China's accession to the WTO in 2001 marked the beginning of its formal integration into the global economy. In 2002, China attracted foreign direct investment of over 50 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world. In fact, since the day when China's manufacturing industry fully entered the global industrial chain, the concept of manufacturing has undergone fundamental changes. Today's manufacturing is completely different from traditional concepts. In the past, manufacturing was simply defined as the process of processing raw materials into semi-finished or finished products. The contemporary international industrial economy interprets manufacturing as a series of activities and processes in which manufacturers operate and manage their own supply chains, provide qualified products to users, and meet their needs.

Therefore, today's industrial competition is not limited to between enterprises, but extends to the external space of enterprises (including various links in their supply chain). Moreover, the connotation of competition is not limited to the technology, management, quality, price, and cost of enterprises, but includes their comprehensive adaptability to the environment, rules, culture, policies, etc.

The environment for industrial development in today's world has undergone significant changes, with barriers to trade and investment decreasing day by day. Technological progress has made the international economy more closely connected. The three main characteristics of today's industrial competitive environment are new technologies, enterprise innovation and organizational management, and international rules. This viewpoint has been strongly endorsed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. On this basis, skills, research and development, foreign direct investment, technology introduction costs, and modern infrastructure are regarded as the five driving forces directly related to national industrial development.

According to the 2002/2003 Industrial Development Report released by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, there are two ways to gain competitive advantage in modern international competition. One method is to obtain temporary advantages through static conditions such as natural resources and low labor costs. This method is defined as a 'low-level approach'. Another 'advanced approach' is to establish and strengthen autonomous capabilities to gain long-term competitive advantages. In today's international competition dominated by technological innovation, countries attach great importance to the latter, that is, by improving their own adaptability, deploying and gradually improving new production and management technologies, and creating updated technologies. The entire process of activities and skill building is defined as' innovation and learning '.

In the lower stages of industrialization, it is easy to gain a competitive advantage solely based on basic skills, infrastructure, favorable resources, and low labor costs. But this advantage is often temporary. With the increase of industrialization, if the participants in the competition do not absorb new technologies, engage in innovative activities, and improve their own capabilities, this advantage will gradually disappear. The consequence is nothing more than gradually being marginalized in the competitive environment and ultimately being eliminated.

As industrialization enters a certain mature stage, research and development, foreign investment, and advanced skills will become the dominant forces in industrial competitiveness. Learning and innovation are particularly important for enterprises at this time.

Looking back at the development history of China's welding industry over the past 50 years, we have gone through a process of "from scratch, from small to large". From the comprehensive evaluation of the current scale, production efficiency, and technological level of China's welding industry, it is not difficult to draw the conclusion that China's welding industry is entering a relatively mature stage.

After more than 20 years of reform and development, foreign investment and technology introduction in China's welding field have reached a considerable scale. However, we have no advantages in high-end and cutting-edge technology fields, which means that although we have entered the global industrial chain, we are only at the low end of the value chain. From this, it can be seen that China's welding industry is facing the development issue of how to "go from weak to strong". The construction of independent innovation capability is undoubtedly the key to our future development. This is probably the theme of "innovation and learning" in China's welding industry in the coming period.

According to the experience of industrialized countries, the content of "innovation and learning" will change in different enterprises, development periods, and stages. Moreover, this is a long-term, costly, and risky process, which may be as difficult as the technological innovation activities carried out by industrialized countries to maintain their cutting-edge technological advantages. Of course, if the welding industry in our country delivers satisfactory results, it will undoubtedly receive substantial rewards. This reward is strong industrial competitiveness and sustained, stable, and healthy development of the entire industry.

2. Technological innovation capability

According to the 2002 report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, China's ranking in the Industrial Competitiveness Index has increased by 25 places (from 61st in 1995 to 37th in 1998), making it the country with the largest increase in global industrial competitiveness. This achievement is certainly commendable, but if we further analyze it, we will find that we still have a series of problems and face severe challenges.

As mentioned earlier, the five factors that have a direct impact on industrial competitiveness include: skills, research and development, foreign direct investment, technology introduction costs, and modern infrastructure. In the report of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, these factors are considered as the five driving forces directly related to national industrial development.

If we compare and analyze some countries with good industrial competitiveness performance, perhaps we can better reflect our problems.

On the United Nations Industrial Organization's industrial competitiveness ranking, South Korea and Singapore have shown excellent performance. South Korea's ranking rose from 22nd in 1995 to 18th in 1998. Singapore, on the other hand, rose from 6th place in 1995 to 1st place. Both countries have relatively high industrial competitiveness indices, demonstrating strong competitiveness (see Figure 1).