Guiyang, Guizhou province, is looking for deeper cooperation with Beijing as it develops a high-tech industry, including modem manufacturing, said Chen Gang, Party chief of Guiyang.

The southwestern city wants to focus on big-data applications and on innovating new business models, Chen said at the opening ceremony of the Guiyang Summit of China (Beijing) International Technology Transfer Convention 2014 on April 18.

Nearly 100 experts from 15 countries participated in the summit, sharing their experiences with modern high technology in city development.

"The convention will promote the city's industrial upgrading," Chen said.

The choice to hold the summit in Guiyang was significant for China's innovation-driven development, Chen said.

"Technological innovation has become a common development area between Guiyang and Beijing. We hope the summit will bring more international concepts for the city's further progress," Yan Aoshuang, head of the Beijing Science and Technology Committee, said.

Participants discussed four topics: advanced manufacturing; big-data information technology; smart city, smart health; and biological innovation clusters.

"We want to know the new technology and the difference between us and other nations," said Wutthikorn Manomaiwiboon, managing director of Ecartstudio, a company based in Thailand.

"We can learn from other nations' advanced experience which would help us to expand our business in China," he added.

Thirty-one project agreements were signed at the opening ceremony, with a total value of 700 million yuan ($112 million).

In his greeting speech, former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that innovation and communication will promote intelligent production, improve risk management and create new employment opportunities. The quality of people's lives will be improved, Raffarin said, so nations should strengthen mutual exchanges and cooperation on science and technology.