This plan is formulated to implement the strategic directives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, the Provincial Party Committee, and the Provincial Government regarding accelerating the digital transformation of industries and the industrialization of digital technologies; to carry out the *Three-Year Action Plan for the Intelligent Upgrading and Digital Transformation of Jiangsu’s Manufacturing Sector (2022–2024)* and the *Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Industrial Innovation Clusters in the Digital Economy Era in Suzhou*; and to persistently advance the intelligent upgrading and digital transformation of the manufacturing sector to achieve high-quality development.
I. General Requirements
Guided by the spirit of the 20th National Congress, this plan focuses on industrial innovation clusters in the digital economy era. It takes the deepening integration of next-generation information technology and manufacturing as its main thread, prioritizes smart manufacturing as its primary direction, and emphasizes the innovative application of the Industrial Internet. Through demonstration and leadership, platform empowerment, and policy support, it aims to drive quality, efficiency, and dynamic transformations in manufacturing, thereby continuously enhancing the core competitiveness of Suzhou’s manufacturing sector.
II. Main Objectives
With the goals of achieving full coverage of all industrial enterprises above designated size in the city and striving to become a national pilot zone for intelligent manufacturing, the plan aims to implement more than 3,000 intelligent transformation and digital transformation projects in 2023, covering 2,500 enterprises above designated size, and to facilitate digital capability assessments for 12,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.We will establish more than 20 new municipal-level or higher smart manufacturing demonstration factories and more than 200 municipal-level or higher smart manufacturing demonstration workshops; additionally, we will add more than 700 new provincial-level star-rated cloud-based enterprises and more than 10 provincial-level industrial internet pilot demonstration platform projects.
III. Work Tasks
Guided by policy direction and emphasizing the leading role of enterprises, we will implement the “Twelve Major Initiatives” across six key areas: guiding enterprises to accelerate transformation, strengthening demonstration and leadership, enhancing support capabilities, and boosting platform empowerment. This will foster an ecosystem for intelligent upgrading and digital transformation characterized by broad enterprise participation, robust factor support, powerful platform empowerment, extensive service coverage, and comprehensive infrastructure.
(1) Guiding Enterprises to Accelerate Transformation.
1. Self-Assessment Guidance Initiative. Guide enterprises to conduct self-assessments against the “Smart Manufacturing Maturity Standards,” identify existing gaps, and provide precise and efficient smart manufacturing diagnostic services to unlock enterprises’ intrinsic demand for transformation. Further optimize bidding requirements to select outstanding smart manufacturing service providers capable of delivering personalized solutions. Promote the implementation and conversion of diagnostic plans to accelerate the adoption of smart equipment, advanced processes, and information management systems for the intelligent transformation of industrial enterprises.In 2023, organize 1,000 enterprises to conduct self-assessments of smart manufacturing maturity and provide municipal-level smart manufacturing diagnostic services to 100 factories and 400 workshops.
2. Industry Engagement and Exchange Initiative. Organize various industry exchange activities, including “Smart Transformation and Digital Transition” tours of districts and counties, industrial parks, policy interpretation sessions, matchmaking events, and forums and salons. Widely publicize industry best practices to continuously enhance enterprises’ awareness of transformation and steadily increase policy awareness and coverage. Leveraging platforms such as the Suzhou Smart Manufacturing Integration and Development Center, facilitate precise matching of various service resources with industrial enterprises. In 2023, organize more than 30 industry engagement events.
(II) Strengthening the Leading Role of Benchmark Enterprises.
3. Leading Enterprise Initiative.Support key enterprises in conducting integrated application innovation and in leading or participating in the formulation of national, industry, and association standards related to intelligent transformation and digital transformation. Focusing on facility interconnection, system interoperability, data sharing, and business model integration, build a group of demonstration factories and benchmark enterprises covering the entire production process, all-around management, and the full product lifecycle. Encourage outstanding leading enterprises to establish global “Lighthouse Factories,” guide various benchmark enterprises to open up advanced technologies and application scenarios to the industry, and drive more enterprises to participate in transformation.In 2023, we aim to add 20 municipal-level or higher demonstration smart factories, 200 municipal-level or higher demonstration smart workshops, and 10 provincial-level industrial internet benchmark factories.
