Business representatives attend the Top 500 Enterprises in Dialogue with Shanxi on May 29. [Photo by Yan Jie for China Daily]

A number of businesspeople representing the world's top 500 companies gathered at a forum in Shanxi in late May, aiming to identify business opportunities and offer suggestions for the high-quality growth of the North China province.

The event, called Top 500 Enterprises in Dialogue with Shanxi, opened on May 29 in the provincial capital of Taiyuan. Business leaders from companies including France-based LafargeHolcim, South Korea-based CJ Group, Shanxi-based Jinneng Holding and Beijing-based Aerospace Changfeng delivered speeches at the forum, contributing their insights regarding development opportunities in Shanxi.

Li Yongqiang, vice-mayor of Taiyuan, introduced the investment environment of the city to forum attendees. He said that Taiyuan has set aside a special fund of 1.3 billion yuan ($182.39 million) for investment promotion. Some projects deemed crucial for the city's growth can be offered an award of up to 50 million yuan.

Zhang Peng, vice-mayor of the city of Jinzhong said the unique appeal of Jinzhong to investors is its strong manufacturing sectors.

"Over the recent years, we have formed eight competitive industry chains in such manufacturing sectors as new energy vehicle, special steel and advanced equipment," Zhang said. "We are also developing three provincial-level and six city-level characteristic towns for local specialty industries like malleable iron and glassware."

He added that all the industries and characteristic towns offer huge business opportunities for investors from home and abroad.

The forum saw the signing of seven large projects between investors and Shanxi's investment destinations. The projects cover such areas as new energy, advanced manufacturing, chemicals and new materials.

Su Zihua, president of Aerospace Changfeng, said his company has launched successful operations in Shanxi and plans to invest in more projects in the province thanks to its stable business environment and great development potential.

"We have noticed that Shanxi's authorities at various levels are doing their best to create a sustainable investment environment through their increasingly efficient governance, their growing professionalism to offer services and their efforts to implement an economic transformation campaign.

"Shanxi is carrying out a transformation move that puts more emphasis on fostering strategic emerging industries and facilitating low-carbon development. This is in line with our medium and long-term development goals," Su said.

A renowned high-tech company in China, Aerospace Changfeng's operations in Shanxi cover such emerging and low-carbon sectors as information technology, electronics and advanced medical equipment.

"With the strong support of Shanxi's authorities, Aerospace Changfeng will continue to enhance its presence in such fields as IT, big data, energy storage and medical equipment, making greater contributions to Shanxi's high-quality development," Su said.

Yan Jie contributed to this story.