Wuxi tops Chinese cities for information consumption

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province topped the list of national information consumption demonstration cities, the city's industry and information technology bureau said on Jan 12.

The list was released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) based on the quantitative evaluation index of applied cities and the scores of on-site assessments.

Wuxi showed great competitiveness in many aspects, such as information industry development, information infrastructure, as well as information consumption and application, according to the city's industry and information technology bureau.

As a national pilot area for the development of the internet of vehicles (IoV), Wuxi has developed a number of related enterprises working on vehicles, roads, and terminal applications to promote its industrial chain.

The IoV project is expected to provide information regarding roads, intersections, and pedestrians to vehicles, which have connected to the IoV network, aiming to relieve pressure on transportation systems and reduce energy consumption.

People in Wuxi are gradually changing the way of consumption in the digital and networked environment. By November 2020, over 9.7 million local households are covered by optical fiber and over 8,000 5G base stations have been built.

Wuxi is the first city in China to apply fingerprint recognition and two-dimensional bar code to its citizen cards, which can serve people's daily consumption, such as paying water and electricity fees, borrowing books, as well as enjoying travel at local tourist attractions.

Last May, Wuxi launched a city service mobile app named Ling Xi. It provides over 380 high-frequency services for local residents, including those related to transportation, health, social security, education and employment, cultural tourism, emergency safety, as well as quality of life.

According to officials, the scale of Wuxi's information consumption-related industries is expected to increase 20 percent yearly to reach 150 billion yuan ($23.2 billion) by 2022. Over 10,000 5G base stations are also expected to be built in Wuxi by that time.