Park signs $437M worth of deals at exposition

The Intellectual Sports Park of Wuxi will sign two agreements valued at 3 billion yuan ($437 million) at the 2018 World Internet of Things Exposition, which opens in the city on Saturday.

The agreements involve setting up a fund for smart sports enterprises and establishing an industry 4.0 intelligent production line, according to Zhu Mo, CEO of the park in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

He also said an inspection and testing center approved by the national sports authority will be established to improve the quality of products and services offered by the park's companies.

Smart sports firms produce products integrating the latest internet of things technologies with sports equipment, sports venues and e-sports. For example, traditional sports equipment can be fitted with sensors to collect data on a player's performance.

Launched in 2016, the park is currently a base for 53 companies engaged in IoT and big data industries, helping sports firms to find the services and skilled people they need to develop new products and services. And over the past two years, output value by firms based in the park has surpassed 500 million yuan.

One of these firms, Huipao Events, has transformed itself from a traditional service provider to one of the top firms organizing big marathons across China.

"The introduction of the latest technologies to marathon events has helped us increase our revenues after years of steady losses," said Jiang Chunyang, a technical manager at the firm.

The use of facial recognition technology, satellite navigation and digital registration systems has helped make the process of registering for a marathon easier for runners, he said.

"Wuxi is fast becoming a leading center for integrating new, smart IoT technologies and big data into products for the sports industry," Zhu said.

The city's success complements a 2014 plan by China's State Council to boost the development of the sports industry. The plan states that the value of the industry is expected to reach 5 trillion yuan by 2025.

A new enterprise venturing into the smart sports industry may find it challenging to scale up its operations to meet demand, and cross-industry integration might offer a solution, Zhu said.