The four-day 2024 World Manufacturing Convention will offer 700 projects to top business leaders from around the world, inviting investment of 350 billion yuan ($49.2 billion), when it opens on Friday in Hefei, the capital city of East China's Anhui province.

Besides foreign dignitaries and government officials, top executives from Fortune Global 500 enterprises and multinational corporations will participate in the annual trade show, bolstering Anhui's ambitions to become a regional hub for smart manufacturing among domestic and global players.

According to Anhui Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology (APDEIT), the province has set up a modern industrial system after years of development, covering 40 major sectors, among which manufacturing spans 31 major industries.

Covering opening and closing ceremonies, keynote forums and matchmaking activities, a spectrum of events will highlight the convention's theme this year, which is "Intelligent Manufacturing for a Better Future".

Co-sponsored by the Anhui provincial government, a group of central government agencies and a number of global industrial associations, the WMC, now in its sixth edition, aims to promote the province's advanced manufacturing abilities to the outside world, while introducing similar capabilities from the outside to Anhui.

During the past six WMC sessions, more than 3,600 manufacturing projects were signed, with actual investment surpassing 1.5 trillion yuan, helping to elevate Anhui's manufacturing prowess.

Using the WMC platform, Anhui has promoted project cooperation among centrally administered State-owned enterprises, private businesses and foreign companies, as well as enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese firms, said Feng Kejin, director of the APDEIT.

Liang Yanshun, Party secretary of Anhui, said the province must take industry as its foundation and expand new quality productive forces, enhancing Anhui manufacturers' efforts to go global, as well as organizing a highly successful WMC for all concerned.

Anhui Governor Wang Qingxian stressed that in order to boost Anhui's industrial clusters, it is imperative to boost 10 new emerging industries.

The province expects to realize business revenue of 1 trillion yuan from its equipment manufacturing industry and 500 billion yuan from the information technology and new materials industries this year, he said.

Contact the writers at zhuangqiange@chinadaily.com.cn