"A future factory is the more advanced form of a digital factory and intelligent factory," said Lu Shan, vice-governor of Zhejiang.

A future factory, as a new concept, refers to the extensive use of digital twins, artificial intelligence, big data and other new generation information technologies in all the processes of a manufacturing plant.

The goal is to improve the enterprise value chain and core competitiveness, leading the development of new intelligent manufacturing modern factories, according to the provincial government.

The province plans to increase the number of future factories to 100 in five years, Lu said.

Official statistics show that the added value of the province's digital economy was 3.6 trillion yuan in 2021, accounting for 48.6 percent of its GDP. At present, 7.3 percent of the added value went to research and development of the digital economy's core industries in Zhejiang.

In the Digital China Development Report (2021) released by the State Internet Information Office, Zhejiang ranked first among all provincial regions in the Chinese mainland.

At the province's Digital Economy High-Quality Development Conference held in July, the provincial authorities said the annual added value of Zhejiang's digital economy is projected to exceed 7 trillion yuan in five years. The annual added value of core industries for the digital economy will exceed 1.6 trillion yuan by then, they added.