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The academic journal 'New Industrialization' Issue 5, 2025, supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, published a signed article by TCL Founder and Chairman Li Dongsheng titled 'Using Digital-Real Integration as a Lever to Explore Practical Paths for High-End Manufacturing to Advance New Industrialization'. The full text of the article is as follows.

Using Digital-Real Integration as a Lever

Explore Practical Paths for High-End Manufacturing to Advance New Industrialization

TCL Founder and Chairman Li Dongsheng

President Xi Jinping pointed out that we must focus on the real economy for economic development, advance new industrialization; and also emphasized accelerating the development of the digital economy, promoting the deep integration of the digital and real economies, and building internationally competitive digital industry clusters. As early as 2002, the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed taking a new path to industrialization. Facing new opportunities and momentum from the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation, the global industrial and supply chains are being deeply reshaped, with the strategic connotation of new industrialization becoming richer and core requirements clearer. How to grasp this strategic direction has become an era issue that Chinese manufacturing must answer. As a witness and practitioner of high-quality manufacturing development, TCL has always been committed to advancing new industrialization and has successfully forged a unique development path.

I. Deeply Recognize that Digital-Real Integration is a Key Path to Advance New Industrialization

President Xi Jinping pointed out that in the new era and journey, comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, achieving new industrialization is a key task; emphasizing the organic combination of building a manufacturing powerhouse with developing the digital economy and industrial informatization. The deep integration of informatization and industrialization is a distinct feature of new industrialization. Particularly, with the in-depth development of the global new technological revolution and industrial transformation, China is in a critical period of transforming development modes, optimizing economic structure, and shifting growth drivers. While promoting the deep integration of the real and digital economies, we must deeply grasp the era connotation of new industrialization.

First, comprehensive application of information technology. Over 20 years ago, new industrialization emphasized using informatization to drive industrialization and industrialization to promote informatization, but information technology at that time could not economically and efficiently meet the full-chain industrial business needs from data collection, transmission, processing to decision-making. With breakthrough developments in new-generation information technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, big data, and industrial internet, complex and diverse industrial scenario business problems have obtained economical and effective technical solutions. Technological innovation-driven has become the core driving force for advancing new industrialization, which is the first new connotation of today's new industrialization.

Second, integration of old and new to achieve coordinated development of traditional industries and strategic emerging industries. New industrialization emphasizes taking a two-pronged approach: promoting the quality, efficiency, transformation, and upgrading of traditional industries while actively cultivating strategic emerging industries. On one hand, it is necessary to actively lead and support traditional industries to keep up with the times, adopt cutting-edge digital-intelligent technologies, accelerate enterprise transformation and upgrading, and continuously enhance the market competitiveness of new products and services; on the other hand,抓紧谋篇布局 for strategic emerging industries and future industries with major technological innovations, broad social demand, and strong industrial pulling power, forming new economic growth points. Enterprises should not only compete but also innovate and cooperate in R&D, production, and markets to form synergistic effects, converge advantages, accelerate the transformation of innovation achievements, and promote rapid iteration of industrial technology and industrial upgrading.

TCL Huaxing built a smart supply chain network through digital systems, with module factories in India and Mexico achieving a '30-kilometer supporting circle' for key materials, increasing panel supply efficiency by 40%. The picture shows TCL Huaxing's smart factory workshop.

Third, green and low-carbon is the ecological background of new industrialization. Facing major challenges such as climate change, environmental risks, and energy resource constraints, the importance of ecological civilization construction has been raised to an unprecedented height, and the concept that 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets' is deeply rooted in people's hearts. Achieving harmony between humans and nature has become a consensus across society. Green and low-carbon development is an inherent requirement of new industrialization and a major transformation of economic development modes. Enterprises should actively introduce green technologies into production processes, improve resource utilization efficiency, effectively reduce negative environmental impacts, and achieve green upgrading of industries through technological innovation.

II. Explore Practical Paths for New Industrialization in High-End Manufacturing Applications

The essence of new industrialization lies in taking technological innovation as the core driving force, promoting manufacturing towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, and achieving systematic reshaping of development models. In this process, digital-real integration is not only a key lever for optimizing resource allocation and enhancing industrial efficiency but also a core engine for promoting high-quality manufacturing development and building global competitiveness. For technology manufacturing enterprises, relying on digital technology to accelerate the deep integration of the digital and real economies will become a key path to break through industrial boundaries and achieve industrial value leap.

