A parallel session of the 2020 National Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week is officially launched in Yinzhou district, Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 15. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

A parallel session of the 2020 National Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week was officially launched in Yinzhou district, Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on Oct 15.

This year, the week-long event will comprise of a series of online and offline activities, including forums, exhibitions, contests, live streams, and recruitment fairs.

In recent years, Ningbo has been making strong efforts to bolster local entrepreneurship and innovation. Official data shows that the city is now home to more than 500 entrepreneurship and innovation platforms, including business incubators and maker spaces.

Yinzhou district is the only county (district) in Zhejiang that has been designated a national demonstration base for mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

In the first eight months of this year, investment in the high-tech industry in Yinzhou increased by 32.9 percent year-on-year, and the number of market entities in the district grew 9.8 percent year on year, ranking first in the city.

China first introduced the mass entrepreneurship and innovation policy in 2014, and it has since proved to be an effective driver of economic growth and has helped facilitate the transition between traditional and new growth engines. It has also contributed to the creation of new jobs and an increase in local incomes.