The province has been a leading manufacturing base, but it is also developing modern, high-tech industries

Editor's note: As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Oct 1, China Daily is featuring a series of stories on the role regions have played in the country's development and where they are today.

Jiangsu manufacturing industry has ranked first in the country for eight consecutive years, but the province has been introducing modern technologies to promote growth and upgrade industry.

The province, with a population of 80.5 million, covers an area of 107,200 square kilometers and its GDP reached 9.259 trillion yuan ($1.29 trillion) last year. Three of its 13 cities had GDPs surpassing 1 trillion yuan.

Lou Qinjian, Party secretary of the province, has said on many occasions that the manufacturing industry is the lifeblood of Jiangsu's economy and the foundation for the steady development of a modern economic system.

Last year, the main business income of major industrial enterprises in Jiangsu, those with annual income exceeding 20 million yuan, accounted for 12.5 percent of the total for China's major industrial enterprises.