Attendees swarm an exhibition booth during the 2019 World Internet of Things Exposition held in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. CHINA DAILY

The 2021 World Internet of Things Exposition got underway on Oct 22 in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, showcasing the latest applications of internet of things technologies.

The event, originally scheduled to be held from Sept 3 to 6, was postponed due to the need for epidemic prevention.

This year's event includes a main summit, an exhibition on IoT applications and products, an awards ceremony, 10 sub-forums and 14 related activities, according to the organizers. The main summit opens on Oct 23 and is followed by an awards ceremony for outstanding new technologies, products and applications in the field of IoT.

Zhou Haoming, deputy secretary-general of the city government of Wuxi, said that 1,780 IoT-related achievements had been submitted to a contest being hosted at the event in the past three months, an 11 percent increase compared with last year.

"Growing numbers of high-quality achievements reflect the accelerating integration of IoT and the real economy," Zhou said.

"Key IoT technologies play an increasingly important role in supporting the country's manufacturing powerhouse strategy."

A total of 217 achievements passed the initial selection process. They will be reviewed carefully by experts in aspects focused on technical innovation, industrial synergy, demonstration capability and scale application.

Fifty of them will be selected for the final round of the contest, and will be categorized into three areas: IoT innovation infrastructure; the integrated development of IoT and the digital economy; and the integrated innovation of the industrial internet.

The expert group, led by two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Wu Hequan and Li Bohu, will choose 10 prize winners. The results will be announced during the expo.

This year's WIOT is hosted in an integrated format for offline and online exhibitions.

Inside the Wuxi Taihu International Expo Center, visitors can take part in exhibitions, promotional events and business activities.

In the outdoor area, enterprises such as China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom have set up booths to offer a number of new interactive experiences to visitors. New achievements using technologies such as vehicle networking, intelligent connection, autonomous driving and traffic information services are being showcased.

According to Zuo Baochun, deputy director of the Wuxi bureau of industry and information technology, with the use of 5G, virtual reality and big data, exhibitors and buyers can meet, coordinate, negotiate and sign deals online.

All displays at the exhibition were replicated via 3D and VR technologies and posted online.

The WIOT has set up a special "Made in Wuxi" pavilion selling competitive products from enterprises in the city. Ten sub-forums focused on areas such as smart manufacturing, industrial internet, IoT information security, big data, 5G, artificial intelligence, smart cities, intelligent transportation, and the internet of vehicles, are being hosted during the WIOT.

Industry insiders, experts and IoT enthusiasts can share their views and insights into the future of related industries through 14 activities, which include a conference on intelligent computing, a forum on health and IoT, a summit on sports and entertainment with digital and smart technologies and a drone contest.

Wuxi has hosted the WIOT for five consecutive years. More than 50 countries and regions have participated in the WIOT.

The cumulative number of participants exceeds 1.1 million. Investment agreements worth over 200 billion yuan ($30.91 billion) have been signed at the event.

yinruowei@chinadaily.com.cn