Authorities in East China's Zhejiang province held a conference on high-quality development for the manufacturing industry on Tuesday to further boost its progress in the coming year.

In 2021, the number of enterprises in Zhejiang above designated size exceeded 50,000 and investment on R&D surpassed 200 billion yuan ($30.91 billion). More than 1,200 companies and institutions were awarded during the conference for their contributions to the province's high-quality development.

This year, Zhejiang will spend more efforts to build itself into a globally advanced manufacturing base. According to the conference, the province will introduce digital reforms to more industrial clusters and promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in the manufacturing industry by popularizing the "industrial carbon efficiency code." The province will also strive to have more than 10 of the world's top 500 companies by 2025.

In 2022, the Zhejiang authorities will implement a series of relief policies and measures to lessen tax burdens on enterprises. Among the measures are deferring 90 billion yuan in tax payments throughout the year.