Anhui's spending on technical innovation rose 14 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2017(Q1), quickening from last year’s 11 percent, official data showed Tuesday.

The province's industrial investment reached 231.6 billion yuan ($33.7 billion) between January and March, up 10.2 percent from the same period a year ago, said the Anhui Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

125 billion yuan, or 54 percent of the total, were injected in programs aimed at upgrading technology, representing a year-on-year rise of 14 percent. The growth rate was higher than the 11 percent increase recorded in the Jan-Mar period of 2016.

The increases in industrial and technical-upgrading investment came after the local government announced a slew of incentives to encourage industrial firms to ramp up investment.

Hefei, capital of the Chinese province, for example, released a 3-year action plan to promote technical updating and accelerate industrial transformation. Under the plan, financial support, favorable land policies and tax incentives were offered to local enterprises.

Thanks to the guidance and incentives, the Hefei Economic Circle and the Hefei-Wuhu-Bengbu National Independent Innovation Demonstration Area saw booms in investment in technological innovation programs.

The food processing sector posted a 33.2 percent rise in technical spending in Q1, followed by medicine (28 percent), equipment manufacturing (23.2 percent), and information technology (21.5 percent), statistics from the commission showed.

From January to March, the province carried out more than 800 technical innovation programs, 126 among which were newly-added ones, the commission said.

Meanwhile, up to 39.2 billion yuan, or 31.3 percent of the total budget, was poured into the ongoing projects.