A manufacturing powerhouse evaluation indicator system is a crucial tool for assessing China's progress in building the country into a manufacturing powerhouse. It is also an important basis for clarifying the development trends of the global manufacturing industry, and lays a significant theoretical foundation for China's three-step strategic deployment toward becoming a manufacturing powerhouse. This study establishes a manufacturing powerhouse evaluation indicator system, and evaluates the manufacturing development of nine major manufacturing countries from 2012 to 2024 using the proposed system, categorizing them into three tiers. Our research indicates that by 2024, the development of the manufacturing industry in these major countries exhibit both growth and decline, with a significant differentiation in the levels of manufacturing development among countries. The United States remains in the first tier, leading in the manufacturing powerhouse development index; Germany and Japan continue to occupy the second tier, while China has moved from the third to the second tier; the Republic of Korea, France, and the United Kingdom remain in the third tier, with some changes in their rankings within this tier; India's manufacturing sector shows a slow upward trend, while Brazil's manufacturing development has regressed instead of progressed. Specifically, China's manufacturing powerhouse development index has surpassed that of Japan for the first time, joining the ranks of manufacturing powerhouses in the second tier and achieving its first-step strategic goal for building a manufacturing powerhouse. Subsequently, the study summarizes the development and changes of China's manufacturing industry, including its significant advantages in scale development, remarkable achievements in quality and efficiency, continuous optimization of industrial structure, gradual improvement in innovation levels, and steady progress toward sustainable development. To accelerate the manufacturing powerhouse construction in China, it is recommended to maintain a reasonable proportion of the manufacturing sector; adhere to innovation as the fundamental driving force; highlight the strategic position of industrial foundation consolidation; promote the digital, networked, and intelligent development of the manufacturing industry; and build a green energy system and a green manufacturing system. By 2035, China aims to basically achieve new industrialization and rank among the forefront of world's manufacturing powerhouses.