On October 22, 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Cultivation of New Models and New Formats of Shared Manufacturing to Promote High-quality Development of Manufacturing Industry” (Ministry of Industry [2019] No. 226)(hereinafter referred to as the “Guiding Opinions”). The relevant contents of the Guiding Opinions are interpreted as follows:

Q: What is the background and significance of the Guidelines?

A: The sharing economy is an emerging economic form that has emerged in recent years and is developing rapidly on a global scale. The CPC Central Committee and The State Council attach great importance to the development of the sharing economy, and have clearly proposed to cultivate new growth points and form new driving forces in the sharing economy and other fields. Shared manufacturing, the application innovation of the sharing economy in the field of production and manufacturing, is a new model and new form of business that focuses on all aspects of production and manufacturing, uses the sharing concept to gather dispersed and idle production resources, and flexibly matches and dynamically shares them to the demand side. At present, a number of typical shared manufacturing platforms have emerged in the fields of mechanical processing, electronic manufacturing, textile and clothing, scientific research instruments, industrial design, inspection and testing, logistics and warehousing, forming a variety of new models and new formats such as capacity docking, collaborative production, and shared factories, showing great vitality and potential for development. However, shared manufacturing is still in its infancy, facing problems such as lack of willingness to share, imperfect development ecology, and weak digital foundation, so it is necessary to further strengthen policy guidance and optimize the development environment.

The development of shared manufacturing is conducive to optimizing resource allocation, improving the utilization efficiency of production resources, reducing idle capacity, and expanding effective supply. It is conducive to improving the flexibility and flexibility of industrial organizations, promoting the integrated development of large, small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting the extension of product manufacturing to services, upgrading the industrial chain, and accelerating the development of the global value chain. It will help reduce the production and transaction costs of small and medium-sized enterprises, promote the specialization, standardization and quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, which is of great significance to promote the integrated development of a new generation of information technology and manufacturing industry, cultivate and strengthen new drivers, and promote the high-quality development of manufacturing industry.

In order to do a good job in the preparation of the “Guiding Opinions”, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has organized several expert and enterprise symposiums, visited and systematically investigated a number of relevant enterprises, extensively solicited opinions from all parties, clarified the actual development needs of the industry, and clarified key tasks. After the introduction of the “Guiding Opinions”, it will provide guidance for all localities to promote the development of shared manufacturing.

Q: What are the general ideas and basic principles of the Guiding Opinions?

A: Promote the sharing of manufacturing, innovation, service and other resources, strengthen demonstration guidance and policy support, improve the development environment for shared manufacturing, develop new models and new forms of shared manufacturing, fully stimulate the vitality of innovation, tap the development potential, release the impetus for transformation, and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

The Guidelines put forward four basic principles: First, market leadership and government guidance. Adhere to the market-oriented, give full play to the main role of enterprises, and the government actively creates a good environment to support and encourage the development of shared manufacturing innovation. Second, innovation-driven and demonstration-led. Through model innovation, technological innovation, service innovation and management innovation, we will accelerate the cultivation of new forms of shared manufacturing, and organize and implement demonstration activities for shared manufacturing. Third, platform traction and cluster drive. Give full play to the traction role of shared manufacturing platforms, innovate the allocation of resources, rely on the spatial agglomeration advantages of industrial clusters and industrial ecological advantages, and accelerate the landing and scale development of shared manufacturing. The fourth is to implement policies based on industry and classification. Adhere to the problem-oriented, precise policies, and promote the deepening application of shared manufacturing in various regions, industries and links in stages and steps.

Q: What are the development directions proposed in the Guiding Opinions?

A: The “Guiding Opinions” in accordance with the three main links of the industrial value chain, combined with the actual development needs of shared manufacturing, focusing on manufacturing capacity sharing, supported by innovation capacity and service capacity sharing, put forward three development directions. First, manufacturing capacity sharing. It mainly includes the sharing of manufacturing resources such as production equipment, special tools, and production lines. Second, innovation capacity sharing. It mainly includes the sharing of intellectual resources such as product design and development capabilities, as well as the sharing of scientific research equipment and experimental capabilities. Third, service capacity sharing. Mainly around logistics warehousing, product testing, equipment maintenance, inspection of goods and factories, supply chain management, data storage and analysis and other common service needs of enterprises.

Q: What are the main objectives set out in the Guidelines?

A: The Guidelines set out two-stage development goals. By 2022, 20 shared manufacturing demonstration platforms with strong innovation ability and great industry impact will be formed; Promote and support 50 shared manufacturing demonstration projects with good development prospects and strong driving role; Gradually improve credit, standards and other supporting systems, support the research and development of common technologies, constantly consolidate the foundation of digital development, and initially form a shared manufacturing and collaborative development ecology. By 2025, the development of shared manufacturing will reach a new level, the demonstration and leading role will be fully displayed, the shared manufacturing model will be widely used, the ecosystem will be improved, the level of resource digitization will be significantly improved, and it will become an important driving force for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

Q: What are the key tasks set forth in the Guiding Opinions?

Answer: According to the development characteristics and main problems of China’s shared manufacturing at the present stage, the “Guiding Opinions” put forward 12 key tasks from four aspects: platform, cluster, ecology and foundation. First, cultivate a shared manufacturing platform, actively promote the construction of the platform, encourage the innovative application of the platform, and promote the evolution and upgrading of the platform. Second, relying on industrial clusters to develop shared manufacturing, explore the construction of shared factories, support the development of public technology centers, and actively promote service capacity sharing. Third, improve the development ecology of shared manufacturing, innovate the resource-sharing mechanism, promote the construction of the credit system, and optimize and improve the standard system. The fourth is to consolidate the digital foundation of shared manufacturing development, improve the level of enterprise digitalization, promote the construction of new infrastructure, and strengthen network security.

Q: What are the safeguards for the implementation of the Guidelines?

A: In order to promote the effective implementation of the Guiding Opinions and promote the development of new models and formats of shared manufacturing, four safeguard measures have been put forward: First, strengthen organizational promotion, gather the strength of all parties, and help the innovative development of shared manufacturing through various means. The second is to promote demonstration leadership, select a number of shared manufacturing demonstration platforms and projects in service-oriented manufacturing demonstration activities, and strengthen the exchange and promotion of typical experience. The third is to strengthen policy support, actively use existing funding channels, support common technology research and development, and guide and promote financial institutions to provide financial services for shared manufacturing. Fourth, strengthen the training of talents, carry out the training of talents urgently needed in the field of shared manufacturing, and strengthen the training of composite talents in the field of Internet and manufacturing.