China's push to advance intelligent manufacturing is reinforcing corporate confidence and opening broader opportunities for enterprises at home and abroad to innovate, expand and share in the growth of the world's second-largest economy, a sideline event of the World Intelligence Expo 2026 in Tianjin has heard.

According to economists and business executives at the Tianjin expo, the rise of intelligent manufacturing in China should accelerate global industrial upgrading and inject fresh impetus into world economic growth.

Such an optimistic outlook was reflected at the "CEO: Grow with China" roundtable, held on Thursday as part of the expo, which was attended by corporate executives in sectors ranging from green development to smart manufacturing and consumer technology.

The roundtable was organized by the Publicity Department of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China in conjunction with China Daily.

"China is not just a huge market — it is a global engine for innovation and manufacturing," said Rainer Kern, chief financial officer of Karcher Greater China.

According to Kern, the Germany-based cleaning solutions provider sees China's complete industrial supply chain, rapid adoption of new technologies and vast market as key strengths in the large-scale deployment of AI across manufacturing and the real economy.

At present, China is accelerating efforts to create new aspects of the smart economy, with this year's Government Work Report calling for the expansion of the AI Plus Initiative, the faster application of new-generation intelligent terminals and AI agents, and the large-scale commercial application of AI in key sectors and fields.

Sun Xuegong, director-general of the department of policy study and consultation at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said the policy push is aimed at building a broader ecosystem to support the smart economy, rather than focusing on a single technology.

"AI is rapidly expanding the production frontier and has great potential to improve efficiency," he said, adding that the initiative is expected to remain an important part of China's economic policy agenda for years to come.

China's shift toward intelligent manufacturing will reshape the business environment, with its AI capabilities expected to mature further over the next five to ten years, said Dr. Christoph Schrempp, vice-chair of the European Chamber Tianjin Chapter.

"The speed of China's transition toward highly automated production is impressive," Schrempp said, adding that emerging technologies will create fresh room for European and Chinese enterprises to collaborate.

His remarks were echoed by a survey released on Wednesday by the European Chamber of Commerce and consultancy firm Roland Berger, which showed "signs of an uptick" in confidence among European businesses operating in China.

China remains "the heavyweight champion of efficient and cost-effective supply chains", the survey found, with 75 percent of respondents stating that their China-based production is more efficient than operations elsewhere.

"If you want to learn how to manage your business in a highly dynamic and fast-developing environment, come to China and learn from the fastest," Schrempp added.

"That experience can help companies compete more successfully in global markets."

John Markmann, president of Grundfos China, said China serves as both a vital testing ground and a launchpad for cutting-edge industrial innovations that can benefit markets worldwide.

Markmann, who is also vice-chair of the North Board of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, said Grundfos, a Danish pump and water solutions provider, is proud to "ride this wave" by leveraging local AI talent and smart technologies to optimize its manufacturing processes in China.

Chinese manufacturers are also putting these advantages into practice. Jamie Erin Wood, head of investor relations at Dreame Technology, said China's long-established industrial strengths are being amplified by AI-enabled production, robotics and a deeply integrated supply chain network.

According to Wood, such an ecosystem allows companies to move faster from product development to process optimization, while cutting inefficiencies and reducing resource waste.

Zhao Liang, partner at Unique Capital, said China's rapid rollout of large-scale AI applications is gaining momentum, with the country, under certain metrics, now accounting for 61 percent of global daily token consumption.

Buoyed by the optimism widely shared by domestic and global businesses, Tianjin, host city of the roundtable, is also strengthening its role in advanced manufacturing, innovation and intelligent industries, supported by its industrial base and growing AI ecosystem.

Schrempp said the port city's AI-related industries have generated more than 300 billion yuan ($44.2 billion) in operating revenue, underscoring the city's growing weight in China's intelligent industrial transformation.

"For a traditional industrial city, that is remarkable," he said, adding that Tianjin has the potential to become an emerging hub for intelligent industries.

A local action plan sets out the aim of lifting the operating revenue of core AI enterprises in Tianjin to more than 100 billion yuan by next year.

Li Xiang, Zheng Yiran, Li Jing in Tianjin contributed to this story.