Qingdao will integrate local resources as it seeks to become the world's industrial internet capital, said Wang Qingxian, Party secretary of Qingdao.

Wang made the remarks at a working meeting to discuss the development of Haier Group, a Qingdao-based home appliance giant.

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/sipaphoto.com]

Haier announced its goal to accelerate the construction of an industrial cluster worth 500 billion yuan ($72.02 billion) and build a globally leading internet of things brand within four years to boost Qingdao's development.

Wang said that with the rapid development of information technology, it has become an unstoppable trend to integrate industrial internet in various fields.

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

Manufacturing has always been the foremost industry in Qingdao, which has a strong foundation for the development of industrial internet in the information age, said Wang, adding that the city also has the ability and responsibility to make greater contributions to the development of China's industrial internet.

The production of customized products with Haier's COSMOPlat is displayed at the booth of Haier at the Hanover Fair 2018 in Hanover, Germany, April 24, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

Haier's plan to build a world-leading internet of things ecological brand and industrial internet platform not only gives us confidence in the company's future, but will also boost Qingdao's efforts to build itself into the world's industrial internet capital, added Wang.

So far, Haier has developed five platforms integrating cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, IoT and AI. These include the cloud-based platform U+ Smart Life, which offers customers integrated smart home solutions, the smart manufacturing platform COSMOPlat, which enables customized mass production, a platform for incubating entrepreneurs, helping Qingdao become a new center for global venture capital and an internet of things platform in the life security industry.

Haier has also worked with other tech giants to upgrade the industrial internet ecosystem and boost smart manufacturing.