A total of 914 companies from Huzhou had been designated Zhejiang provincial small and medium-sized technology enterprises in the first half of this year, according to official data from the Huzhou municipal bureau of science and technology.

The number exceeded the total number of enterprises that won the title from the city throughout last year. Huzhou currently houses 4,566 provincial small and medium-sized technology companies.

The strong results achieved by the city are partly due to local government's great efforts in spurring innovation among businesses.

This year, Huzhou has launched an action plan to boost the growth of provincial tech enterprises in sectors like digital economy, high-end manufacturing, biomedicine, and new materials. Twelve teams of officials have been dispatched to 411 tech companies to help them cope with technical upgrading issues.

Enterprises are also incentivized to co-build research organs with universities or research institutes and are offered with strong financial support to seek innovation.

Small and medium-sized technology enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in bolstering local economic growth. The latest data shows that from January to May, the added value of Huzhou's high-tech industry increased by 28 percent year-on-year, 2.7 percentage points higher than the province's average.

It accounted for more than 60 percent of the total output value of enterprises above designated size from the city. Investment in high-tech industries in Huzhou reported a year-on-year uptick of 36.1 percent over the five-month period.