The number of companies in high-tech industries in the Chinese port city of Guangzhou has leaped in the last few years, a government official said on Tuesday.
The city in southern China, an evolving tech hub, has seen its number of tech firms swell from 1,919 in 2015 to more than 8,600 at the end of 2017. That number looks to test 11,000 by the end of this year, said Wang Dong, deputy mayor of Guangzhou at CNBC's East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou.
That surge underscores the rapid changes and development of Guangzhou, which is also a port city and a major manufacturing hub of the world's second-largest economy. Today, it is a vibrant and dynamic tech city, Wang said in a welcome address at the invite-only retreat.
Guangzhou is part of the Greater Bay Area, which aims to develop into a hub of innovation, and the event is bringing together executives and investors from across the tech world.
Just as humanity has progressed by solving problems and breaching divisions through "conversation, respect and understanding," tech industry participants should do the same, he said.
"Technology can improve efficiency, economic progress and change our lives, but technological developments are ultimately reaching for one goal — to make mankind better," he said according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Chinese.
The rapid developments in China's technology industries come as Beijing touts its Made in China 2025 national plan, which identifies 10 key sectors that the country wants to develop to catch up with its rivals including the United States and Germany.
