Manufacturing summit set for Anhui province in May

A high-end manufacturing summit will be held from May 25 to 27 in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, government officials announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

"We aim at providing a global platform for communication and cooperation in the manufacturing sector," said Sun Yong, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Anhui Provincial People's Government.

"The summit is important to foster a free trade and investment environment in Anhui, and is essential for Anhui to develop into China's new base for opening up," Sun added.

Held by Anhui municipal government, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Global Alliance of SMEs, the World Manufacturing Convention 2018 will attract almost 80 companies listed on the Fortune Global 500.

Among those companies, 47 are domestic enterprises and over 30 are from overseas, including tech giants like iFlytech and Amazon, and companies in emerging fields, like new materials and logistics.

"The summit will feature high-tech manufacturing and eco-friendly productions," said Zhang Jian, head of The Bureau of Commerce of Anhui province, as part of the country's larger efforts to encourage industrial innovation and high-end manufacturing development.

"The convention has already released over 1,000 projects for investment," Zhang added.