Foshan is striving to become an innovation hub in China's manufacturing sector by constantly upgrading traditional businesses with the implementation of the country's Internet Plus strategy, according to officials.

Lu Yi, Party chief of Foshan, said the city will use its status as an important manufacturing center in South China's Guangdong province to focus more on intelligent and high-end development.

Nowadays, information technology is advancing rapidly and is deeply integrated with all sectors of society, making it a key factor in enhancing both national and regional comprehensive competitiveness, Lu said.

Xie Shaofeng, director of the Informatization and Software Service Division at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said Foshan should use the resources it has accumulated in the manufacturing and internet sectors to combine innovative technologies, products and new industrial development patterns in the hope of converting old economic growth drivers into new ones.

To better implement China's innovation-driven and Internet Plus strategies, Foshan launched the first China (Guangdong) International Internet Plus Exposition in 2015. After three sessions, this annual event has effectively boosted the utilization of internet technologies in the city and helped to form new economic growth points.

In 2017, Foshan generated 2.24 trillion yuan ($322.83 billion) in total industrial output value, while the output value of its advanced and high-tech manufacturing sectors grew by 9.8 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively.

In July this year, the city's economy and information technology bureau issued a three-year action plan (2018-20) for technological reform in local industrial enterprises. One of the highlights of the plan is to promote the use of robots in industries such as automobile manufacturing, ceramics and building materials, household electrical appliances and electronic information.

By the end of 2020, the industrial output value of robots and intelligent equipment in Foshan is expected to exceed 120 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 15 percent, according to the plan.

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(China Daily 10/23/2018 page10)