Up in the clouds, thousands of miles of neighbors. On the evening of May 23, the opening ceremony and main forum of the BRICS Industrial Internet and Digital Manufacturing Development Forum with the theme of “Seizing the development opportunities of the Industrial Internet and Working together to Promote the digital transformation of the Manufacturing Industry” were held in Xiamen.

At present, the fourth industrial revolution is deepening, the real economy is accelerating the transformation and upgrading to digital, networked and intelligent, and the post-epidemic era is intertwined with digital transformation. The forum has provided the world with BRICS solutions and contributed to the BRICS strength.

About 300 people from BRICS government departments, heads of international organizations, diplomatic envoys of relevant countries in China, representatives of scientific research institutions, industry associations and leading enterprises participated in the forum through a combination of online and offline. Among the academic representatives, there are academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Li Peigen of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, academicians of South African Academy of Engineering, Russian Academy of Engineering and International Academy of Higher Education corresponding academicians; Industry representatives include Li Dongsheng, Vice Chairman of China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of TCL, Tang Xiuguo, President and director of China Sany Group Co., LTD., and industry representatives from Brazil and India.

Focusing on the themes of “Industrial Internet and digital transformation of Manufacturing industry”, “Transformation and innovation of manufacturing industry under the wave of digitalization” and “Building Industrial Internet and digital manufacturing development ecology”, the participants believed that the vigorous development and active innovation of the industrial Internet are profoundly affecting the production mode, enterprise form and business model of the manufacturing industry. The convening of this forum plays an important role in deepening exchanges and cooperation among countries in the fields of industrial Internet and digital transformation, and further consolidating the BRICS partnership for the new Industrial Revolution.

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As an important landmark outcome of the Forum, the BRICS Cooperation Initiative on Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Industry was also released at the forum. The initiative focuses on building consensus on digital development, building accessible digital infrastructure, fully stimulating the value of data elements, and accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing industry to jointly grasp development opportunities and jointly address digital development risks and challenges.

The initiative pointed out that the current fourth industrial revolution is deepening, and the real economy is accelerating its transformation and upgrading to digital, networked and intelligent. As a new type of infrastructure, application mode and industrial ecology with the deep integration of the new generation of information and communication technology and the industrial economy, the industrial Internet has built a new manufacturing and service system covering the whole industrial chain and value chain through the comprehensive connection of people, machines, things, and systems, providing a way to realize the digitalization, networking, and intelligent development of industry and even industry. The post-pandemic era is intertwined with digital transformation, and the top priority is to achieve rapid economic recovery. To this end, the BRICS countries need to innovate and develop the industrial Internet, promote the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, deepen cooperation, share practical experience, and realize complementarity.

The Forum, co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the People’s Government of Fujian Province and the People’s Government of Xiamen City, aims to adapt to the development trend of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, jointly promote innovation cooperation in the field of digital transformation, and build an important exchange platform for digital development among BRICS countries.