Zhang Hui gives a speech at the summit.

Lanzhou, the capital city of northwest China’s Gansu province, showed its vitality in scientific and technological innovation to the world at the China-U.S. Entrepreneur & Investment Summit and People's Daily Online Global Partners Conference, held in Silicon Valley on July 21.

During the summit, Zhang Hui, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department in the Lanzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), gave a speech on scientific and technological innovation and signed a contract with People’s Daily Online on behalf of Lanzhou.

The Belt and Road initiative has activated development vitality, opened new windows of opportunity and served as an international platform for China’s inland cities such as Lanzhou, she told People’s Daily Online, adding that the summit is an opportunity for the global society to learn of the tremendous changes Lanzhou has experienced in the past 40 years since China’s reform and opening-up.

Zhang Hui gives an interview to People's Daily Online

According to Zhang, scientific and technological progress has contributed to 55.6 percent of Lanzhou’s economic growth. The city’s expenditure on science and technology has reached 679 million yuan ($99.54 million), the number of patent applications has increased to 7,793, while invention patent ownership is 10.77 per 10,000 people, she noted.

Zhang said delegates from Lanzhou have exchanged ideas with many scientific and technological companies in Silicon Valley, with the hope of opening new channels for Lanzhou to conduct international exchanges of scientific and technological innovation.