The stainless steel foil with a thickness of 0.015 millimeters, produced by Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group, represents an advanced level of Shanxi's manufacturing industry. [Photo by Wu Liuhong for China Daily]

By promoting an innovation-driven strategy, Shanxi province has utilized new and advanced technologies to upgrade its economy and bring positive changes to people's lives.

A Shanxi resident surnamed Dong, who lives in an old urban area of Yangquan city, is one example of how new technologies have changed lives for the better.

She said keeping warm in her old residence during the winter had been a continual problem.

In 2019, the local government began to renovate seven old residential communities in Yangquan. They installed a new heat-insulating coating to the outer walls of the buildings.

The community where Dong lives was one of the beneficiaries.

"In the past, it was hot in summer and cold in winter inside the buildings as they have been here for several decades," Dong said. "Now I'm very satisfied with the renovation. The temperature in inside can be as much as 10 C lower in summer and 5 C higher in winter."

The most effective ingredient in the cutting-edge coating is aerogel, a material added that increases its insulating properties.

Aerogel used to be a high-tech material mostly used in the aerospace industry. The domestic market had been dominated by overseas suppliers, and the price of the material was as high as 1.2 million yuan ($184,320) per metric ton before 2018, according to industry insiders.

Yangquan-based Huayang Group was one of the Chinese pioneers able to break the overseas monopoly on the domestic market. It began to develop aerogel products in 2018 and founded Asia's largest aerogel manufacturing enterprise－Yangzhong New Materials－in Yangquan, in cooperation with Aerogel Technology based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

"With a density just 2.7 times that of air, the aerogel we produce is superlight in weight and high in performance in heat insulation and flame resistance," said Lian Ni'er, general manager of Yangzhong New Materials.

The executive added that the Yangzhong-produced aerogel has brought down the product's price to about 300,000 yuan per ton, making it possible to be used in a range of industries including construction, energy conservation, textiles and new energy vehicles.

Huayang Energy Conservation, another branch of Huayang Group, is using the aerogel-adding coating to renovate more than 300 buildings in Yangquan this year.

Huayang Group used to be a major coal producer in Shanxi. It began to diversify its operations in the early 2000s, with a number of branches engaging in new and high-tech industries.

This is in line with Shanxi's transformation strategy, which has highlighted the development of 14 emerging industries including new materials, information technology, e-commerce and advanced manufacturing.

A truck owner and driver surnamed Dou in Hequ county serves as an example of how businesses are benefiting from emerging e-commerce technologies.

Dou has been engaged in coal transport and other logistics operations for more than a decade.

"It became increasingly difficult to do business in these industries several years ago because of intensified competition," Dou said.

He said securing orders used to be the biggest challenge for truck drivers. "However, identifying freight carriers is also a problem with the large number of small suppliers."

Dou said the concerns from both sides have now been properly addressed thanks to the various vehicle-hailing platforms.

"These platforms can effectively help freight carriers identify suppliers and vice versa," Dou said. "They offer further assistance like online settlement, road rescue and experience sharing."

Li Shu contributed to this story.