TCL has always been committed to exploring innovative practices of digital-real integration and accelerating the new industrialization process by building smart manufacturing systems, optimizing supply chain collaboration, creating a global innovation ecosystem, and promoting green and low-carbon transformation.

First, lead with intelligence to accelerate digital-real integration and advance manufacturing towards high-end. Intelligence is an important support for new industrialization. AI technology, edge computing, industrial internet, and other intelligent means transform manufacturing from experience-driven production methods to data-driven, intelligent decision-making directions, achieving a leap from 'manufacturing' to 'smart manufacturing'.

TCL adopts 'smart manufacturing' as the overall technical strategy, building an industrial AI ecosystem covering semiconductor display, smart terminals, and new energy photovoltaics. It not only achieves high automation in production links but also runs through the entire chain of R&D, quality control, and equipment maintenance, realizing real-time data collection, analysis, and optimization, empowering business and operational value creation. In 2024, it created economic benefits of 540 million yuan. TCL Huaxing applies AI intelligent detection systems in LCD panel production to accurately monitor the production process, improve product yield, and through intelligent optimization of equipment operating parameters, increase production efficiency by 70% and improve product Cpk (process capability index) by 11%. TCL Industries achieves smart product innovation through AI technology, using AI algorithms to enhance TV audio and video quality, improving user audiovisual experience; the Little Blue Wing AI sleep fresh air technology uses AI sleep cruise perception to dynamically adjust the sleep environment, saving up to 40% on air conditioning electricity.

Second, build a smart supply chain to drive extreme cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The competition among modern manufacturing enterprises is essentially a competition between supply chains. Building an efficient and agile supply chain system is the foundation for high-end manufacturing to establish itself and the basis for the success of the entire Chinese manufacturing system.

TCL, with digital-real integration as the core, builds a full-chain smart supply chain system, comprehensively improving collaborative efficiency from raw material procurement, production manufacturing to logistics distribution, achieving extreme cost reduction and efficiency improvement, and building core corporate competitiveness. TCL Huaxing built a smart supply chain network through digital systems, with module factories in India and Mexico achieving a '30-kilometer supporting circle' for key materials, increasing panel supply efficiency by 40%. TCL Air Conditioner Wuhan Factory, through a self-developed 5G + digital supply chain production-supply collaboration platform, connects over 300 suppliers for real-time scheduling, further improving production efficiency, with raw material inventory同比下降10%, inventory占用资金减少30%, on-time delivery volume提高15%, and procurement costs significantly reduced. TCL Zhonghuan, with the Deep Blue AI model, deeply integrates technical platforms with smart production lines, improves product consistency and quality efficiency, greatly reduces operating costs, increases per capita labor productivity by 200%, single-machine production efficiency by 150%, silicon wafer yield领先4%, and product quality parameter consistency领先33%.

Third, reshape the industrial chain ecosystem with digital-intelligent technology to enhance industrial chain resilience. Against the background of deep adjustment in the global industrial landscape, manufacturing competition has shifted from single-point technological breakthroughs to协同优化 and systematic upgrading of the entire industrial chain. The deep application of digital technology can help improve the自主可控能力 of the industrial chain, giving it greater flexibility, adaptability, and risk resistance. Build a full-chain data closed loop through industrial internet platforms to achieve visual control from raw material procurement to terminal sales; use artificial intelligence technology to optimize production scheduling plans, significantly improving supply chain response speed.

Currently, TCL uses digital technology to support the construction of three major pan-semiconductor supply chains, including a semiconductor display supply chain with full categories, full sizes, and full scenarios; a new energy photovoltaic supply chain leading the development trend of large size, thin slicing, and high efficiency; and a smart manufacturing supply chain integrating 'AI + industrial software + smart equipment' with hardware and software. TCL Huaxing actively responds to national strategies, addressing the insufficient localization rate of core materials and high-end equipment in the new display industrial chain upstream, building a technological innovation collaboration platform, and through digital empowerment of quality management, promoting the localization process of key materials for new displays. TCL Industries independently builds a large supply chain collaboration platform, working with优质链上企业 to create a shared ecosystem of digital software and technical platforms, achieving online collaboration with nodes such as raw material suppliers and logistics service providers across the country through platform real-time data, ensuring the smooth operation of the industrial and supply chains.

