At the Fifth China Original Economics Forum and Economists-Entrepreneurs Summit held today, Luo Ming, Chairman of Dongguan Kangxiang Electronics, shared his views during a panel discussion on "Macroeconomic K-Shaped Divergence and Entrepreneurial Strategy." He argued that artificial intelligence represents a significant opportunity for industrial upgrading rather than a crisis for the manufacturing sector.
According to Luo, the shift toward automation and intelligent systems replacing manual labor is an inevitable trend in manufacturing development. He emphasized that companies must proactively embrace AI and commit to original innovation to escape the trap of low-end, homogeneous competition. Drawing from the development trajectory of the Pearl River Delta manufacturing industry, Luo noted that traditional manufacturers have long struggled with price wars and supply chain dependency. Small and medium-sized enterprises, he explained, remain reliant on chain-leading companies for survival, with profit margins continuously squeezed as they trade scale for meager returns, resulting in severe industry-wide homogeneity.
The combination of rising labor costs and intensifying industry competition has pushed manufacturers toward automation and smart transformation, while the widespread adoption of AI has further accelerated the pace of industrial evolution. Luo highlighted that AI's greatest value lies in organizational and workforce optimization, which can substantially reduce labor expenses, standardize production processes, and enhance product precision in manufacturing operations.
Looking ahead, Luo believes the proliferation of AI-based smart systems will gradually diminish traditional employment patterns, lower barriers to entrepreneurship, spawn a wave of new business founders, and fundamentally reshape the manufacturing ecosystem. In response to the K-shaped divergence across industries, he stressed that manufacturing companies need not fear technological disruption. Instead, they should actively integrate AI advancements, uphold original innovation, abandon low-end homogeneous competition, and seize new development dividends through intelligent upgrades and breakthrough technologies amid the ongoing industrial differentiation.