Fifty-three craftsmen in Suzhou of Jiangsu province were honored as Suzhou folk artists at the fourth Suzhou folk art certificate-giving ceremony on November 20.

There are now 160 total folk artists with certificates promoting crafts art development.

More than 150,000 people are working in the industry now in the Suzhou area, including some born in the 1980s and 1990s.

Voting on folk artists began in May this year with 104 applicants. After the work exhibition, assessment, online suggestion collection and public vote, 53 people finally received the honor. They work in embroidery, jade carving, fruit stones and walnuts carving, and traditional furniture making.

Statistics show that now there are over 6,000 companies focusing on the craft arts industry in Suzhou with annual output value of 18 billion yuan ($2.96 billion).