Intelligent manufacturing has become an unavoidable developmental trend in modern manufacturing and is the primary focus of the China Manufacturing 2025 Strategy. Moreover, it is the only method for China's manufacturing industry to go from large to strong. Investigating intelligent manufacturing breakthrough paths is critical for fostering the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry and accelerating industrial transformation. It is also necessary to practice the "four orientations." In this paper, we investigated the development methods of intelligent manufacturing in China and summarize its essential characteristics based on strategic layout, pilot demonstration, industrial agglomeration, and stage determination. We also investigate the problems that exist in the development process. Currently, some of the standards, policies, technologies, talents, finance, and taxation for intelligent manufacturing cannot meet the developmental requirements of the new era. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, targeted efforts focused on policy standards, core technologies, and supporting elements are required to foster high-quality growth of intelligent manufacturing. Specifically, China should strengthen its top-level design to improve its policy and standards system, optimize its strategic layout to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, and improve the institutional guarantee and support of key elements.