On November 27, 2025, the World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference was held in Nanjing. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. During the conference, the Research Report on Standardization Development of Intelligent Manufacturing (2025) (hereinafter referred to as the Research Report) was officially released. The report was led by the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), with participation from leading enterprises such as Huawei and multiple research institutes.
The report is organized into five comprehensive chapters and provides an in-depth analysis of global trends in intelligent manufacturing standardization. It systematically summarizes China’s achievements in standardization over recent decades and examines the practical pathways adopted by leading enterprises.
Chapter 1 presents a comprehensive analysis of global trends in intelligent manufacturing standardization, identifying Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, and Data Spaces as three critical technologies at the forefront of international competition among major global players such as Germany, the United States, and Japan. The chapter also highlights a strategic shift within international standardization organizations—from building foundational frameworks to pursuing technological breakthroughs through cross-organizational collaboration. In addition, it outlines the current standardization landscape within ISO/IEC JTC 1 and details the specific priorities and contributions of its key working groups.
Chapter 2 reviews the three development stages of intelligent manufacturing standardization in China. The process began with a top-level design phase from 2015 to 2017, followed by an interconnectivity-focused phase from 2018 to 2023. Since 2024, the emphasis has shifted toward creating tangible value by addressing specific challenges in enterprises’ digital and intelligent transformation, thereby delivering measurable economic benefits. Today, China’s intelligent manufacturing standardization framework has evolved into a well-structured system with a distinctive development model.
Chapters 3 and 4 present a series of enterprise case studies on intelligent manufacturing transformation, each detailing the technical solutions adopted. Through these practices, Chinese enterprises have developed scenario-oriented standards clusters that are used to verify the practical feasibility of standards and identify areas for further improvement.
In its concluding section, the report identifies three major standardization challenges: insufficient industry application scenarios, a mismatch between standard development cycles and the pace of technological iteration, and the need to enhance international influence. In response, the report proposes four key recommendations. These include innovating standard supply by establishing an open-source, collaborative, and agile standardization system; addressing application barriers by creating replicable and verifiable implementation pathways; fostering the industrial ecosystem to stimulate enterprises’ endogenous innovation and tool development; and enhancing international influence to promote the global adoption of China’s solutions.
According to the Research Report, China has taken the lead in developing 52 international standards and 480 national standards in the field of intelligent manufacturing, achieving breakthroughs in areas such as large-scale personalized customization and industrial process control systems. As the standardization framework continues to be refined and implemented, China’s intelligent manufacturing sector is progressing from exporting products to exporting technological systems and industrial ecosystems.
Looking ahead, China will continue to strengthen its intelligent manufacturing standardization system, systematically advance standard development, and leverage standardization innovation to drive technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading.
