Tonzghou's home textiles industry has become one of the industrial clusters with the largest scale, strongest innovation capability and best intellectual property rights protection in China. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The Tongzhou district of Nantong city – in East China's Jiangsu province – was recently handed a provincial honor, in recognition of its effective innovation in manufacturing.

The Industry and Information Technology Department of Jiangsu on March 30 published a list of areas that achieved notable results in manufacturing innovation and transformation in 2020. Four cities with subordinate districts and six county-level administrative divisions were shortlisted, with Tongzhou district the only one honored from Nantong.

It's not the first time the city has been recognized for its innovation. In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched an annual selection event to award honors to cities or prefectures that achieved strong results in stable growth and transformation of industry and Nantong was one of the first group of cities to receive the honor.

In the wake of the national awards, the Jiangsu industry and information technology department launched a provincial version the following year. Its focus is on manufacturing innovation capacity, facilitating intelligent manufacturing, boosting industrial investment and the technological transformation of enterprises.

Tongzhou district has been ranked 35th among China's top 100 districts, in terms of comprehensive strength and 15th in terms of its high-quality development.

Its home textile industry has reportedly become one of the industrial clusters with the largest scale, the strongest innovation capability and the best intellectual property rights protection in China.