Instrument industry in Chinais not only developing, but also is undergoing profound changes. First, great changes have taken place in capital structure of the industry and types of economy: state-owned and collective enterprises accounts for 53.68% of the whole industry (state-owned enterprises accounts for 28.92%, collective ones accounts for 24.76%), private enterprises accounts for 24.62%, and joint-venture enterprises accounts for 21.70%. According to sales revenue, state-owned and collective enterprises accounts for 40.27% (state-owned enterprises accounts for 23.83%, collective ones accounts for 16.34%），private enterprises accounts for 23.02%, and joint-venture enterprises accounts for 36.81%. According to total assets, state-owned and collective enterprises accounts for 53.67% (state-owned enterprises accounts for 42.98%, collective ones accounts for 10.69%），private enterprises accounts for 21.88%, and joint-venture enterprises accounts for 24.45%.

From the above statistics, we can see that in the era of planned economies, the situation where state-owned enterprises take absolute predominance in instrument industry has been broken and new capital structure and development momentum are forming. Second, state-owned enterprises entered the critical phase of reform, and some of them have made obvious progress. But there are still some enterprises that have not changed their ideas and get into trouble with a low development and a reduced business. Third, private enterprises have a growing status. In recent years, private instrument enterprises have gotten great development. In the entire industry, employees in private enterprises accounts for 19.40%, these enterprises’ total assets accounts for 21.88%，and profits they have created accounts for 31.76%. All this proved the vitality of private enterprises, and some successful enterprises have become backbone of the entire industry. Private instrument enterprises have great advantage in the area of labor intensive industry, and they are progressing from labor- intensive industry to the combination of labor- intensive industry and industry with moderate technical content. Some private enterprises have moved into the field of high technology. Fourth, instrument industries with foreign investment have developed rapidly, and their total assets accounts for 24.45% of the entire industry, which is more than collective and private enterprises, and is second to state-owned enterprises. Fifth, enterprises established by universities and research institutions have prominence in hi-tech instrument industry and control system industry. Although these enterprises currently have low share in the number of enterprises, sales revenue, assets and total profits, they operate following new mechanism, give full play to talents and technology, take significant place in the field of hi-tech industry and keep a robust tend.

Changes of the industry have also taken place other aspects, such as technological development, operation principle, management pattern. But at the present stage, changes in capital structure and forms of ownership are the most obvious and critical, which would promote profound and continual changes in all aspects of the industry.

Major industrial powers in the world have their own high-level instrument industry.Chinat would become an industrial power sooner or later, and how to develop its instrument industry is a critical issue. According to the sources of capital and technology, two development patterns in instrument industries exist. One is domestic capital and technology oriented, and the other is foreign investment and technology oriented. Developed countries generally belong to the first pattern, and developing countries usually adopt the second pattern, and the typical example isSingapore. The issue that which wayChinashould choose and whether choose one pattern is worth studying, ifChinawants to be an industrial power in instrument industry. As an instrument industry with a large scale inChina, the vicissitudes of domestic enterprises are of great priority to a prosperous future. Accomplishments of the reform of state-owned enterprises, improvement of private enterprises’ level and strength, and full play of enterprises established by universities and research institutions are hopes of domestic enterprises.China’s instrument industry is faced with serious challenges with foreign investment’s entering in a large scale and soaring import, but it would not be beaten and wither away. Its existence and development lies in three comparative advantages that are market, human resources and industrial bases, and industries with this scale and capacity are being cultivated and have occurred inChina.China’s instrument industry will not be limited to the development of comparatively advantageous and medium- and low-end products, and some excellent enterprises in the industry have the ability to make breakthroughs in the hi-tech sector, break the dominated and approximately monopoly situation of foreign investment and imports. On the one hand,China’s instrument industry should bring comparative advantages of the industry into full play, and consolidate and expand its status and achievements in the general sector. On the other hand, it should make breakthroughs in the hi-tech field of scientific instrument and testing and controlling system, and narrowing the gab is one way forChina’s industry to get development.

With the proceeding of economic globalization and the policy of reform and opening, foreign investments are reaching high tide inChina’s manufacturing industry.