Already a manufacturing powerhouse in China, Jiangsu province has been at the forefront of new developments and innovations to the industry for many years.

Now, authorities in the province hope to get ahead in the latest developments in smart manufacturing. Rapid innovations in technology have prompted a surge in products offering sophisticated computer control systems and highly-automated features.

The Jiangsu provincial government in April released a plan following the Made in China 2025 initiative to develop smart manufacturing to inject new impetus into its industrial development.

Jiangsu has been leading the manufacturing industry in China of late. Statistics show that its industrial output accounts for 12.5 percent of that of the entire country and 2 percent of the world.

Industries such as mechanics, electronics, petrochemicals and metallurgy have contributed over 1 trillion yuan ($148 billion) to the total output since 2010.

While the province may have every reason to be proud of its achievements, it still has work to do to upgrade its manufacturing sector.

As outlined in the plan, the government has?designated 15 key areas to focus on including cloud computing, the Internet of things, smart manufacturing and biomedicine.

According to the targets set out by the government, during the 13th Five Year Plan (2016-2020), the province will set up 150 exemplary smart factories, produce 6,000 industrial robots each year, and will make automated over 80 percent of the crucial procedures in equipment manufacturing.

Moreover, the provincial government will invest 30 billion yuan to build a special fund for industries and the information technology sector in Jiangsu.

Authorities expect that the province to become a forerunner in smart manufacturing and have a global impact by 2025.

Edited by Jake Hooson