A worker operates a robotic arm in a workshop in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou was ranked second in East China's Zhejiang province in a provincial evaluation of the integration level of informatization and industrialization.

This year's ranking was seven slots higher than 2017, indicating an improved smart industrial manufacturing level in the city.

Huzhou is now home to four provincial key industrial internet platforms and three national industrial internet innovation projects.

It also boasts 26 provincial smart workshops or plants. In December 2020, Zhejiang Dingli Machinery Co Ltd in Huzhou was listed as a Zhejiang "future plant", which refers to plants that excel in the integration of new-generation information technologies in the advanced manufacturing sector.

An additional three plants from the companies Xiandeng Hi-Tech, Osmun, and Noblelift in the city were nominated to be recognized as "future plants".

Digital transformation has begun paying dividends in Huzhou. One such example is Zhejiang Zhengdao Cable Co Ltd.

The company saw its operating costs and product development cycle drop by 7 percent and 17 percent respectively, while its production efficiency improved by 13 percent due to its technical upgrading.

This year, Huzhou has set the goal of cultivating an additional two provincial "future plants" and 10 at the municipal level.

In addition, it also plans to build another 150 smart factories, increasing the total number of industrial robots in service in the city to more than 12,000.