WMC to show smart factories can build better future

East China's Anhui province will greet more than 500 foreign dignitaries and top business leaders from around the world at the four-day 2024 World Manufacturing Convention, which will open on Friday in Hefei, its capital city.

Besides government officials, top executives from Fortune Global 500 enterprises and multinational corporations will participate. A spectrum of business events will highlight the annual convention's theme this year, which is "Intelligent Manufacturing for a Better Future", helping the province's ambitions to become a regional hub for smart manufacturing among domestic and global players.

The major events will cover opening and closing ceremonies, keynote forums and 700 project matchmaking activities, inviting investment of 350 billion yuan ($49.2 billion).

Co-sponsored by the Anhui provincial government, a group of central government agencies and a number of global industrial associations, the WMC, now in its sixth edition, will showcase the splendors of global manufacturing know-how and cutting-edge technologies to attendees.

During the past six WMC sessions, more than 3,600 manufacturing projects were signed, with actual investment surpassing 1.5 trillion yuan, which helped elevate Anhui's manufacturing prowess.

This year's convention aims to promote the province's advanced manufacturing abilities to the world. At the same time, it will introduce similar capabilities in the rest of the world to Anhui. The convention will highlight high-end manufacturing achievements in major manufacturing countries and boost cooperation among global manufacturers.

According to the Anhui Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology, the province has set up a modern industrial system after years of development, covering 40 major sectors, among which manufacturing spans 31 major industries.

Anhui Governor Wang Qingxian stressed that in order to boost Anhui's industrial clusters, it is imperative to boost 10 new emerging industries. The province should realize business revenues of 1 trillion yuan from its equipment manufacturing industry and 500 billion yuan from the information technology and new materials industries, he said.

Using the WMC platform, Anhui has promoted project cooperation among centrally administered State-owned enterprises, private enterprises and foreign enterprises, as well as enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese enterprises.

Each of the province's 16 prefecture-level cities will organize its own exhibition to showcase its manufacturing power and cooperation projects, said Feng Kejin, director of the APDEIT.