China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released an action plan for the high-quality development of industrial internet platforms from 2026 to 2028, aiming to accelerate the country's new industrialization and cultivate new quality productive forces.

By 2028 China aims to host over 450 influential industrial internet platforms, an increase from the current figure of more than 340, according to the plan.

The number of industrial devices connected to key platforms is projected to surpass 120 million units, up from over 100 million currently, with the platform penetration rate reaching over 55 percent.

As a core component of the industrial internet, these platforms serve as crucial carriers for massive data aggregation, model accumulation, and application development. They act as key hubs for the ubiquitous connection, flexible supply, and efficient allocation of industrial factors and resources.

According to the ministry, the plan focuses on three strategic directions: promoting differentiated development of platforms, strengthening artificial intelligence (AI) empowerment, and deepening scene-based applications.

To bolster AI integration, China will encourage platform enterprises to increase R&D investment in high-quality datasets, industrial large models, and industrial intelligent agents. This move is designed to translate China's early advantages in data accumulation and industry mechanisms into competitive strengths for the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing.

The action plan identifies four key initiatives: cultivating a multi-tier platform system, aggregating data to enhance intelligence, promoting large-scale application, and strengthening the industrial ecosystem.

Specifically, it calls for a four-level cultivation system ranging from basic to ecosystem levels to guide platforms toward specialized and professional development.

In terms of market application, China will support innovative service models such as pay-after-use and subscription-based services.