China has cumulatively built 504 excellence-level smart factories and is accelerating the technological transformation of its traditional industries, said Yao Jun, director of the Planning Department of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
MIIT data showed that since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the application rate of artificial intelligence technologies among manufacturing enterprises above designated size has surpassed 30 percent.
The output value of national green factories has risen from 9 percent to 22 percent of the total output value of manufacturing enterprises above designated size.
The comprehensive energy consumption per unit of product such as steel and cement clinker has generally reached advanced world levels.
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), MIIT will organize and implement a traditional industries renewal action to accelerate the development of traditional industries in both quality and efficiency, according to Yao.
"We will focus on technological transformation and deepen pilot city programs for new-type technological transformation in manufacturing. We will promote the intelligent, green and integrated development of traditional industries, and advance the high-quality development of the sector. We will also enhance standards by launching a campaign to guide optimization and upgrading of traditional industries through standards improvement and using high-quality standards to support high-quality development across the industry," he said.
Yao said quality upgrading is also high on the ministry's agenda. MIIT will thoroughly implement the manufacturing excellence quality improvement project, promote advanced quality management systems, and strengthen quality infrastructure capabilities such as metrology, inspection and testing, and quality certification.
China has already built a multi-tiered smart factory ecosystem, which comprised over 35,000 basic-level, more than 8,200 advanced-level, over 500 excellence-level and 15 flagship smart factories nationwide as of 2025.
China builds over 500 smart factories to accelerate tech transformation: official
China has 504 excellence-level smart factories: official
Yemen's Houthi group said that it had carried out multiple attacks on Saudi and Saudi-led coalition targets, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile, and Yemeni government forces reported operations against the group on several fronts.
In a statement released early Thursday, the Houthis said they used a surface-to-air missile to hit a Saudi Typhoon fighter jet. The aircraft, they said, had taken off from Saudi Arabia's Taif Air Base and was hit over Yemen's Sa'adah Province. Saudi Arabia has not yet responded to the claim.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Houthis said they launched a large-scale attack using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones against oil facilities of energy giant Saudi Aramco in Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia, as well as King Khalid International Airport and a Saudi Aramco refinery in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The Houthis said in a separate statement released Wednesday evening that the group had fired one more ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport and launched three ballistic missiles at Saudi-led coalition targets in southern Yemen.
Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said on Wednesday that they had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Civil Defense said in a statement on Wednesday that fragments from the intercepted missile fell in Riyadh, injuring one person.
Meanwhile, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported that late on Wednesday the Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on a residential building in the Al Maravi'ah area of Hodeidah province, which is under Houthi control. Early on Thursday, al-Masirah also reported that Yemen's capital, Sanaa, had come under Saudi attack.
According to a Houthi statement issued on Wednesday evening, the Saudi-led coalition launched 42 airstrikes and missile attacks on Houthi-controlled areas in the previous 24 hours. The Houthis said that Saudi attacks on islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait directly threatened the safety of maritime shipping routes.
Separately, Yemeni government forces said on Wednesday that they continued to strike Houthi targets and personnel on the eastern and southern fronts.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.
Houthis, Saudi-led coalition report fresh military actions against each other
