An intelligent advanced equipment industrial park project, initiated by Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group, is taking shape in Xiaohe New Area in Taiyuan, Shanxi province.

Construction on the project started on March 28, and with the local government's support, the park is expected to become an important production facility of Taiyuan Heavy Machinery.

Xiaohe New Area is located in the Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone, which is between Taiyuan and the neighboring city of Jinzhong. Serving multiple purposes, the zone is now a major industrial hub in the province.

The newly launched intelligent advanced equipment industrial park involved a total investment of 6 billion yuan ($930 million), said Ren Yaoting, a manager responsible for the construction of the industrial park.

After its completion, the park's annual output is expected to reach 700,000 metric tons with an output value of 16 billion yuan.

Authorities in Shanxi province are now creating an administrative framework to help to accelerate the construction on new projects and support their operation. Their efforts include shortening the approval time for new projects and offering tailored, whole-process services to support business growth.

As a result of such efforts, the province secured 506 large and medium-sized investment projects in the past month alone. Before that, 459 projects were signed earlier this year that have started construction and another 265 have begun operations.

Such projects cover high-tech industries and environmentally friendly industries including synthetic biology, electronic information, advanced equipment manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection.

Internet company Baidu has settled a project for the production of its Xiaodu smart speaker, an intelligent audio device based on Baidu's artificial intelligence technology, in the city of Yangquan in the east of Shanxi. Shanxi Jonter, located in the Shanxi Yangquan High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, was chosen to be Xiaodu's original equipment manufacturer.

The first-phase investment of the Xiaodu project will be 150 million yuan, for the construction of a production line with an annual output of 10 million units.

Annual output value of the project is estimated at 400 million yuan for 2022. The amount is expected to reach 1 billion yuan in 2024 and the project is also anticipated to create some 1,000 jobs by that year.

"Shanxi Jonter has now begun trial production of the Xiaodu smart speakers," said Kou Zhiqiang, general manager of Shenzhen Jonter Digital, the parent of Shanxi Jonter. "From the project's founding in June to trial production at present, it only took three months. This is something we could not imagine in the past."

He said it was the enterprise-friendly business environment and warmhearted services provided by officials that prompted Jonter's decision to launch its business in Yangquan.

"We will not only focus on our own growth, but also make contributions to boosting Yangquan's economic development and industrial upgrading," Kou said.

Guo Yanjie contributed to this story.