The National Center of Technology Innovation for Smart Process Manufacturing (abbreviated as NCTI-SPM) aligns with China's national strategies of Manufacturing Powerhouse, Digital China, and Carbon Peak & Neutrality. Focusing on the high-end, intelligent, and green development needs of pillar industries such as petrochemicals, steel, and building materials, the center targets the core of digital transformation in process manufacturing—smart regulation technologies and industrial software. It conducts research and industrial applications in four key areas: process digital twins, intelligent control, optimization decision-making, and safety-environmental monitoring, while tackling critical bottleneck industrial software challenges.

NCTI-SPM is organized by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and the Ministry of Education, with East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) and Shanghai Institute of Process Manufacturing Technology Innovation as the lead institutions. It collaborates with top-tier universities such as the University of Science and Technology Beijing and Wuhan University of Technology, as well as 19 industry leaders including Sinopec, PetroChina, Sinochem, Baowu Group, Ansteel Group, China National Building Materials Group (CNBM), and Anhui Conch Group in petrochemicals, steel, and building materials sectors.

By consolidating China's top scientific and technological resources, NCTI-SPM establishes an enterprise-led, industry-academia-research integrated national innovation system, promoting deep convergence of innovation, industrial, financial, and talent chains. The center aims to become a world-class hub for smart process manufacturing innovation, leading global industry development. It holds strategic significance in overcoming bottlenecks hindering the digital transformation and green, low-carbon optimization of China's petrochemical, steel, and building materials industries, thereby accelerating the modernization of the industrial system.

The National Center of Technology Innovation for Smart Process Manufacturing (NCTI-SPM) focuses on four core technology areas in process manufacturing: process digital twins (benchmarked against Aspen Plus, US), intelligent control (benchmarked against Honeywell, US), optimization decision-making (benchmarked against Aspen PIMS, US), and safety-environmental monitoring (benchmarked against Gexcon, Norway). By 2025, the center aims to develop complete industrial software suites reaching TRL7 (system prototype), including domestically-developed process simulation software for digital twins, intelligent control software to replace imports, optimization decision-making software, and safety monitoring software with dynamic risk analysis, all to be demonstrated in leading enterprises. By 2030, specialized industrial software at TRL8 (application-verified) will be developed, with some modules reaching international leading standards, while applying smart regulation technologies industry-wide to enhance petrochemical product quality, reduce steel industry emissions, and improve building materials' energy efficiency. By 2035, NCTI-SPM will establish a complete smart regulation standard system covering all technical fields at TRL9 (industrialized products), with software functionality and performance leading globally, significantly increasing market share and achieving full industry adoption to transform China's process manufacturing into a digitalized, green, and high-efficiency model.

The National Center of Technology Innovation for Smart Process Manufacturing (NCTI-SPM) implements a comprehensive 1+7+N organizational structure, featuring: a headquarters R&D base in Shanghai's Lingang Free Trade Zone housing core management and technical teams; seven specialized research centers - including four technology-focused centers (process digital twins, intelligent control, optimization decision-making, and safety-environmental monitoring) and three industry-specific centers (high-end petrochemicals, low-carbon steel, and green building materials) established with leading enterprises; and multiple regional branches across key industrial clusters, developed jointly with local governments and manufacturers to drive nationwide industry upgrading. This integrated framework connects fundamental research with industrial applications, forming a complete innovation ecosystem from technological development to commercialization.

The National Center of Technology Innovation for Smart Process Manufacturing (NCTI-SPM) implements an organized approach to technological breakthroughs through enterprise demand collection, technical committee review, and innovative mechanisms like the Challenge List System and Parallel Competition System to ensure agile response to industry needs and effective commercialization of research outcomes. The center has established a flexible talent recruitment system featuring dual appointments, full-time positions, and part-time engagements to build its core R&D capabilities. Leveraging funding support and intellectual property management, NCTI-SPM facilitates technology transfer through licensing and other commercialization channels while exploring effective benefit-sharing mechanisms. Currently, the center has formed core teams for its seven specialized research centers, led by seven academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Engineering and over 50 national-level experts. Its advisory framework includes a 33-member academician committee comprising both domestic and international experts, along with a technical committee composed of representatives from 19 leading process manufacturing industry alliance members, collectively driving the center's mission to advance critical technologies in the field.