(Yicai) Jan. 23 -- China ranks first in the world for the number of lighthouse factories, according to the latest update to the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network.

Sixteen lighthouse factories in China were added to the WEF Global Lighthouse Network on Jan. 15, accounting for about 70 percent of new additions and bringing the country's total number of lighthouse factories to 101.

Co-founded by the WEF and McKinsey in 2018, the Global Lighthouse Network includes the world's leading industrial sites that apply Industry 4.0 technologies at scale to drive step-change financial, operational, and sustainability improvements by transforming factories, value chains, and business models.

The original three award categories -- Sustainability Lighthouses, Factory Lighthouses, and End-to-End Value Chain Lighthouses -- were revised into five new ones, namely Customer Centricity, Productivity, Supply Chain Resilience, Sustainability, and Talent, in September last year.

Among China's newly added lighthouse factories are some invested by foreign companies, including those of French energy management giant Schneider Electric in Wuhan, German optics firm Zeiss Optics in Guangzhou, French tire titan Michelin in Shenyang, German industrial behemoth Siemens in Nanjing, and French automotive supplier Forvia in Yancheng.

These facilities epitomize the strategic upgrade of foreign investment in China and the improving global standing of China's supply chain.

Schneider Electric's Wuhan Factory is one of only three Talent Lighthouses globally, thanks to its development of a talent training and empowerment model tailored for the digital age.

"We are merely pursuing efficiency, as lean production and just-in-time manufacturing are no longer sufficient," Zhang Kaipeng, senior vice president of Schneider Electric and head of global supply chain for China, told Yicai during a visit to the company's Wuhan factory on Jan. 21.

"The current landscape has brought greater uncertainty, and relying on a single supplier poses enormous risks," he explained. "We must build supply chains that are lean, agile, resilient, efficient, and green."

To address new challenges in the supply chain, talent has become a core engine driving technological innovation and ecological collaboration, in addition to the in-depth integration of digital technologies represented by artificial intelligence and the enduring momentum for transformation, Zhang noted.

Beyond its talent advantages, the drivers behind foreign enterprises' increased investment in China include its enormous market scale and unparalleled supply chain efficiency. Customized services that accurately meet local demand have become key for these enterprises to enhance their global competitiveness.

Zeiss' Guangzhou factory leverages technologies such as machine learning, digital twins, and intelligent agents to customize optical lenses based on customers' age, visual needs, and lifestyle, according to the WEF's award information.

These technologies have helped the plant expand the range of personalized products by 400 percent, shorten delivery cycles by 29 percent, increase the on-time delivery rate to over 98 percent, and lift customer satisfaction to 99 percent.

Michelin's Shenyang factory, which was awarded the Production Efficiency Lighthouse title, has accelerated the layout of new energy vehicle tire products in recent years, with the number of product specifications surging 340 percent to more than 250. Meanwhile, its minimum order quantity dropped 71 percent, and its trial production delivery cycle was shortened 51 percent.

The development of the Shenyang factory has evolved from local manufacturing to global intelligent manufacturing, becoming a driving force for the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, said Philippe Verneuil, president and chief executive officer of Michelin China and Mongolia.

Entering the WEF's Global Lighthouse Network is a testament to Michelin's more than 30 years of deep-rooted development and persistent innovation in China, Verneuil pointed out.

A total of 61,207 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China in the first 11 months of last year, up 17 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

The foreign investment in actual use in China surged 26 percent in November alone, as sectors such as AI, the digital economy, and green low-carbon development continue to attract substantial investment despite the contraction in global cross-border investment, according to the MOFCOM.

Editor: Futura Costaglione