet, with the goal of achieving both quantitative and qualitative advances in the development of new‑generation industrial‑internet infrastructure, widespread adoption of new models and business forms, and a significant enhancement of the industry’s overall competitiveness by 2023. Industry experts and institutions believe that the industrial internet holds substantial medium- to long-term market potential and investment opportunities in China’s information technology sector, and this strengthened policy support is expected to further propel the sector’s upward momentum.

The industrial internet has once again received a major policy boost. On the 13th, reporters learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) that the ministry recently issued the “Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Industrial Internet (2021–2023)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan highlights that 2021–2023 will be a period of rapid growth for China’s industrial internet, with the goal of achieving both quantitative and qualitative advances in the development of new‑generation industrial‑internet infrastructure by 2023, broadly deploying new models and business formats, and significantly enhancing the sector’s overall competitiveness. Industry experts and institutions believe that the industrial internet holds substantial medium- to long-term market potential and investment opportunities in China’s information technology sector, and this strengthened policy support is expected to further propel the industry’s upward momentum.

The roadmap for the development of the industrial internet has been clarified.

The three-year implementation roadmap for the industrial internet is becoming increasingly clear. In terms of new infrastructure, the Plan sets out to: by 2023, establish 30 fully 5G‑connected factories across 10 industries; develop 3 to 5 influential, comprehensive industrial internet platforms; and essentially complete the national industrial internet big data center system, with 20 regional-level sub-centers and 10 industry-level sub-centers.

In terms of enhancing technological innovation capabilities, the Plan sets out to achieve industrial breakthroughs in a number of key technologies across areas such as networking, identifier systems, and platforms, while significantly strengthening the supply capacity of industrial chips, industrial software, and industrial control systems. By 2023, foundational hardware and software products—including industrial 5G chips, modules, and gateways, as well as edge computing chips—will be largely mature.

The industrial development ecosystem has been further improved. The Plan specifies that more than 40 innovative enterprises with main business revenues exceeding RMB 1 billion will be cultivated, and 1 to 2 influential leading enterprises will be established. In addition, five national-level industrial internet industry demonstration bases will be developed to enhance the modernization of industrial and supply chains.

In addition, local governments are accelerating their strategic planning: over the past month, cities including Chengdu, Nanjing, Xi’an, and Dalian have successively unveiled region-specific action plans for the innovative development of the industrial internet, further speeding up the sector’s deployment.

In recent years, China’s industrial internet has experienced rapid development. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the country has now established more than 70 industrial‑internet platforms with significant industry‑wide and regional influence, connecting a total of 40 million industrial devices (sets). The construction of cross‑sector industrial cloud platforms, AI‑ and machine‑vision‑based industrial applications, and industrial solutions have emerged as key areas attracting investment and financing. As of the end of November 2020, the number of registered industrial‑internet identifiers in China had surpassed 8 billion, with daily resolution requests exceeding 5 million, and the initial benefits of industrial‑internet applications are beginning to materialize.

Song Yingchang, deputy director of the Industrial Internet Research Office at the Informationization and Software Industry Research Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, told a reporter from the Economic Information Daily that the introduction of favorable policies for the industrial internet will further stimulate enterprises’ innovation potential, unleash the vitality of platform development, and accelerate the cultivation of both general-purpose platforms offering common services and comprehensive cross‑industry, cross‑domain platforms. At the same time, targeting sectors such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, and green manufacturing, these policies will drive innovation and optimization of end-to-end digital transformation solutions, while speeding up innovation in core technologies and products—including 5G networks, edge intelligence, machine vision, digital simulation, and industrial control systems.