GE, which has a long-term strategic partnership to explore cooperation in the areas of industrial internet, healthcare and advanced manufacturing with Qingdao Haier Co., has agreed to sell its Appliances business to the Chinese company for $5.4bn.

China's status as the world's center for low-cost production is waning, as manufacturers increasingly seek alternatives elsewhere.

Chinese media outlets are proudly announcing the nation's top 10 manufacturing achievements, with shipbuilding making it in at position 10.

A year ago, China's light-emitting diode industry seemed like a case study of industrial policy gone awry. Hundreds of factories built all over eastern China, often with lavish clean energy subsidies from state-owned banks and local governments, were operating at half capacity. The share prices of LED manufacturers were plunging. Now demand is surging, and the Chinese manufacturers suddenly find their factories running at full tilt, churning out LEDs faster and cheaper than global rivals.