New Five-Year Plan projects that internet-based and related businesses will help in catching up with the more established tech centers in East China and around the world, Yang Jun reports.

Guiyang in Guizhou province has become a city of innovation, as its efforts to develop itself into a big data hub have attracted investment from high-tech companies to transform its economy.

The provincial capital attracted 138 big data and related investment projects in 2014 alone, with total investment value reaching 132.6 billion yuan ($18.99 billion).

To date, more than 4,000 companies are already involved in big data and related businesses in Guiyang, with 25,000 servers in the city.

Clockwise from top: Big data technology showcased at an industrial expo in Guiyang, Guizhou province, can be used to deal with sports statistics to provide an improved on-site interactive experience. Yang Jun / China Daily; Workers scan packages at a 180,000-square-meter logistics center invested in by JD.com in Guiyang. Wang Xu / For China Daily; A visitor tries virtual reality technology at the Guiyang International Big Data Expo. Yang Jun / China Daily; Truck Alliance shows how it employs big data technology to facilitate communication between truck drivers and cargo owners at an industrial expo in Guiyang. Yang Jun / China Daily; Young people discuss startup plans in Guiyang, which has attracted a throng of budding entrepreneurs as a big data hub in China. Yang Jun / China Daily; An exhibition center at the Guizhou Big Data Comprehensive Experimental Zone has a futuristic design. Xinhua

According to the city's new action plan for internet development during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), annual revenue from internet services is projected to exceed 24 billion yuan by 2018. Information consumption is expected to exceed 29 billion yuan, while trade volume for e-commerce will exceed 120 billion yuan.

The growth of big data industries will spur the city's development, said Chen Gang, Party chief of Guiyang.

Chen compared the local economy to an elephant, saying: "We have found an awl and used it to poke the elephant, and now the elephant is moving forward.

"For Guiyang, that awl is big data."

Located in Southwest China, Guiyang is a city that lags behind the development of cities in East China, with its industry and service sectors comparatively weak.

The inland city saw the development of the big data industry as an opportunity to overtake other regions.

In September 2013, the Science and Technology Park of Zhongguancun in Guiyang was unveiled, as enterprises from Beijing signed 106 cooperation agreements with the city, bringing in a total investment value of 46.5 billion yuan. The park put Guiyang's big data industry on the fast track.

A number of industrial giants, including Dell, Hewlett Packard, JD.com, Foxconn and CBC Capital, have decided to invest in Guiyang.

The city has also attracted many professionals who have studied or researched overseas and now want to start their own businesses.

The big data drive prompted the founders of Guiyang Truck Alliance to base their company in Guiyang in 2014.

The company has grown at a phenomenal rate over the past three years, enabling the city to become a hub for logistics data nationwide.

Truck Alliance has established a communication platform between truck drivers and cargo owners, using mobile big data to link empty trucks with cargo, reducing waste of resources in road transport.

In 2015, Truck Alliance helped trucks nationwide to save more than 50 billion yuan in fuel charges and reduced total greenhouse gas emissions by 27 million metric tons.

The massive social and economic benefits provided by Truck Alliance have been recognized by Premier Li Keqiang when he attended the Guiyang International Big Data Expo in May.

Li spoke highly of the achievements of Truck Alliance after listening to a report from Luo Peng, president of the company.

Dai Wenjian, CEO of Truck Alliance, said the company decided to base itself in Guiyang because the city really goes all-out to assist in the development of the big data industry.

"In Guiyang, we can fulfil our dream of changing the future with big data," he said.

Wang Sanshou, acting president of the Big Data Exchange in Guiyang, said: "Every city has a clear goal for innovation. In China, Guiyang is indispensable for developing big data industries, just as the development of the e-commerce industry couldn't be achieved without Hangzhou."

Jack Ma, founder and chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, said Guizhou province and Guiyang's world-class strategic positioning in the big data industry provides infinite possibilities for the sector's future development in China.

The rapid growth of the big data industry has also fueled the development of other businesses, including Guizhou Wanhua Sci-Tech, which was registered at a high-tech development zone in Guiyang in May 2010.

Guo Jian, the company's general manager, has since relocated from Beijing to Guiyang.

"Initially, I did not expect a long-term stay in Guiyang," Guo said. "My plan was to apply for a recall to Beijing in two years."

However, Guiyang's growth has prompted him to settle down in the city and seek longer-term development.

Wanhua has grown into an industry leader in information services, intelligent security and energy-conservation services.

"Our company has experienced rapid growth in Guiyang over the past five years, with business revenue increasing nearly 30-fold from over 1 million yuan to more than 30 million yuan" Guo said.

"The momentum continues," he said.

Guiyang's innovation-driven campaign, with an emphasis on big data, has paid off.

The city's major economic indicators, including total industrial output value, industrial value added and industrial investment, have all maintained a high average annual growth rate throughout the past five years, doubling the figures of 2010.

The scale of the big data industry in Guiyang is expected to reach 130 billion yuan by the end of this year, up 40 percent year-on-year.

Contact the writer at yangjun@chinadaily.com.cn

Xu Wei contributed to this story.

(China Daily 12/21/2016 page7)