An online video conference was held in Qingdao on April 21, attended by city's leading officials and industry leaders, who discussed industry trends such as the use of industrial internet and Al technologies.

Wang Qingxian, Party secretary of Qingdao, and 12 industry leaders from IFlytek, the Z.H.Island business social platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and more attended the conference.  

An online video conference is held in Qingdao on April 21, attended by the city's leading officials and industry leaders, who discussed industry trends such as the use of industrial internet and Al technologies. [Photo/WeChat account: qbguanxiangshan]

This was the second such seminar since the city established its cooperation and innovation consulting agency on Nov 30, 2019.

Amid the epidemic, Qingdao should take advantage of industrial internet technology to improve its manufacturing sector, according to the city's leading officials.

The industrial internet refers to a network of combined, advanced machines with internet-connected sensors that collect and analyze data from consumers, suppliers and factories. It is designed to allow companies to customize products at speed and scale while also boosting productivity and reducing costs.

According to industry experts, as the long-predicted convergence of the IT and industrial worlds finally picks up momentum, the industrial internet has become vital to boosting smart manufacturing. The sector has become a new battlefield for global manufacturing and technology companies.

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/IC photo]

Qingdao has a comprehensive and solid industrial system and is open to developing all areas of the industrial internet.

For example, Haier's CosmoPlat, which boasts over 34 million users, 43,000 enterprises, and over 3.9 million ecological resources, ranked first among similar platforms by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The city has also been ramping up efforts to promote "new infrastructure" construction covering 5G, internet of things, smart logistics, and more to pave the way for the development of the industrial internet.

On Jan 13, Qingdao launched 144 key infrastructure construction projects costing a total of 352.1 billion yuan ($49.74 billion), including 20 new infrastructure projects costing 63.2 billion yuan.

This year, the number of 5G base stations in the city is expected to reach 13,000, providing full 5G signal coverage in its key urban areas.