Abstract: Historically, manufacturing industry has been playing an important role as an engine of growth to promote productivity and income level in the economic development. In the middle and late 20th century, the developed countries generally showed the trend of de-industrialization, which was measured by the employment and output share of the manufacturing industry. Many developing countries also carried out de-industrialization around the 21st century. At the same time, the developed countries turned to re-industrialization. This paradoxical phenomenon stems from the current upstream-downstream industrial chain patterns between the developed and the developing countries, as well as the asymmetric and unfair international trade order, which has a long-term or short-term positive or negative impact on both developing and developed countries. It is necessary to correctly understand the role of the growth engine of the manufacturing industry in the developed and developing countries, and to be vigilant against premature de-industrialization in China. Great efforts should be exerted from the supply end to promote the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry from the low-end to the middle-high-end, so as to enter the stage of high-quality development driven by technology and innovation at an early date.

Key words: manufacturing industry; deindustrialization; reindustrialization; economic structure