From anti-theft devices to environmental warning systems, citizens are experiencing how life becomes simpler and easier thanks to innovative internet technology. Wang Hongyi reports.

Wuxi in Jiangsu province has seen great achievements in the development of the internet of things, with technology applications significantly improving over recent years.

The city has remained in a leading national position as a developing smart city for the past four years. To date, it has implemented more than 200 IoT application demonstration projects, covering various social and economic areas, according to the local government.

City authorities said IoT enterprises in Wuxi have undertaken 17 important projects commissioned by various ministries and other government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Commerce.

The Wuxi environment monitoring IoT application demonstration project, supported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is helping to develop the country’s first ecological environment early warning system through carrying out real-time monitoring, analysis and evaluation of the city’s environmental quality and pollutant emissions.

It is a scientific monitoring method that has the management of ecological environment quality at its core, the inventors said.

After the pilot project in Wuxi for an electric bicycle anti-theft IoT application, local electric bicycle thefts have decreased significantly, with the detection rate reaching 100 percent.

The project received the support of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and has already been applied to nearly 1 million electric bicycles in 16 provinces and cities across the country.

A national telecommunications company from Vietnam made a special trip to learn about the project and considered importing it, according to local officials.

The China leg of an international IoT startup contest for university students is held in Wuxi;