China's manufacturing sector has made great strides in the past decade, with its contribution to global manufacturing output hitting nearly 30 percent last year, showcasing the crucial role the nation has played in safeguarding global industrial and supply chains, officials and experts said.

The comments came as China's top industry regulator said it will continue working to stabilize the proportion of manufacturing output in the GDP and step up efforts to accelerate industrial upgrade.

Wang Wei, head of the planning department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the proportion of China's manufacturing output worldwide rose from 22.5 percent in 2012 to nearly 30 percent in 2021, with the nation maintaining the title as the world's largest manufacturing country.

Specifically, the country's manufacturing output value jumped to 31.4 trillion yuan ($4.65 trillion) last year from 16.98 trillion yuan in 2012.

China has the most complete industrial categories and industrial system in the world, with leading industry chain support systems, strong resilience and great potential, Wang said.

Meanwhile, the quality of products has also seen huge leaps forward. In the past 10 years, the export value of China's technology-intensive mechanical and electrical products and high-tech goods increased to 12.8 trillion yuan and 6.3 trillion yuan in 2021, from 7.4 trillion yuan and 3.8 trillion yuan in 2012, respectively, the ministry said.

The number of industrial and information technology brands listed among the world's Top 500 brands increased from 10 in 2012 to 24 in 2021.

"China ranks first in the world in terms of output for more than 40 percent of the world's 500 major industrial products," Wang said, adding that mid-range to high-end products such as smartphones, smart TVs, energy-saving refrigerators, smart washing machines and automobiles have become commonplace in people's daily lives.

Companies are also stepping up their push to hone their research and development capabilities. Now more than 570 Chinese industrial companies made their way onto the list of global Top 2,500 companies in terms of R&D investment.

"We have constructed 23 national manufacturing innovation centers, and supported the construction of 125 basic public service platforms for industrial technology," Wang said.

Liu Wenqiang, deputy head of the Beijing-based China Center for Information Industry Development, said, "As China transitions from a manufacturing powerhouse to a smart-manufacturing hub powered by innovation, it will further help safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains."

According to the MIIT, the country will ratchet up resources to stabilize the proportion of manufacturing output in the country's GDP. In the second quarter, manufacturing output accounted for 28.8 percent of its GDP, up from 26.3 percent at the end of 2020.

In the face of the complicated external development situation, China's manufacturing sector has withstood the downward pressure and maintained growth momentum of recovery, Wang said.

The industry regulator is also stepping up efforts to promote the convergence of digital technologies and manufacturing as part of China's broader push to promote industrial upgrade.

Wang Zhiqin, vice-president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government think tank, said the digital economy will increasingly become linked with the real economy, with the former helping the latter enter a new development stage.

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