Ant Group plans to build an industrial innovation center in Liandu district. [Photo/WeChat account: liandufb]

The Liandu district of Lishui city – located in East China's Zhejiang province – recently signed an agreement with Alibaba's financial technology affiliate Ant Group for it to build an industry innovation center in the district.

The new facility will be an AntChain innovation center – with AntChain being the block chain subsidiary of the Ant Group.

Relying on the competitive advantages of Liandu in industries, resources and policies – and Ant Group's capabilities in science and technology and finance – the two will work closely in the areas of digital governance, digital society and digital finance.

The facility is expected to be an innovation service platform for the integration of upstream and downstream businesses in local industry chain and for the incubation of emerging industries. It will also be involved in investment and recruitment of personnel.

It is understood that Ant Group will provide self-developed block chain technology to build a one-stop application development platform and services – to help the local government, businesses and partners introduce block chain applications in various commercial scenarios.

The center will also focus on block chain, big data, cloud computing and digital cultural innovation, digital agriculture and tourism in the Liandu district, among other things.