A new economic zone in the booming Pazhou area of Haizhu district in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, was inaugurated on Friday morning with the aim of promoting the high-quality development of the local economy.

The zone, dedicated to artificial intelligence and the digital economy, was approved by the provincial government in October. It currently has more than 34,000 companies, which generated over 400 billion yuan ($59.31 billion) in business revenues in 2022, according to the local government.

Leading companies engaged in the digital economy — including tech giants Tencent, Alibaba, Xiaomi and iFlytek — have developed projects within the zone, helping boost development of digital industrial chains.

Construction of 17 new industrial projects, with a total investment of 32.8 billion yuan, began in Haizhu on Friday with the signing of 26 more projects, according to the district government, which has set a goal of achieving a 7 percent year-on-year increase in GDP this year, with an 18.5 percent year-on-year increase for the new generation of information technology and services.