Huang Qi and Gu Naihua: The Value and Exploration of Cultural Empowerment in Shaping a New Image for Manufacturing
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that manufacturing is the lifeblood of our economy; it is the foundation upon which the nation is established and the basis of a strong state. We must "promote the transformation of 'Made in China' toward 'Created in China,' China's speed toward China's quality, and Chinese products toward Chinese brands." These important discourses both clarify the strategic position of manufacturing and echo the cultural tradition of "developing the country through industry" [1]. As a vital practical direction, the cultural empowerment of manufacturing development requires us to explore specific paths, deeply mine the cultural connotations of manufacturing, and forge a new image of Chinese manufacturing that is simultaneously powerful and elegant, efficient and warm, and intelligent yet possessed of humanistic care, thereby achieving the leap from a large manufacturing country to a manufacturing powerhouse.
An Inevitable Requirement for High-Quality Development in Manufacturing
Amidst the profound adjustment of the global manufacturing landscape, the deep integration of culture and manufacturing is giving birth to a unique "beauty of manufacturing." Adhering to Marxist positions, viewpoints, and methods [2] to innovatively explore "manufacturing aesthetics" is an inherent part of insisting on the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations. It is a demand of the era to conform to the people’s needs for a better life, and a practical requirement for promoting high-quality development in manufacturing.
When culture prospers, the country prospers; when culture is strong, the nation is strong. Xi Jinping Economic Thought and Xi Jinping Culture Thought are interconnected; they profoundly reveal the laws of interaction and integrated development between culture and the economy, pointing out the "humanistic code" for our country's economic and social move toward high-quality development. Culture is no longer restricted to a purely spiritual category but is deeply embedded in the economic texture. Through years of development, Chinese manufacturing has not only formed the "hard power" to participate in world competition but has also developed the "soft power" that reflects humanistic characteristics—namely, "manufacturing aesthetics" with Chinese characteristics. Culture can endow manufacturing with profound humanistic foundations and value pursuits, making manufacturing not just a combination of functionality and artistry, but also an organic unity of humanity’s pursuit of a better life and adherence to the "laws of beauty" [3]. In manufacturing practice, through specific expressions such as design, craftsmanship, and form, cultural concepts are transformed into perceptible, experiential, and communicable material forms, realizing the concretization and socialization of cultural connotations.
Reflecting the inherent requirements of humanistic economics. Humanistic economics emphasizes that economic activity should be people-centered, focusing on enhancing the people's quality of life and degree of spiritual satisfaction. Currently, emerging consumption trends like "emotional consumption" are flourishing; products are valued not only for utility but also for visual aesthetics, cultural connotation, and emotional resonance. This trend sets higher standards for the industrial ecosystem of industrial cities and places new aesthetic and cultural demands on manufacturing, reflecting more of the "warmth" and "depth" of economic development. It can be said that this is a new way of thinking and a new paradigm for using humanistic economics to promote the high-quality development of manufacturing, as well as a vivid demonstration of Xi Jinping Culture Thought in economic practice.
Manifesting an important direction for the development of new quality productive forces. New quality productive forces are led by innovation, and innovation in the cultural sphere is likewise a key variable. In the process of manufacturing development, cultural empowerment reconstructs product value and catalyzes new business formats such as high-end cultural equipment manufacturing and digital cultural creativity, pushing industry toward new tracks characterized by high added value and high cultural content. Grounded in the practice of new-type industrialization, the cultural empowerment of manufacturing requires the integrated application of cultural expression and technological means to enhance the cultural value, emotional value, and brand communication capabilities of manufacturing. This is both an important direction for developing new quality productive forces and a reflection of humanistic care wherein "technology is used for good."
The Cultural Connotation of Manufacturing Competitiveness
The cultural empowerment of manufacturing emphasizes the integration of aesthetic concepts, perceptions, and values into the practical production of manufacturing. By embedding cultural symbols and emotional experiences into products, production is carried out according to the "laws of beauty." Every breakthrough in manufacturing technology greatly expands the narrative space of culture, vividly demonstrating the effective combination of human cultural achievements and the art of manufacturing craftsmanship. This highlights the unique value of culture in shaping the competitiveness of manufacturing, the connotations of which can be analyzed from the following dimensions:
From the perspective of the beauty of design, it is an aesthetic practice encompassing the overall layout from macro-structures to micro-details. By integrating diverse knowledge—social, economic, and cultural—and combining it with creative design, technological innovation, and the application of new materials, the fine traditional Chinese culture is integrated into the design phase. This facilitates integrated innovation in product function, structure, form, and packaging, merging artistic beauty with practical functional needs, and making design an important carrier for disseminating Chinese culture.
From the perspective of the beauty of craftsmanship, it covers manufacturing precision, textural expression, material processing capabilities, and internal product quality. This is a direct manifestation of the "spirit of excellence" in manufacturing and accords with the spirit of labor and craftsmanship [4]. Through technological improvement and precise process optimization, a harmonious unity of material technique and creative intention is achieved, "using technology to create art," and making craftsmanship the junction between cultural inheritance and technological innovation.
