ALONG with Team China, 35,000 high-performance ping pong balls and a wide array of high-tech sports gear descended on the Paris Olympics. Chinese experts and industry players said the situation reflected a profound change in the Chinese industrial sector in the past decade.

From chip-embedded soccer balls that allow a referee a firmer grasp of match dynamics to a nano-coated judo mattress that resists stains and is easier to clean, the infusion of tech ingredients is the latest case of Chinese companies' growing manufacturing prowess, in addition to cost performance, flexibility and first-rate services, observers said.