The government of Shanxi province held a conference in Beijing on March 16 to discuss ways to attract investment and skilled workers to Shanxi.

Luo Huining, Party secretary of the province, extended a warm welcome to the attendees who were either Shanxi natives or had contributed to the province's development.

"Shanxi is the hometown to everyone present today," said Luo.

"It is proud of your achievements in various fields and is expecting you to come back," he added.

According to Luo, Shanxi is committed to building a good living and working environment for skilled workers. The government is optimizing economic policies and promoting industrial reform.

"With the joint efforts of the government, businesses and talented individuals, Shanxi is destined to enhance its soft power and competitiveness," said Luo.

During the conference, Lou Yangsheng, governor of Shanxi province, introduced Shanxi's development scheme designed to boost newly-emerging industries and upgrade traditional ones.

Government departments and companies signed 18 cooperation agreements at the opening ceremony, involving total investment of over 19.96 billion yuan ($2.89 billion).

Four seminars were held afterwards, focusing on professional and intelligent support for Shanxi's development, big data, the province's tourism industry, and cooperation between Shanxi's economic demonstration area and Beijing Zhongguancun Technology Park.

The attendees exchanged ideas regarding the challenges to Shanxi's economic development, industrial reform, environmental protection and vocational education.

The conference aims to attract more investment and skilled workers to Shanxi, with the aim of making them the main force behind pushing innovation and the upgrading of Shanxi's economy.