4. Industrial Chain Collaboration Initiative. Focusing on product digitization, intelligent production, agile services, and ecosystem-based systems, we will support key enterprises in the industrial chain to apply next-generation information technologies to integrate industrial and supply chains, accelerate business model innovation, and build platform ecosystems. Based on these platforms, we will promote applications such as collaborative procurement, collaborative manufacturing, and collaborative distribution to enhance industrial chain collaboration efficiency and supply chain integration.We will vigorously encourage key enterprises in industrial chains to actively participate in ESG assessments to comprehensively enhance their sustainable development capabilities. In 2023, we will achieve breakthroughs in industrial chains such as automotive and parts, and integrated circuits, and cultivate 10 demonstration scenarios.
(3) Enhancing Service Support Capabilities.
5. Initiative to Cultivate Technology Service Exporters. Guide outstanding manufacturing enterprises, such as “Lighthouse Factories” and model enterprises, to separate their core and auxiliary operations by establishing dedicated departments or independent entities to export technologies, products, services, and solutions. These entities will serve enterprises within industrial innovation clusters, driving the overall improvement of smart manufacturing levels across the industry. Support technology service exporters in collaborating with universities and research institutions to build collaborative innovation platforms and develop standardized solutions tailored to key industries, typical scenarios, and common needs.In 2023, approximately 10 benchmark enterprises for technology service output will be selected.
6. Action Plan for Expanding and Strengthening Service Providers. In accordance with the “Suzhou Guidelines for the Construction of Typical Smart Manufacturing Scenarios,” intensify the cultivation of smart manufacturing service providers by scenario.We will encourage service providers to develop products and services covering multiple stages—including design, sales, and logistics—centered on enterprise production across 20 categorized scenarios. This will accelerate replication and promotion, generate economies of scale, and continuously expand and strengthen their operations. Through support policies such as interest subsidies and investment grants, we will encourage enterprises to adopt relevant products from various technology service providers and system integrators based on scenario-specific needs. In 2023, we will publish a list of smart manufacturing service providers categorized by scenario and select approximately 10 outstanding smart manufacturing service providers.
(4) Strengthen Platform-Based Empowerment.
7. Industrial Internet Empowerment Initiative. Support leading local enterprises in building cross-industry and cross-domain platforms, as well as industrial chain and supply chain empowerment platforms. Create a range of comprehensive and specialized platforms that serve a large number of enterprises and cover extensive regions, accelerating coordination and joint participation among upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain.We will foster the development of provincial and municipal-level industrial internet platforms, promote the implementation of industrial internet platforms in various industrial parks, build regional-level platforms centered on industrial innovation clusters, and promote new models such as central factories, collaborative manufacturing, shared manufacturing, and crowdsourcing and crowd-creation. In 2023, we aim to add 10 new provincial-level industrial internet platforms and select 20 municipal-level industrial internet specialized service providers.
8. Digital Transformation Initiative for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Promote enterprises to accelerate the networking and cloud migration of industrial equipment and business systems. Encourage and support industrial internet platforms, cloud service providers, and third-party institutions to develop user-friendly, cost-effective digital platforms, system solutions, and industrial apps tailored to the application needs of SMEs across different industries, thereby lowering the barriers and costs of cloud adoption and driving the enhancement of SMEs’ digital capabilities.In 2023, we will continue to implement the Special Action Plan for Enhancing the Digital Capabilities of SMEs, producing 12,000 digital capability assessment reports and adding 700 new star-rated cloud-adopting enterprises.
(5) Intensify Research and Development of Key Technologies.
9. Major Equipment Technology Breakthrough Initiative. Focusing on various sub-sectors of manufacturing within industrial innovation clusters, we will organize and implement projects to tackle key core technologies for major equipment, achieving breakthroughs in a range of key core technologies and integrated equipment sets that currently constrain industrial development. We will support equipment manufacturing enterprises, universities, and research institutes in jointly conducting collaborative innovation among industry, academia, research, and application, and actively undertake major national, provincial, and municipal technology R&D projects.Refine the evaluation criteria for the recognition of “first-of-its-kind” major equipment, accelerate the application and promotion of innovative products, and annually designate a batch of municipal-level “first-of-its-kind” major equipment while submitting applications for provincial-level designations. In 2023, the city will add 20 new “first-of-its-kind” major equipment items.
