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Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2007 to 2017, this paper constructs a comprehensive indicator system for high-quality development of manufacturing from eight dimensions. Using the composite entropy weights method, kernel density estimation (KDE) and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to investigate its spatiotemporal evolution and spatial correlation characteristics. The results show that: (1) The high-quality development of the manufacturing industry shows a steady upward trend, but each dimension (subsystem) is quite different and can be divided into three types: growth type, flat type, and attenuation type. (2) The spatial distribution of the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry is highly consistent with the “Hu Huanyong Line”, and the overall layout is “high in the east and low in the west, high in the south and low in the north”. Seventy percent of the provinces are below the average level, with large interprovincial differences and significant spatial imbalance. (3) The high-quality development of the interprovincial manufacturing industry shows obvious spatial positive correlation. The hot spots are more active, and the spatial spillover effect is stronger—the Yangtze River Delta is the core, spreading outward in circles, and the main direction of diffusion is “from north to south”. In contrast, the cold spot area develops slowly and moves from south to north. Therefore, China should pay more attention to the “Botai Line”, which is perpendicular to the Hu Huanyong Line, and formulate differentiated development strategies to promote the coordinated development of the manufacturing industry.
Wang et al. (2022) studied this question.