A workshop in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account:huzhoufabu]

Two Huzhou enterprises - Zhejiang Sany Equipment Co Ltd and Zhejiang Tianma Bearing Group Co Ltd - recently made the 2021 list of leading innovation-driven companies in Zhejiang province, bringing the total number of such companies in the city to eight, the second most in the province.

A crawl crane producer based in Huzhou, Sany Equipment has obtained 164 invention patents and commercialized 10 major scientific and technological achievements in the last three years, with its core products taking up over 42 percent of the domestic market share.

Huzhou has in recent years been focused on spurring innovation in local enterprises. In 2021, over 1,100 enterprises from the city were designated provincial technology companies, and 260 were honored as provincial high-tech companies, official statistics show.

Local enterprises are able to apply for preferential tax treatment for R&D spending. The local government exempted about 1.945 billion yuan ($299.23 million) in taxes last year to incentivize innovation among enterprises.