IoT technology well applied in China

China has made tremendous progress in applying the Internet of Things technology in sectors like smart transportation, mobile medicine and distance monitoring, a report reveals.

The still-fledging IoT technology has developed rapidly in food tracking and city management, according the 2012-2013 China Internet of Things Development Annual report, which is compiled by the State-owned Xinhua News Agency.

Greater emphasis will be placed on other livelihood-related areas.

The report said the rapid development is bolstered by concerted efforts from a consortium of ministries, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which formulated regulations in 2012 to provide fiscal and technology support for industry players.

Sensors, cloud computing and mobile Internet are the key technological drivers behind such applications, it said.

Ten IoT-related applications, ranging from agriculture to healthcare, were demonstrated at the Wuxi National Sensor Network Innovation and Demonstration Zone, the nation's largest IoT cluster.

According to Liu Haitao, chairman of Wuxi-based World SensingNet, his firm has created over 2,000 applications in facilitating logistics and accrued one-third of domestic market share in mobile phone payment solutions.

Some 12 major IoT contracts, with an estimated value of 1.8 billion yuan ($300 million), were signed at the opening ceremony of the China International IoT (Sensor Network) Expo, which kicked off on Thursday.