From the perspective of the beauty of production, what is presented is the overall coordination and creativity of the manufacturing system. Through the broad application and practice of new technologies such as intelligent manufacturing, digital design, and flexible production, we explore the aesthetic direction of "perceptible technology." This provides higher degrees of freedom and expressive capacity for manufacturing, promoting the production process as a process of practicing cultural concepts.
From the perspective of the beauty of products, what is displayed is the final result of manufacturing. Promoting Chinese culture to better go global guides the shaping of product aesthetics. This can be done by using structural innovation or new materials as entry points to transform product hardware into design with more "warmth"; or by shaping product temperament through original design and brand language, integrating elements of fine traditional Chinese culture and fashion aesthetics into the lives of consumers, making products powerful disseminators of cultural and aesthetic value.
Furthermore, we must recognize that the cultural empowerment of manufacturing reflects a commitment to a people-centered value orientation, highlighting the humanistic care and social responsibility of manufacturing activities so that manufacturing results better satisfy the people's ever-growing spiritual and cultural needs. It also reflects the new thinking generated by manufacturing in practicing the New Development Philosophy, integrating cultural confidence and cultural subjectivity into development concepts, reshaping the industrial development paradigm, and demonstrating institutional advantages.
Practice has proven that only by mastering the power of discourse can we master the power to define the Chinese path, the power to interpret the Chinese spirit, and the power to shape the Chinese image. Future competition in manufacturing will not only be a contest of technology but also a contest for the right to cultural narrative. Persisting in the cultural empowerment of manufacturing means transforming cold industrial logic into warm cultural expression, making "Made in China" an important carrier for conveying the national spirit and solving common challenges facing humanity.
Important Paths for Cultural Empowerment of Manufacturing
The cultural empowerment of manufacturing emphasizes taking culture as the soul and craftsmanship as the bone. Through the medium of the product, the unity of "technique and Dao" [5] and "utility and beauty" is achieved. This not only pushes manufacturing from "creating objects" toward "creating beauty," but also becomes a humanistic footnote to the industrial civilization of the New Era, echoing humanity's pursuit of a better life.
Distill the aesthetic quality of industry. First, guide the cultural construction of industrial clusters. Centering on the important task of cultivating world-class industrial clusters, we should explore promoting the deep integration of aesthetics with manufacturing, incorporating cultural confidence and value leadership into cluster development to enhance their cultural soft power and international competitiveness. Second, expand the application scenarios of the cultural industry. We must strengthen the guidance and cultivation of the cultural industry, using vivid innovative practices to interpret, deepen, and expand manufacturing aesthetics so that its rich connotations are fully reflected in cultural industry scenarios. Third, create an "overseas matrix." Integrate the spiritual symbols and cultural essence of Chinese civilization into modern technology and embed aesthetic creativity into independent product design. This allows products to bear the unique imprint of traditional culture and become globally accepted "aesthetic symbols," shifting from the export of products to the "overseas expansion of products + culture," thereby elevating the position of "Made in China" in global industrial and value chains.
Shape the brand image of cities. The industrial image is a city's "hardcore IP." The pursuit of manufacturing beauty will drive the transition of productive forces toward higher levels and shape a city character with new-type industrial culture as its distinct hallmark, promoting the role-upgrade of relevant cities from production bases to the source-springs of innovative brands. This will greatly enhance urban competitiveness and influence. General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted, "In places where culture is highly developed, the economy likewise leads the way." The important proposition of humanistic economics inspires us that manufacturing cities can also become beautiful. Cities and industries will be more closely linked due to the common values inherent in culture and manufacturing; meanwhile, manufacturing and culture will converge through "beauty." In such a coupled system, multiple elements will form a virtuous cycle, promoting the diversification of economic forms and the continuous enrichment of the cultural innovation and creative ecosystem. Furthermore, industrial buildings, including factories, often provide a strong aesthetic experience through their unique forms, becoming landmark buildings or aesthetic landscapes. We can increase the development of industrial aesthetic scenarios, using industrial sites to create theme parks, and carrying out tourism-oriented transformations of relevant factories, using industrial aesthetic spaces to improve the quality of cultural supply and making them important media for displaying a city's cultural heritage.
Inherit and carry forward the cultural spirit. First, highlight the spirit of craftsmanship [6] centered on excellence. This spirit is reflected not only in the ultimate pursuit of technological skill but also in the perseverance regarding quality, responsibility, and culture; it is a specific manifestation of cultural confidence in the manufacturing field. Second, shape the collective image of Chinese entrepreneurs in the New Era. As "Made in China" continually climbs toward the heights of technology, it is actually advancing toward a realm of beauty. This embodies a persistence in quality, a focus on innovation, and an awareness of internalizing the spirit of craftsmanship into professional ethics. Third, promote the coordinated development of "People, Industry, City, and Culture." Cultural empowerment of manufacturing not only enhances the cultural value of products and the aesthetic quality of cities but also promotes the deep integration of human creativity, industrial competitiveness, urban functional layout, and cultural soft power. We must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, letting manufacturing become a carrier of culture and emotion, thereby promoting industrial civilization to continuously radiate vitality and move toward a new stage of high-quality development.
(The authors are both guest researchers at the Guangdong Provincial Center for the Study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)