Fourth, promote new industrialization through open collaboration and build a global innovation ecosystem. Current global industrial innovation presents three characteristics: technological iteration pressure from shortened innovation cycles, business model changes催生 by cross-border integration, and industrial restructuring triggered by green and low-carbon transformation. Facing increasingly fierce global competition, going it alone can no longer adapt to market demands. Only through industrial chain collaboration, industry-academia-research integration, and跨国资源整合 can we build an open and inclusive innovation ecosystem, injecting continuous innovation动力 into new industrialization. In this context, enterprises need to build a 'trinity' collaborative innovation system: vertically breaking technical barriers between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, horizontally crossing innovation boundaries across disciplines, and outwardly integrating global high-quality innovation resources, forming an ecosystem where innovation elements flow efficiently and innovation achievements transform quickly.

Over the years, TCL has actively布局 in core industries such as smart terminals, semiconductor display, and new energy photovoltaics, building a three-dimensional global innovation network. Since the launch of TCL's global ecological cooperation development strategy 'Sunrise Plan' in 2021, it has promoted the establishment of over 20 joint laboratories, reached strategic cooperation with over 40 institutions, promoted over 120 joint R&D projects, and promoted the formulation of over 130 standards, significantly enhancing the voice of Chinese enterprises in global industrial standard setting. In the semiconductor display field, TCL Huaxing, through 'independent innovation + international cooperation' dual驱动, has formed joint laboratories with top domestic and foreign enterprises such as Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, Xiaomi, and视源 to jointly develop global pioneering display technologies and diversified product solutions. In the new energy photovoltaic industry, TCL Zhonghuan cooperates with overseas enterprises to build photovoltaic power stations, promoting global green energy development; in the smart terminal field, TCL Industries has built a full-scenario open ecosystem of 'hardware + software + content + service', co-building AIoT innovation platforms with Google and Amazon, and cultivating innovative applications with the global developer community. This open and collaborative innovation model is building TCL's future global competitiveness.

III. Lead with High-Quality Development and Strive to Be a Pioneer in Advancing New Industrialization

Facing the dual challenges of deep global industrial chain restructuring and low-carbon transformation, enterprises must firmly grasp the primary task of high-quality development, seize technological high points through innovation breakthroughs, enhance industrial chain resilience through digital-real integration, expand development space through global布局, and厚植生态底色 through green transformation. This requires enterprises to not only build on their own strengths to锻长板 but also focus on the overall industry to补短板, bravely acting as pioneers in new industrialization in technological innovation, ecosystem building, and open cooperation, injecting stronger momentum into China's economic transformation and upgrading.

First, adhere to technological innovation驱动, deepen original technological breakthroughs, and build core competitiveness. Currently, Chinese manufacturing is in a critical transition period from scale expansion to quality improvement. Under the dual pressure of global industrial chain restructuring and accelerated technological iteration, homogeneous competition has become a prominent bottleneck restricting high-quality industrial development. Latecomer countries must break the path dependence of technological imitation and shift to a development model driven by independent innovation. Especially in the context of the new industrial revolution with rapid evolution of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, technological innovation is not only an endogenous driving force for enterprise development but also a strategic pivot for countries to participate in global competition.

TCL deeply grasps the laws of technological innovation, taking R&D as a core strategic pivot, with annual R&D investment reaching 14 billion yuan, higher than the average level of manufacturing. By building a three-level innovation system of 'applied research - frontier exploration - industrial transformation', it has achieved key leaps from following to leading in fields such as quantum dot display (QLED), printed OLED (organic light-emitting diode), and photovoltaic N-type silicon wafers. As of 2024,累计申请专利 over 110,000, PCT international patents 18,000, with patent reserves in display technology ranking among the top globally.

In the Industry 4.0 era, smart manufacturing has shifted from single-point technology application to systematic and ecological development, urgently requiring the establishment of open and shared transformation methodologies and practice platforms. The picture shows TCL Zhonghuan's方棒 production workshop.

In the future, TCL will anchor the development path of deep integration of 'innovation chain - industrial chain - value chain': on one hand, strengthen basic research investment, build joint laboratories with top科研机构, and focus on breaking through underlying technologies such as new display materials and AI-driven smart manufacturing; on the other hand, improve innovation incentive mechanisms, striving to achieve 'from 0 to 1' breakthroughs in cutting-edge technology fields such as Micro-LED and printed display. This innovation ecosystem with original technology as the core and market demand as the guide will promote enterprises to leap from technology appliers to standard setters, ultimately forming a global competitive advantage of 'technology defining products, innovation leading the market'.

