The Internet of things is rapidly reshaping our world, with a recent McKinsey report predicting that the economic impact of IoT will be $2.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion by 2025. And China is leading the way in creating the building blocks out of which this revolution is being built: cutting-edge sensors.

That was the consensus at the International Summit Forum of Sensor Technology and Industry Development, an event that brought together the leading minds in the Chinese and global sensor industry in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Oct 30.

Guest speakers discuss the development of the global sensors industry during a forum at the World Internet of Things Exposition, held in Wuxi National Hi-tech District on Oct 30. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Held as part of the World Internet of Things Exposition (WIOT), the forum featured a number of high-profile speakers, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor George Barbastathis, You Zheng, deputy president of Tsinghua University, Ye Tianchun, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' microelectronics division, and Richard Steven Payne, chairman of leading sensor manufacturers MEMSIC.

China is now the largest market for sensors in the world, as well as a leader in sensor technology innovation, and this was highlighted by the number of significant new products unveiled by Chinese companies during the forum.

Miao Jianmin, director of the MEMS Center at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, answers questions at a forum on the sensors industry, part of the World Internet of Things Exposition, held at Wuxi National Hi-tech District on Oct 30. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wuxi-based telecommunications company ZTE unveiled its new parking app, which uses sensors placed around the city to alert drivers where there are parking spaces available nearby, and even allows users to book and pay for parking spaces in advance.

According to ZTE's president Liu Haifeng, the company's system has already been trialed in Wuxi's Micro-nano Park.

Another local company, MEMSIC, also introduced its new range of advanced MEMS sensors.

MEMSIC is the first Chinese company to develop MEMS sensor technology, a major breakthrough for China's sensors industry.

Cutting-edge products connected with automatic parking are displayed at a forum on the sensors industry, part of the World Internet of Things Exposition, held at Wuxi National Hi-tech District on Oct 30. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Experts discussed this achievement and explored the competitiveness of Chinese companies in the MEMS sensors market during a special seminar organized by the forum.

Other major events at the forum included the launch of a new 10-billion-yuan investment fund aimed at supporting emerging industries such as IoT funded by financial group Guolian.

A major report on the diverse web of industries involved in the Internet of things written by Li Xiaoyan, chief editor of Interconnected Elements, was also published during the forum.