College students interact with a soccer robot during a science fair at Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, in October. YANG BO/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

Deputies to the 14th National People's Congress from Jiangsu province vowed to make solid efforts to ensure the province takes the lead in the integration of technological and industrial innovation in the country, as called for by President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, took part in a deliberation in Beijing with fellow deputies of the Jiangsu delegation at the third session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Zhao Jianjun, the mayor of Wuxi, Jiangsu, said he could tell from Xi's interactions with fellow deputies on Wednesday that the president knows Jiangsu's development situation very well and has very high hopes for the province, which is an economic powerhouse.

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