Second, output benchmark experience, build new paradigms for industrial empowerment, and lead the协同发展 of smart manufacturing. In the context of accelerated digital transformation of global manufacturing, leading technology enterprises not only need to complete their own intelligent升级 but also shoulder the important mission of promoting the overall leap of the industrial chain. As dominant enterprises in the industry, their technology spillover effects and model demonstration effects can significantly reduce the transformation costs of upstream and downstream in the industrial chain, forming a协同发展 pattern of 'point带面'. In the Industry 4.0 era, smart manufacturing has shifted from single-point technology application to systematic and ecological development, urgently requiring the establishment of open and shared transformation methodologies and practice platforms.

TCL deeply grasps this trend, through its subsidiary Getech,打造了 the industry-leading Dongzhi Industrial Application Intelligent Platform. This platform deconstructs the digital transformation experience accumulated in complex manufacturing scenarios such as semiconductor display and smart terminals into reusable industrial mechanism models, intelligent algorithm components, and standardized solutions. Currently, the TCL Dongzhi Industrial Application Intelligent Platform has been promoted to over 20细分领域, helping hundreds of large manufacturing enterprises build comprehensive digital-intelligent factories. In the future, TCL will continue to deepen the platform opening strategy, focus on breaking through key technologies such as industrial AI large models and digital twins, provide more forward-looking transformation paradigms for high-quality manufacturing development, and practice the industrial mission of leading enterprises in the new industrialization process.

Third, deepen global industrial布局, build a new dual-cycle development pattern, and lead the globalization leap of Chinese manufacturing. Against the background of global value chain restructuring and accelerated regional economic integration, Chinese manufacturing is facing a strategic transformation from 'product going global' to 'industry going global'. The competitive advantage of multinational enterprises has shifted from单一的成本效率 to comprehensive competition in global resource allocation capabilities and localized innovation levels. As a pioneer in the globalization of Chinese manufacturing, TCL, through 25 years of international practice, has successfully built a three-dimensional development model of 'R&D globalization, manufacturing localization, marketing regionalization', forming a global innovation network covering 46 R&D centers and 38 manufacturing bases, with business辐射160多个国家和地区.面向未来, TCL will focus on promoting three major strategic initiatives: first, smart manufacturing output, importing mature industrial internet platforms and smart factory solutions verified in China into overseas bases such as Vietnam and India,打造 'Chinese standards, global replication' smart manufacturing paradigms; second, technological协同创新, establishing a global R&D data middle platform to achieve knowledge sharing and collaborative攻关 among各研发中心, focusing on breaking through cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and green manufacturing; third, co-building industrial chain ecosystems,联合当地龙头企业 and universities to build industrial innovation alliances, promoting the deep integration of Chinese technical standards with local industrial needs. Through this 'global布局, local深耕' development model, TCL will enhance its competitiveness in the global market and contribute to building a new 'dual-cycle' development pattern for Chinese manufacturing.

Fourth, promote industrial green and low-carbon transformation to achieve sustainable development. Promoting industrial green and low-carbon development is the only way for high-end manufacturing to move towards high-quality development. It not only concerns the survival and development of enterprises but is also a key measure to address global climate change and achieve harmony between humans and nature. High-end manufacturing should take green and low-carbon as an opportunity to accelerate technological innovation and industrial upgrading, contribute wisdom and strength to global sustainable development, and open a new chapter from 'high-carbon manufacturing' to 'green smart manufacturing'. TCL adheres to the concept of sustainable development, integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) into corporate development strategies, focuses on布局绿色产业, innovatively builds green factories, comprehensively constructs green industrial chains, empowers green transformation with digital technology, and promotes energy saving and consumption reduction across the entire industrial chain. As of the end of 2024, 25 companies under TCL Industries and TCL Technology have passed ISO14001 environmental management system certification, with 15 national-level green factories and 5 provincial-level green factories, achieving significant results in energy saving, emission reduction, and green development, helping to achieve the national 'dual carbon' goals.

Facing the current wave of rapid digital economy development, Chinese manufacturing must seize the opportunity to deeply promote the integrated development of the digital and real economies, opening up new development space. This requires not only top-level design at the national level but also the joint efforts of the entire industrial chain upstream and downstream to advance together. In the future, TCL is willing to strengthen cooperation with广大企业, use digitalization to promote the transformation and upgrading of Chinese manufacturing, and contribute to achieving new industrialization and promoting high-quality economic development.