President Xi Jinping has called for China’s advanced-manufacturing sector to become “bigger and stronger”, with more autonomous and resilient industrial supply chains, according to instructions delivered at a national conference on the subject in Beijing on 16–17 September 2026. Xinhua reported the appeal as support for modernisation and the real economy, with emphasis on smart, green and integrated development.

Premier Li Qiang spoke of an “artificial intelligence + manufacturing” drive, factory digitalisation and homegrown high-end technology. The message fits a longer shift of resources from property towards industry, electric vehicles, batteries, green energy and equipment. At the same time, growing Chinese exports keep pressure on European producers, competitive on price and scale.

The conference itself does not announce an investment volume or a timetable of plants. It is a policy direction. Automation can raise productivity without raising household incomes to the same degree. For jobs the effect depends on the sector: some tasks disappear, others move towards maintenance, software and logistics.

For Europe, the response this competition requires is not limited to trade barriers. Investment in technology, affordable energy and shorter supply chains has been part of the industrial debate for years. A speech in Beijing does not overnight change the capacity of a plant in Germany or Romania, but it signals the priority China still gives to the factory, not only to services.

Readers should separate slogan from execution. “AI-powered factories” describes a target, not an inventory of lines already robotised. Without production, export and employment data, the article remains a reading of official intent, not a verdict on who is winning the industrial race.

The primary source of the message is Xinhua, relayed by Reuters. Language about supply-chain autonomy and “AI + manufacturing” appears in the presidential instruction and conference speeches, not in a product release from a single company.

Image: KUKA industrial robot / Wikimedia Commons. Not a specific Chinese factory. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: China's Xi calls for bigger, stronger advanced manufacturing | Reuters; Xi stresses advanced manufacturing | Xinhua.