China's AI edge is on the factory floor, Morgan Stanley economist says

China is well positioned to lead the next wave of industrial innovation by integrating artificial intelligence into factories, logistics networks and power grids, said Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley.

China's vast manufacturing base, rich industrial data and extensive real-world application scenarios provide a strong foundation for deploying AI across the real economy. The country already has more than 30,000 smart factories and over 5 million 5G base stations, supporting AI-driven industrial upgrades, Xing said.

Morgan Stanley projects that China's share of global manufacturing value added could rise from about 28 percent currently to 30 percent by 2035.

In the first three quarters, the value added of China's manufacturing enterprises above designated size grew 5.7 percent year-on-year, while that of high-tech manufacturing enterprises rose 14.3 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

Zhu Jingyi and Dong Yuan contributed to this story.