Abstract: Mastering key core technology is an inherent requirement for achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. Using the Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Action launched in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper conducts an empirical study based on panel data from A-share listed manufacturing firms and a staggered difference-in-differences model. The results show that Intelligent Manufacturing significantly improves firms' Independent Innovation. The mechanism tests indicate that Intelligent Manufacturing not only promotes Firms' engagement in R&D collaboration, but also strengthens firms' knowledge absorptive capacity; accordingly, Intelligent Manufacturing improves firms' Independent Innovation. The heterogeneity analysis finds that the effect of Intelligent Manufacturing on Independent Innovation is stronger among firms involved in the U.S. Section 301 investigation and firms with higher perceived uncertainty. The extended analysis shows that, after Intelligent Manufacturing improves firms' Independent Innovation, firms strengthen the overall resilience of their supply chains. These findings imply that, to fully leverage the role of the Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Action in improving firms' Independent Innovation, the government should implement differentiated strategies for advancing Intelligent Manufacturing by considering industry competition dynamics and firm risk characteristics, focus on building deep industry-university-research cooperation platforms, and clarify the cultivation pathways for firms' knowledge absorption capacity.

Key words: intelligent manufacturing, independent innovation, key core technology, supply chain resilience