Anhui is playing a key role in shaping the future of manufacturing, with the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention delivering a strong set of results.

The event, held from September 20 to 23, attracted guests and exhibitors from 54 countries and regions, signed 790 projects with total investment of 363.4 billion yuan, and hosted 27 industry matchmaking and special activities.

It also produced 87 cooperation agreements or memorandums and focused on emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, high-end equipment manufacturing and robotics, showcasing 10 cutting-edge large models from the province and a 700-kilogram heavy-load industrial robot.

Open cooperation deepens

The convention continued to raise its international profile and brought together a stronger lineup of guests.

Among them were 84 officials from national ministries and convention organizers or supporting units, 63 academicians and experts, 88 officials from foreign embassies and consulates in China and representatives of international friendship provinces and cities, 205 representatives of international organizations and domestic and overseas business associations, 221 representatives of overseas Fortune 500 companies and multinational corporations, and 8 renowned foreign experts and scholars.

The total number of foreign guests reached 522, accounting for more than 50 percent of key guests.

Sichuan Province served as the guest province of honor, while 28 other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions sent delegations to exhibit and attend.

A total of 160 representatives from 38 central state-owned enterprises and more than 628 senior executives from well-known enterprises inside and outside the province also attended.

International exchanges and cooperation continued to deepen.

The United Kingdom served as the guest country of honor for the second time since 2019.

British Ambassador to China Wei Lei and British Consul General in Shanghai Bao Maixiu led a delegation of British embassy and consulate officials, business associations and companies.

In his opening ceremony speech, Wei Lei said Anhui is helping to shape the future of manufacturing.

The convention successfully held the China (Anhui) — UK Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Meeting, where eight key foreign-related enterprises from the province made special presentations and five companies reached preliminary cooperation intentions with the British side in three industrial fields.

The Anhui-Hong Kong-Macao Industry Matchmaking Meeting attracted more than 100 guests and saw 20 projects signed on site with investment of 11.46 billion yuan.

The international exhibition area covered 770 square meters in total, with more than 100 exhibits from 40 foreign companies including Tesla of the United States, Volkswagen of Germany and Eden of France.

Eleven exhibitors from the China International Import Expo, including Tuti Pharmaceutical and Nobel Bearing, also took part, linking the expo and the convention to support integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

Cutting-edge technology on display

The hard-core technology displayed at the convention was highly eye-catching.

The event set up 80,000 square meters of government-led exhibitions, market-oriented exhibitions and a full-space unmanned system equipment achievement exhibition, with 1,230 exhibitors and more than 15,000 exhibits.

The government-led exhibition followed the main line of showing precision, showing new advances and showing the future, organizing 510 companies and 1,641 exhibits, both reaching record highs.

Fifteen trillion-yuan-level enterprises such as Chery Automobile and 86 listed companies exhibited as a group.

Focusing on emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, high-end equipment manufacturing and robotics, the exhibition showcased 10 benchmark products from the province with leading technologies, including cutting-edge large models, solid-state transformers and a 700-kilogram heavy-load industrial robot.

Around future industries such as quantum technology, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy and deep space exploration, it displayed breakthrough innovations including a 180-bit superconducting quantum processor, the BEST compact fusion energy experimental device and a planetary environment ground simulation facility.

The exhibition highlighted chain-based layouts and interactive experiences.

Around advantageous tracks such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, next-generation information technology, robotics and new materials, it created 20 chain-based display scenarios, fully presenting the complete industrial picture from core materials and key components to complete machines and scenario applications.

The convention set up more than 40 experience scenarios including intelligent interaction, live demonstrations and dynamic performances.

The robotics and embodied intelligence exhibition area created a humanoid robot team composed of 16 humanoid robots, while the smart home life exhibition area became a popular check-in spot.

On-site visits reached 74,000 person-times, online exhibition visits reached 4.54 million, and on-site transactions exceeded 5,900 with a value of more than 600 million yuan.

Authoritative releases produced abundant results.

The convention released more than 160 achievements in categories such as authoritative reports, frontier technologies, innovative products, outstanding cases and solutions.

The opening ceremony released authoritative reports including the Annual Development Report on Industrial Foundations (2025-2026) and the Manufacturing Digital and Intelligent Transformation Capability Level (2026).

Ten landmark innovative products making global debuts or leading at home and abroad were unveiled, including a quantum diamond chip detector, a crawling welding robot and an aero-engine ultra-complex-structure high-temperature alloy thin-wall casing.

For the fifth consecutive year, the convention set up a 1,000-square-meter achievement release hall and held nine special release events, publishing more than 110 new technologies and products in industrial fields such as quantum information and artificial intelligence large models.

Through matchmaking and special activities, it released more than 40 achievements in a concentrated manner, building a three-dimensional release system of authoritative reports, frontier technologies, innovative products, typical cases and industry rankings.

Project matchmaking yields strong results

The convention achieved fruitful results in project signing.

A total of 790 projects were signed with total investment of 363.4 billion yuan, including 708 advanced manufacturing projects worth 331.7 billion yuan.

A number of major projects were successfully signed, such as an advanced integrated circuit technology research and development production line.

A total of 27 industry matchmaking and special activities were held, and 87 cooperation agreements or memorandums were signed.

Regional coordination continued to strengthen.

A total of 453 projects worth 154.72 billion yuan were signed with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The six cities of northern Anhui signed 194 projects with investment of 64.77 billion yuan.

The Central State-Owned Enterprises Anhui Tour activity went deep into cities such as Hefei, Wuhu and Bengbu, with 160 guests from 38 central state-owned enterprises attending and 16 cooperation projects signed with investment of 39 billion yuan.

China Telecom's Wuhu Cluster Economic Development Zone big data center project with investment of 16 billion yuan and State Grid's Taihu Tianguang pumped-storage power station project with investment of 7.4 billion yuan were successfully signed.

The convention facilitated 24 signed projects with foreign enterprises, with investment of 11.2 billion yuan, covering fields such as intelligent connected new energy vehicles, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, next-generation information technology, green food, low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace, and biomedicine and high-end medical devices.

Attention to the convention continued to rise and its brand influence became stronger.

More than 3,600 news units and media organizations at home and abroad participated in promoting the convention, with 550 journalists attending and reporting.

As of September 28, more than 83,000 news items about the convention had been published online, reaching more than 18.8 billion person-times, increases of 21.5 percent and 31.3 percent year on year.

Topics such as the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention appeared 14 times on relevant national trending lists and repeatedly ranked among the top three on Weibo and Douyin national lists.

Major central news units broadcast 7,000 articles or items.

People's Daily published reports five times on its front page, news pages and special pages, Xinhua News Agency published nearly 150 articles or items, and CCTV's Xinwen Lianbo continuously reported the opening of the convention and the province's manufacturing development achievements.

Anhui Daily launched 54 full-page special reports, Anhui Broadcasting Television created an in-depth series on Anhui intelligent manufacturing, and Anhui New Media Group launched an AIGC anthropomorphic animation short video for the first time.

Overseas influence steadily improved.

For the first time, overseas media groups from South Korea, Malaysia and other countries were invited to attend and report, publishing more than 3,300 original posts with more than 35 million reads.

Nine language versions of convention teaser videos and five language versions of promotional brochures were produced.

Information about the opening of the convention appeared on the large screen in New York's Times Square, showcasing the convention to the world.

The successful holding of the convention further demonstrated the hard-core strength and open image of Made in China and Made in Anhui, and made positive contributions to continuing to strengthen and expand advanced manufacturing, support the building of a manufacturing powerhouse, promote high-quality development of global manufacturing and achieve shared win-win outcomes.