China's industrial internet a 'beachhead' in global development

China is expected to build an industrial internet system so the country can gain a beachhead in the next generation of industrial development globally, according to leading company executives and industry experts who spoke during the ongoing two sessions.

"The country should first establish a national-level open source alliance on the industrial internet platform to encourage developers to participate in developing open source codes and systems," said Zhou Yunjie, president of home appliance giant Haier Group.

Zhou pointed out it is urgent for China to beef up industrial internet efforts, as the sector is entering an explosive period and there has not yet been a dominant platform worldwide.

"China's industrial internet started early and has a high starting point, but still has a long way to go before large-scale application. The window period is only two or three years for China," said Zhou, who is also a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress.

The industrial internet, also known as the "industrial internet of things", refers to the broader adoption of advanced technologies such as next-generation wireless networks, big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things. The "window period" is a short period of time within which some action can be taken before achieving a desired outcome.

In his proposal, Zhou called for joint efforts to promote the building of basic common standards in platforms, networks and security, and realize data interconnection and intercommunication between platforms and industrial apps.

"Multinational companies from China are also encouraged to replicate their successes in the industrial internet platform overseas, and offer both hardware and software services abroad through the industrial internet platforms," he added.

Haier Group's COSMOPlat industrial internet platform is a large-scale customization platform that allows users to engage in many stages of the industrial process, from design to sales.

With 340 million users and 3.9 million ecosystem partners, COSMOPlat has emerged as one of the top industrial internet platforms in the world.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has already nurtured over 70 industrial internet platforms that have regional influence, with related applications covering over 30 key industries across the country. More than 350,000 industrial enterprises are connected to cloud platforms.

Xu Xiaolan, president of the China Academy of Industrial Internet, said the country should strengthen policy guidance and accelerate key industries to develop industrial internet.

"The innovative model of the industrial internet is also expected to be further promoted to more new business scenarios of the real economy," said Xu, who is also a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.