The city has a "530 program" to attract small technology companies. In 2013, the municipal bureau of science and technology reported around 800 "530 enterprises" generated combined revenue of 13.8 billion yuan.

Shao Jinhua, who holds a doctorate in engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing, and two schoolmates who also have doctorates submitted a business plan to the Wuxi New District, the city's new industrial zone, three years ago. In around six months, their dreams came true when their plan earned evaluation approval from the "530 program", along with a grant of 600,000 yuan and provision of a designated amount of free office and residential space for three years.

Since the second half of 2013, orders have kept coming in from major hospitals in the nation for the FibroTouch systems the trio's company produces - an advanced liver scanner that generates instant but reliable diagnostic data. Profitability is almost guaranteed for 2014.

"I thank the city for the wonderful opportunity," Shao said, "for which we would have to wait forever in Beijing."

"Since the late 1900s, our city has had three transitions," said Zhuang Ruojiang, a professor of humanities at Jiangnan University.

"The first was for our first generation of industrialists, who rose to meet the challenge of the spread of Western civilization. We did all right," she said proudly.

"The second was in the late 1970s, when our village entrepreneurs began to break away from the planned economy. We did this earlier than most of the nation. And the result, as you can see, has been spectacular.

"Now comes the third transition," she said. "It is perhaps more difficult because we'll have to be not just hardworking but creative. It's still too early to say how well we will fare even though we're seven years into this transition. All I can say is we still have to work harder and be more creative."