Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, plans to continue promoting scientific and technological innovation, according to a statement during a meeting held in Suzhou on Jan 15.

Research and development will make up 3.3 percent of the city's budget this year, and the output value of high-tech industries is expected to account for 50 percent of the total industrial output of businesses above designated size in 2020.

The city will put more emphasis on cultivating high-tech companies, especially national-level ones, and plans to foster 3,000 such companies, bringing the total number in the city to more than 10,000.

Suzhou also plans to better facilitate scientific and technological innovation and move forward with the development of laboratories for Nobel Prize-winning scientists. It will also work to establish national and provincial laboratories and develop national innovation centers for industrial technology related to biological medicine, third-generation semiconductors, and advanced materials.

In addition, the city plans to introduce more than 200 skilled workers to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and try to attract 900 skilled workers from overseas.

More favorable policies will also be introduced to accelerate scientific and technological innovation, and incentives such as corporate income tax exemptions will be granted to high-tech firms, which will see more than 20 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) in tax reductions.

Lu Chunyun, vice-mayor of Suzhou, said that the government should increase its scientific and technological prowess so as to better adapt to new situations, create new opportunities, and tackle new challenges, and promote the balanced development of enterprises, platforms, and talent in an effort to strengthen scientific and technological innovation in the city.