NANNING -- South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will build three demonstration zones of innovation and entrepreneurship for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the cities of Nanning, Liuzhou and Guilin.

Joint investment in the projects from corporates organized by the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Guangxi Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Federation Union will be 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion).

The three demonstration zones will highlight the high-tech, intelligent manufacturing, cultural tourism and health industries, according to the federation.

Centrally administered state-owned enterprises, foreign companies and those in the Yangtze River Delta region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are expected to be introduced to the demonstration zones.

Data from the federation show that Guangxi currently has some 770,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as 2.32 million individually owned businesses with total registered capital exceeding 4 trillion yuan.

Guangxi saw 79,000 new micro, small and medium-sized enterprises registered in the first half of this year, accounting for more than 95 percent of the total newly-registered companies in the region during the period.