The first two months of 2017 saw unexpected industrial growth in Zhejiang province.

The value added of industrial enterprises above designated size - defined as State-owned and non-State-owned industrial companies with an annual revenue of over 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) – have reached 194.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent, according to the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Statistics.

Two sectors contributed to the growth: export delivery value and private investment. Export delivery value grew by 7.8 percent from Jan to Feb this year, while private investment grew 10 percent.

Industrial production is a reflection of the province's real economy. The growth is a result of the government's efforts of transforming and upgrading the industrial structure, encouraging innovative work and deepening government administrative reforms.

Leading private companies have expanded their production capacity, giving a boost to private capital flow in the province. Private capital totaling 177 billion yuan has been invested over the past two months, up 17.4 percent year-on-year and representing 57.2 percent of total investment.

The information economy in Zhejiang has played an important role over the past two months. Core information industries, such as communications and electronics, have seen a 16.6 percent increase in profits. Companies in this sector, like Hikvision and Dahua, continue to develop rapidly.

The transformation and upgrade of traditional industries was also analyzed in the bureau of statistics' report. The proportion of high energy-consuming companies in industrial enterprises above designated size decreased by 1.7 percent over the past two months, reflecting a better industrial structure in Zhejiang.

Additionally, the output value of new products has grown by 20.2 percent year-on-year. Smart phones, industrial robots, optical fibers and other advanced products have witnessed rapid growth.

The development of industry-applied robots can be partly attributed to Wahaha Group, a Zhejiang-based beverage giant. Realizing the benefits of intelligent manufacturing inspired the group to march into the robotics industry. Group Chairman Zong Qinghou said, "The development of the real economy is based on innovation." Zong's opinion has been widely accepted, especially by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Wahaha Group independently developed robots for its assembly lines in 2015 and now aims to march into the robotics industry. [Photo/Zhejiang Daily]