Deals worth over 61 billion yuan (about 8.59 billion U.S. dollars) covering 23 major projects were signed at the Invest Beijing Conference in Beijing's Zhongguancun -- "China's Silicon Valley".

As part of the ongoing 2024 Zhongguancun Forum, which runs from April 25 to 29, the event is aimed at showcasing the favorable investment environment and flourishing development opportunities in Beijing.
A total of 231 investment projects covering advanced and emerging industries, including information technology, intelligent manufacturing, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence (AI) and green energy, were announced at the conference, with a total value of around 90.22 billion yuan (roughly 12.71 billion U.S. dollars).
In addition, for the first time, the conference set up a corporate exhibition and investment consultation session. Over 100 companies from key industries in Beijing, including information technology and biopharmaceuticals, conducted on-site investment consultations and negotiations.
"A separate negotiation and docking area is available on-site, mainly to showcase investment environment and development opportunities in Beijing to entrepreneurs. We aim to attract more high-quality projects to land in Beijing, so as to accelerate the formation of new quality productive forces," explained Wang Rui, deputy director of the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center.
As a widely recognized rising sci-tech innovation hub, Beijing boasts around 100 colleges and universities and over 1,000 scientific research institutes. Meanwhile, it is also home to some 28,200 high-tech enterprises, with the number of unicorn companies hitting 114 by the end of last year.