Just-in-time production (JIT) and agile manufacturing (AM) are both production paradigms that are widely used all over the world. JIT and AM are utilized to compare and analyze the manufacturing industry in China, Japan and South Korea. The application conditions and the development of JIT and AM in manufacturing industry in China, Japan and South Korea are analyzed separately, and then comparison is made by providing some useful and important comparison items of JIT and AM. The primary stage of JIT / AM mixed production paradigm of manufacturing enterprises in China is proposed by comparing Chinese JIT/AM production paradigm with that of Japan and South Korea. According to empirically comparative analysis, suggestions are given in popularizing and deepening JIT/AM in manufacturing industry, especially for the development of Chinese manufacturing.