An improved understanding of the influence of development mode on carbon intensity (CI) can aid China's manufacturing industries (MIs) to reduce CI without affecting the development of Chinese MIs. To demonstrate the relationship between the development mode and CI well, this work provides the following contributions: (a) The driving factors of Chinese MIs' CI are decomposed by a development mode extended Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method (LMDI)); (b) The impact of the factors of industrial development mode is analyzed by comprehensively by the extended LMDI combined with production -theoretical decomposition analysis (PDA). (c) The disparities of the driving factors in different industrial classifications are evaluated by applying the development mode extended LMDI combined with PDA in Chinese MIs between 2000 and 2015. Results showed that, (1) at the entire MIs' level, the effects of ratio of energy consumption to R&D (RI) and potential carbon intensity (PCI) were the two leading contributors to the CI decline in Chinese MIs. (2) In terms of the cumulative effects at the subsectoral level, PCI had the largest curbing effect on the CI of all subsectors, and investment intensity (II) had the greatest stimulating effect on the CI of all subsectors. (3) Among the three industrial classifications, the middle-end MIs experienced the largest carbon intensity decline from the 10th Five-Year Plan (FYP) to the 12th FYP, followed by the low- and high-end MIs. RI and PCI decreased the CI of Chinese MIs in all industrial classifications and economic development stages. Potential energy efficiency and II were the two major contributors to CI improvement in all industrial classifications and economic development stages.