As a knowledge-intensive, high-value-added modern service sector encompassing research and development (R&D) design, supply chain management, smart manufacturing, and digital marketing, high-end producer services play a vital role in spurring the development of advanced manufacturing. The 2025 government work report stressed the importance of “expanding and strengthening advanced manufacturing, and vigorously developing modern services to build up the momentum of new growth drivers while upgrading and reviving traditional ones.” This strategic directive charts a clear course for the deeper integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services.

The platform economy, as a core enabler of industrial resources and data sharing, is reshaping the industrial paradigm of “service-embedded manufacturing” in China through its distinctive capacity for resource aggregation.

A fundamental prerequisite for embedding high-end producer services into manufacturing is the realization of cross-entity, cross-system data interoperability. Currently, discrepancies in data interface standards between China’s service and manufacturing sectors have exacerbated the problem of data silos. As a data-centered system, the platform economy helps dismantle these information barriers and mitigate asymmetries between manufacturing and services. This creates a solid foundation for the coordinated allocation of high-end service resources and cross-sector innovation.

Platforms serve as “information hubs,” leveraging the internet of things and industrial internet to aggregate and structure production data, manufacturing processes, and demand orders. This enhances the visibility of service demands across R&D, production, transaction, and operational workflows. At the same time, platforms employ digital management, intelligent risk control, blockchain, and encryption technologies to safeguard data sharing, mitigating data security concerns arising from service integration while bolstering supply resilience.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s “5G + Industrial Internet” initiative now spans all 41 industrial categories, with emerging technologies like AI, big data, and industrial internet achieving breakthroughs in cross-sector applications. However, the absence of standardized data exchange protocols and persistent technical incompatibilities continue to hinder resource flow and sharing, calling for efforts to accelerate the formulation and adoption of service-oriented interface standards for manufacturing and establish unified national or industry-wide frameworks.

With the development of the platform economy, the service supply-demand matching process between enterprises has become highly digitized. Digital platforms are reconstructing the supply-demand network between the high-end services and manufacturing sectors through intelligent and digital means.

Platforms can aggregate production demand data from manufacturing enterprises—including intelligent transformation, supply chain management, and equipment maintenance—while also building comprehensive service provider information systems using technologies like AI. These systems are able to incorporate indicators such as industry experience, technical expertise, and service capabilities, forming a detailed digital profile of industrial service providers.

Harnessing big data and algorithmic tools, these platforms can rapidly and precisely align service providers with enterprise needs. Their ability to adjust dynamically and deliver flexible supply helps reduce coordination costs. By adopting a decentralized model, platforms disrupt the limitations of traditional linear supply chains, enabling the formation of an integrated high-end service ecosystem that covers R&D, production optimization, marketing, and after-sales support.

Sun Zheng is a professor from the School of Public Finance and Administration at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (TUFE). Tang Yantong is a research fellow from the Public Economics and Public Administration Research Center at TUFE.