During Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Europe, "Made in China" received a lot of support. At the annual meeting between the Chinese and German premiers, Premier Li pointed out that China is willing to better align "Made in China 2025" with Germany's "Industry 4.0" and other development strategies. During a visit to the Geely-Volvo automotive innovation exhibition with Belgian Prime Minister Michel in Brussels, Premier Li encouraged Chinese enterprises to improve their technological level, cultivate craftsmanship, and upgrade Chinese manufacturing through openness and cooperation.
 
Manufacturing is the mainstay of the national economy, the foundation of the country, the tool for national prosperity, and the basis for national strength. It is the main battlefield for implementing the "Internet Plus" initiative and developing the digital economy. The status of manufacturing as the main battlefield is determined by its dominant position in the national economy, the competition for the high ground in a new round of manufacturing, the trend of integrated development of "Internet Plus", and the strategic choice of national development.
 
China is the world's largest manufacturing country, and manufacturing is the mainstay of the national economy, determining the quality and efficiency of the real economy. Manufacturing is the main source of material wealth and the primary avenue for employment.
 
After nearly 40 years of accumulation and development since the reform and opening up, China's manufacturing comprehensive strength and international competitiveness have significantly increased. In 2016, the added value of manufacturing reached 24.8 trillion yuan, accounting for 33.3% of GDP. Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that China's manufacturing output accounts for over 20% of the world's total, maintaining its position as the world's largest manufacturing country for seven consecutive years. According to international classification standards, among the 22 major categories of manufacturing, China has seven industries ranked first in the world. Among more than 500 industrial products, over 220 types have the highest output globally; industrial finished product exports account for about 1/7 of the global total, making China the largest exporter of industrial finished products.
 
The rapid development of manufacturing has created a large number of job opportunities and is the main industry for absorbing employment in China. By the end of 2015, the number of employed persons in urban manufacturing units reached 50.687 million, accounting for 28% of the total urban employment, ranking first among all industries. The employment driving effect of manufacturing is significant, and its development can greatly boost employment in transportation, wholesale and retail, accommodation, catering, and other industries.
 
After the international financial crisis, global manufacturing is at a critical juncture of reshaping development concepts, adjusting imbalanced structures, and reconstructing competitive advantages. Manufacturing has once again become the high ground of global competition. The accelerated integration of digital technology and manufacturing technology has brought disruptive changes to the production methods and development models of manufacturing. A new industrial revolution is brewing, and manufacturing has re-emerged as the high ground of global economic competition. Developed countries are focusing on the development of the real economy, implementing strategies of "re-industrialization" and "manufacturing return." The United States has released the "National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing," Germany has proposed "Industry 4.0," the UK has published the "Industrial 2050 Strategy," France has issued the "New Industrial France" plan, and Japan has launched the "Revitalization Strategy," seeking to gain a leading advantage in technology and industry, seizing high-end manufacturing fields, and widening the gap with China.
 
While developed countries are actively seizing the high ground in the new round of manufacturing competition, emerging countries are rising rapidly, continuously capturing shares in the processing and manufacturing industries with lower labor and resource costs, exerting pressure on China. Accelerating digital transformation has become the only way for China's manufacturing industry to cope with the dual competitive pressures from developed and emerging countries.
 
Against this backdrop, manufacturing has become the main focus of "Internet Plus." The Internet is the soul of the digital economy and the most dynamic field, playing an important role in "fusion empowerment." The Internet shows a basic path of reverse penetration and integration from the tertiary industry to the secondary and primary industries. Since China fully connected to the international Internet more than 20 years ago, the Internet has profoundly changed retail, logistics, transportation, finance, accommodation, catering, tourism, entertainment, and other service industries, and is accelerating its penetration into manufacturing. From the development path of "Internet Plus," manufacturing has become the current main focus.
 
From an international perspective, industrial internet is a shortcoming that China urgently needs to address. China is a major internet country, leading the world in consumer internet, while the industrial internet, which is a major component of the industrial internet, still lags behind Europe and the United States. Fully leveraging the dual advantages of being a major manufacturing country and a major internet country, promoting the integration of manufacturing and the internet, and accelerating the development of the industrial internet is an urgent need to further enhance China's internet advantages.
 
Accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing is also a national strategic requirement. At the cybersecurity and information technology work symposium on April 19, 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping made clear requirements for the transformation and development of the real economy, emphasizing: "We must focus on promoting the deep integration of the internet and the real economy, using information flow to drive technology flow, capital flow, talent flow, and material flow, to promote the optimization of resource allocation and enhance total factor productivity, playing a positive role in promoting innovative development, transforming the economic development model, and adjusting the economic structure."
 
In recent years, the country has attached great importance to the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing. The State Council issued "Made in China 2025" and introduced the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Integration of Manufacturing and the Internet"; at the ministerial level, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Development Plan for the Integration of Information Technology and Industrialization (2016-2020)" and jointly issued important documents such as the "Robot Industry Development Plan (2016-2020)" and the "Intelligent Manufacturing Development Plan (2016-2020)" with other ministries. Under the guidance of these policies, the digital transformation of manufacturing will further deepen, and manufacturing will become the main battlefield for implementing the "Internet Plus" initiative and developing the digital economy.
 
The vigorous development of digital technology provides a rare historical opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing. Manufacturing becoming the main battlefield of the digital economy is an objective reflection of the evolution logic of the digital economy, an inevitable choice for developing a new economy and releasing new momentum, and a major issue related to enhancing international competitiveness and the national economy and people's livelihood.