At a limestone mine run by Anhui Conch Cement, a massive dump truck winds along a road with nobody behind the wheel. Guided by the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, 5G and laser radar, it can drive, park, unload and take dispatch orders on its own, while one worker in a control room can oversee five vehicles at once.

The driverless mine is a small but telling example of what China increasingly means by "advanced manufacturing". It is no longer simply about making electric vehicles, humanoid robots or spacecraft, but about remaking the industrial system itself — using artificial intelligence, data and green technologies to upgrade everything from cement and steel to cars, chips and robotics.

That strategy was pushed to the forefront as top Chinese leadership called for sustained efforts to expand and strengthen advanced manufacturing, and make the country's industrial chains more self-supporting and risk-resilient at a national advanced manufacturing conference in Beijing earlier this month.

The emphasis is significant for the world's biggest manufacturing economy. After decades in which China built its industrial strength around enormous production capacity, infrastructure, supply chains and a vast domestic market, its next manufacturing challenge is moving deeper beneath the finished product, industry experts said.