Since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago, China's manufacturing industry has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable industrial achievements in a short period of time. It has established the world's only modern industrial system with all categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification, and has become a truly world manufacturing country. The instrument and meter manufacturing industry, as an important component of China's manufacturing industry, has played an important role in promoting the development of the national economy. According to statistics from relevant departments, as early as 2006, China had become the second largest instrument and meter producing country in Asia after Japan. After rapid development in recent years, the product categories of China's instrument and meter manufacturing industry have become relatively diverse, and the production and development capabilities of the industrial system have become increasingly large. The growth rate of production and sales has also been rapid, but various difficulties are still hidden in it.

With the transformation of the economy and the continuous transfer of the world manufacturing industry, many urgent problems in the instrument and meter manufacturing industry have gradually emerged, such as weak innovation capabilities and a large number of "bottleneck" core basic components still relying on imports, which restrict the sustainable development of China's instrument and meter manufacturing industry. How can China's instrument and meter manufacturing industry grow from large to strong as the manufacturing industry moves towards a stage of high-quality development? We still need to leverage both innovation and quality to play a role.

Striving towards a strong country in instrument and meter manufacturing, innovation is a "weapon"

At present, the challenges faced by China's instrument and meter manufacturing industry include not only overcapacity at the low-end and insufficient supply of high-end products, but also a lack of innovation in new product development, insufficient reserves of new technologies, and significant dependence on core key technologies for external use.

According to statistics from China Customs, from 2013 to 2017, six categories of imported instruments were priced between 70 billion to 90 billion yuan per year. At the same time, there is also a problem of hollowing out in many domestically produced instruments and meters. A certain instrument manufacturing enterprise in Guangzhou uses 40% of its net profit each year to purchase high-end universal components (high-end lasers, molecular pumps) required for mass spectrometers, and this situation urgently needs improvement.

"The current global demand for 'Made in China' is approaching saturation, and the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry depends on providing more innovative products." Shi Wei, Director of the Industry Department of the Economic System and Management Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, believes that the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry should gradually shift from excessive reliance on foreign equipment and technology imports to an innovation led development model.

Industry insiders suggest that for the high-quality development of the instrument and meter manufacturing industry, policies and financial resources should be coordinated. In the process of enterprise transformation, key processes, technology research and industrialization, such as sensors, industrial software, and industrial control systems, should be supported to enhance the core competitiveness of domestic instruments and meters.