- City targets full-spectrum AI integration in manufacturing by 2028
- New action plan emphasizes collaborative innovation and cross-industry applications
Ningbo, a key manufacturing hub in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, has launched an ambitious three-year plan to integrate AI across its manufacturing industries, positioning itself as a national leader in AI-driven industrial transformation.
The plan, titled “Deepening the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing and Creating an AI+Manufacturing Innovation Hub (2026-2028),” aims to drive innovation and collaborative synergies across the sector.
The city’s manufacturing base, home to both traditional industries like automotive parts, industrial equipment, and small appliances, as well as emerging sectors such as new energy vehicles and green petrochemicals, provides fertile ground for AI applications.
The action plan focuses on “full-scene openness,” meaning AI will be applied across every aspect of the manufacturing process, from product design and production to management and supply chain operations.
On the research and development front, Ningbo plans to promote the “AI plus R&D Design” model, supporting companies in developing datasets and AI-driven generative design and real-time simulation applications.
For production, the plan emphasizes AI-driven process optimization and adaptive systems to enhance both continuous and discrete industrial sectors.
Management processes will be transformed with AI, aiming to streamline decision-making. Additionally, AI will be employed to track orders throughout the supply chain, build predictive models, and strengthen resilience in the sector.
The action plan sets ambitious targets for 2028, aiming to establish a comprehensive AI-powered manufacturing ecosystem with 100 hallmark application projects, 100 high-quality solutions, and 100 AI talent programs — known as the “Three Hundreds.”
The city also aims to build a national AI application trial base by the end of the decade, cementing its position as a model for AI integration in manufacturing.
