BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China's IT investment in the manufacturing industry is expected to approach 18.55 billion U.S. dollars by 2023, according to a report published by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The chemical engineering, consumer goods and automobile sectors, which ranked top three in terms of manufacturing IT expenditure in 2018, will remain on top of the list come 2023, the IDC report said.

Investment in manufacturing IT applications including software and services related to IT applications, is forecast to attract an investment of 6.62 billion U.S. dollars by 2023.

The prioritized fields, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), product lifecycle management (PLM) and customer relationship management (CRM) will become the focuses of manufacturing IT applications spending, accounting for 33.9 percent, 13.8 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively.

In 2019, the priority of China's manufacturing industry is to promote high-quality development. Smart manufacturing, industrial internet and 5G will bring new opportunities to the market of manufacturing IT applications, said Zhang Lanying with IDC China.

The IDC, founded in 1964, is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events in information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets.