Light industries are crucial for China’s economic and social development, and the high-quality development of these industries is conducive to promoting China’s economic and social transformation, improving the quality of residents’ lives, and forming a new development pattern in which domestic and international cycles promote each other. In this study, the basic development pattern of the light industries and major problems faced by China’s economic transformation and upgrading were analyzed, and the common strategic directions for the development of China’s light industries were summarized, including green manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and industrial cluster development. Focusing on major light industry categories such as paper-making, leather, plastic processing, and fermentation industries, key engineering issues that urgently require breakthroughs were proposed, and key equipment, components, raw materials and additives, strains, and process technologies were analyzed. We suggest to promote scientific and technological progress through the construction of innovation platforms, improve relevant industrial policies, optimize development environment, and cultivate talents, thereby promoting the high-quality development of the light industries and enhancing international competitiveness.