At the 2026 World Manufacturing Conference held in Hefei, Anhui on September 20th, the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center released the "Manufacturing Industry Digital Transformation Capability Level (2026)", which showed that as of the first half of this year, China's level of integration of information and technology has reached 67.1, entering a new stage of coordinated promotion of digitization, networking, and intelligence.  
The integration of informatization and industrialization is a comprehensive index that measures the maturity of the digital, networked, and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry. The index increased from 59.6 in 2022 to 67.1 at the end of June 2026, reflecting the steady rise in the level of digitalization in China's manufacturing industry and the continued effectiveness of transformation.
The report shows that in terms of digital penetration rate, the proportion of enterprises that have achieved digital penetration in research and development design, production and manufacturing, and business management is 86.3%, 69.5%, and 81.4% respectively, indicating that the digital foundation of the manufacturing industry continues to solidify. At the same time, with the deepening of networked integration, nearly 50% of Chinese enterprises have carried out networked collaboration, and new formats and models such as digital twins, chain network collaboration, and intelligent production are rapidly emerging.
Digital intelligence technology is accelerating its integration and penetration into the entire manufacturing chain and all scenarios, continuously reshaping the industrial value system, "said Jiang Mingtao, director of the National Industrial Information Security Development Research Center, on site.
The integration of artificial intelligence technology and manufacturing industry is constantly deepening. The report shows that the application of intelligent technology in China's manufacturing industry is accelerating, with a penetration rate of 34.2% in key scenarios of artificial intelligence technology, an increase of 5.5 percentage points from the previous year. 10.6% of large-scale manufacturing enterprises rely on artificial intelligence models to empower business innovation.
In terms of regional development, the report shows that major industrial provinces in China continue to play a leading role. Taking Anhui as an example, its level of integration of industrialization and informatization has increased to 68.2%, and the penetration rate of key applications of artificial intelligence technology has reached 34.8%.