10. Industrial Software Innovation and Development Initiative. Adhering to the principle of “software-defined manufacturing,” we will fully leverage Suzhou’s robust manufacturing foundation and vast application market to comprehensively enhance the supply capacity for intelligent upgrades and digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. We will focus on developing a range of high-end industrial software products capable of breaking international monopolies, thereby promoting the high-quality development of the software industry.With each county-level city (district) taking the lead, we will seize the opportunities presented by the intelligent transformation and digital transition of the manufacturing sector to significantly expand the coverage of industrial software applications among enterprises above designated size. We aim to establish a number of demonstration application scenarios for industrial software in industries such as automotive manufacturing, aerospace, electronics and information technology, special equipment, and steel.By 2023, we will establish no fewer than 5 municipal-level or higher industrial software enterprise technology centers, cultivate no fewer than 10 municipal-level exemplary industrial software application scenarios, and develop no fewer than 5 provincial-level exemplary industrial software solutions.
(6) Strengthening the Network and Data Infrastructure.
11. Network Infrastructure Enhancement Initiative. Accelerate the construction and deployment of 5G base stations, gigabit optical networks, and data centers to provide high-performance, highly reliable, flexible, and secure network services. Strengthen precise and in-depth coverage of key production sites, including industrial parks, key enterprises, and model workshops (factories). Provide differentiated network support capabilities and commercial service models tailored to leading enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. By 2023, achieve full connectivity to 10-gigabit fiber-optic networks across all provincial-level and above development zones in the city.
12. Data Security Assurance Initiative.Improve regulatory frameworks and working mechanisms for industrial internet security, including supervision and inspection, risk assessment, information sharing and reporting, emergency response, and data protection. Promote the research, development, and application of security products such as industrial internet security situational awareness systems, industrial firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. Focus on cultivating local industrial information security enterprises, service providers, and star-rated security protection enterprises. By 2023, select 5 outstanding industrial information security enterprises and 10 outstanding industrial information security products and solutions.
IV. Support Measures
(1) Strengthen Organizational Leadership. All localities shall, based on this plan and in accordance with local conditions, expedite the formulation and issuance of relevant implementation plans. All departments shall strengthen coordination and cooperation, emphasize top-down and bottom-up collaboration, improve working mechanisms for intelligent upgrading and digital transformation, innovate working methods, and accelerate organizational implementation. All localities and departments shall actively assist enterprises in securing funding support from higher-level authorities, improve relevant support policies, and strive to build a multi-tiered, broad-spectrum funding guarantee system.
(2) Strengthen Talent Support. Actively attract innovation and entrepreneurship teams, high-level talent, and multi-skilled professionals in the fields of intelligent and digital transformation, and improve talent evaluation mechanisms. Launch pilot programs for training talent in the intelligent transformation and digital transition of manufacturing; strengthen the development of relevant disciplines and majors in higher vocational colleges; promote the integration of industry and education as well as school-enterprise cooperation to cultivate specialized talent. Implement a training program for digital industrial workers and establish practical training bases for manufacturing digital talent based on industrial internet platforms.
(3) Innovate Financial Services. Support financial institutions in innovating financial products and services, launching more specialized loan products for smart manufacturing, establishing fast-track channels for such loans, and promoting the integration of investment and lending. Guide financial institutions to increase medium- and long-term loans to the manufacturing sector to support equipment upgrades and technological transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises. Support enterprises in carrying out smart upgrades and digital transformation through various means, including financial leasing.
(4) Ensure Rigorous Implementation of Tasks. Strengthen monitoring and tracking. Establish a reporting system to regularly update on the progress of local work objectives and tasks. All localities and departments must refine task assignments, clarify responsibilities, enforce deadlines, and strengthen evaluation and supervision in accordance with work objectives to ensure that all indicators and tasks are completed on time.
