At the opening ceremony of the 26th China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai on October 12, Wang Weiming, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said the ministry will take new-generation intelligent manufacturing as the main direction and deepen the "AI + manufacturing" initiative, vigorously developing open-source foundation models and clusters of vertical industry models.
Wang outlined three priorities: building an industry innovation engine by strengthening basic research and breakthroughs in key core technologies while reinforcing enterprises' role as the principal actors in scientific and technological innovation; promoting industrial system optimization and upgrading with coordinated advancement of scale application of emerging industries, forward-looking layout of future industries, and renewal of traditional industries; and consolidating intelligent software and hardware foundations by guiding enterprise digital transformation, cultivating industry-focused digital service providers, and building intelligent factories and high-standard digital parks.
On the same occasion, Shanghai launched its action plan for accelerating the development of new-generation intelligent manufacturing, setting targets of bringing 8,000 humanoid robots into factories by 2028 and raising industrial robot density to 600 units per 10,000 workers.
Industry observers note that 2026 is widely regarded as the first year of mass production for humanoid robots. MIIT and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission launched a special action in June to create a capability for 10,000-unit-scale deployment of humanoid and embodied intelligence by year-end, with a first batch of humanoid robots already working in real industrial scenarios across textiles, autos, and consumer electronics.
