Abstract: Based on the 2003-2015 Chinese provincial panel data, this paper uses the DEA-Malmquist model to measure the change of total factor productivity in China's manufacturing industry, and empirically tests the impact of intelligentization on total factor productivity and its mechanism. Malmquist calculation results show that the total factor productivity of China's manufacturing industry is growing at an average annual rate of 8.2% during the study period, and the growth is mainly contributed by technological progress; the growth of total factor productivity in manufacturing exists obvious regional heterogeneity, the western region has the fastest growth, followed by the eastern and central regions. The empirical results show that: intelligentization significantly promotes the growth of total factor productivity, and intelligentization promotes total factor productivity by promoting the growth of technological progress. Intelligentization has no obvious promotion effect on the technical efficiency of manufacturing; intelligentization has significantly promoted the growth of total factor productivity in the central and western regions, and it has a greater role in promoting total factor productivity in the western region, but not in the eastern region.