Upgrade gathers speed

China's manufacturing reinvents itself, coasts on Made in China 2025 strategy

The colorful, fragrant and refreshing spring is in full bloom in Changping district, 50 kilometers from downtown Beijing, but 27-year-old precision instrument engineering student Shao Meng, sporting a white cotton T-shirt and goggles, is busy in his 60-square-meter flat, seemingly more fascinated by the task of debugging the operating system of a "climbing robot".

That's the kind of intensity, focus and dedication you will likely see in specialists across China these days, as the nation accelerates its drive to upgrade its manufacturing sector, in line with the central government's "Made in China 2025" strategy launched in 2015.