The 2021 World Industrial and Energy Internet and International Industrial Equipment Expo (WIEIE) opened in Changzhou on June 18, the third edition of the event hosted by the city.

With the theme of A New Leader of Low-Carbon Smart Manufacturing, A New Course for Industrial Upgrading, this year's WIEIE focuses on popular topics of industrial digitization and digital industrialization, expecting to accelerate Changzhou's rise as an international hub of smart manufacturing in the Yangtze River Delta.

The opening ceremony saw fruitful results, with the inauguration of the Energy Internet Demonstration Zone of Changzhou High-speed Rail New Town and the Changzhou Energy Internet Management Platform, and 20 investment projects inked with a total value of around 30 billion yuan.

At the main summit, Liu Zhenya, chairman of Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, and Li Peigen and Shan Zhongde, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, made keynote speeches.

Prof. Danial Zajfman, former president of Weizmann Institute of Science, Thomas Rauschenbach, director of Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, and Andreas Hube, SAP global vice president, shared their ideas about the synergy between future networks and the industrial internet through video links.

The event will also feature an online presentation of a futuristic city with the extensive use of 5G, cloud computing, virtual reality, and other digital technologies. This will also be a window to showcase novel products from over 100 top enterprises.

Besides, a 2,000 m2 large exhibition hall will be showing the fruitful achievements of Changzhou in the fields of industrial and energy internet, intelligent manufacturing, major equipment, and so on.

Industrial and energy Internet has become a key to supporting the new industrial revolution and bringing the Internet application in the manufacturing industry to a new height. Changzhou has already made strides in achieving breakthroughs in the industrial internet and improving its reputation as a leading city in smart manufacturing.

So far, Changzhou has won four China Grand Awards for Industry and three nominations. More than 9,000 enterprises in the city have embarked on the digital transformation. It is home to 665 companies recognized as leaders in industrial internet drive across Jiangsu, the third-largest number in the province. In advancing the energy internet, Changzhou has formed a green energy supply system with a growing number of market-leading companies.