China's Internet of Things industry exceeds 900b yuan

NANJING - China's Internet of Things (IoT) industry has seen its output value exceed 900 billion yuan ($140 billion), with a compound annual growth rate of over 25 percent, a senior official said Sunday.

With a huge market, a complete industrial chain and the world's biggest mobile telecommunications network, China will soon take the lead in some frontier IoT sub-sectors, Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology Luo Wen said during an IoT expo in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

IoT connects traditional devices, including home appliances, to the internet.

A number of technological centers and laboratories will be established to support development in this field, while the manufacturers will be overhauled to be more reliant on the IoT, Luo said.

Jack Ma, Alibaba Group's founder and chairman, has predicted that manufacturing will become flexible in the future and with expert programmers working in factory workshops instead of in internet companies.

Luo said the IoT will be expanded in agriculture, logistics, energy, environmental protection, medical care and other areas.

Cooperation between domestic and overseas IoT research institutions and companies will increase, and actively engage in establishing international standards, said Wang Zhigang, vice minister of science and technology.