China Claims 109 of 238 Lighthouse Factories as 89.6% of Big Industrial Firms Go Digital
Updated
Updated · CGTN · Aug 24
China Claims 109 of 238 Lighthouse Factories as 89.6% of Big Industrial Firms Go Digital
2 articles · Updated · CGTN · Aug 24
Summary
China now hosts 109 of the world’s 238 lighthouse factories—45.8% of the total—giving it the largest share globally as Beijing ties manufacturing strength to innovation-led upgrading.
By June 2026, 89.6% of industrial enterprises above designated size had launched digital transformation, alongside more than 8,000 national green factories and over 600 green industrial parks.
Factory-level gains show the model’s impact: Haier’s Shenyang plant makes one customized refrigerator every 10 seconds and lifted direct labor productivity 28%, while Hisense’s Qingdao TV factory cut R&D cycles 34% and material costs 18%.
The shift is also reorganizing production clusters, with the Yangtze River Delta dividing semiconductor roles across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang to speed direct industry-research collaboration on core technologies.
That manufacturing scale is also shaping global clean-energy economics: IRENA says renewable equipment competition—driven heavily by Chinese expansion—helped push solar PV costs down 89% since 2010.