The 24th China Hi-Tech Fair, one of the country's most influential technology shows, opened on Tuesday in Shenzhen, marking an effort of the South China metropolis to support the development of its innovation industry.

"Innovation is Shenzhen's most distinct feature, the most attractive area of the city and serves as the most powerful engine," said Meng Fanli, Party Secretary of Shenzhen, in the opening ceremony.

The fair has been jointly sponsored by seven ministries, two top academies of China and the city government of Shenzhen since 1999. Covering a record exhibition area of nearly 400,000 square meters, the 2022 edition has attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors from nearly 40 countries and regions to display cutting-edge technologies over the next four days.

The fair has nurtured many startups to grow into industrial leaders, such as Tencent, BYD and Han's Laser, over the past two decades.

Shenzhen Data Exchange opens on Tuesday during the 24th China Hi-Tech Fair. CHEN WEN/FOR CHINA DAILY

The sponsors — in the fields of commerce, science and technology, industry and information, reform, agriculture and intellectual properties — have organized the most diverse new technologies and products to the fair.

They fall into a wide range of categories, including biomedicine, modern agriculture, aerospace, telecommunications, blockchain, big data and artificial intelligence.

Several forums will be staged during the fair to inspire new ideas, which will be attended by government officials, international organizations' leaders, top scientists, renowned entrepreneurs and investors. Themes such as metaverse, emerging technologies that could change the world, innovation and life science will be discussed in these forums.

Shenzhen continues to increase its innovation capabilities by improving facilities, raising input and valuing its resident talents. According to the city government, the research and development investments from all entities in Shenzhen accounted for 5.46 percent of its GDP.

The local government is planning a group of innovation platforms, including a State-level science center, national key laboratories and regional technological hubs. Some of these have been put into operation and generated a pool of scientific achievements.

Starting from November, the 8th of every month will be defined "Venture Capital Day". The effort aims to match up VC institutes with high-tech projects in the hope of making the city the best destination for innovation and investment.