The demonstration area also offers legal and financial services. A legal service committee has been established to guarantee a fair and efficient business environment. A financial center was unveiled last December and cooperative contracts were signed with 10 financial organizations to launch a fund worth 10 billion yuan.

Zhao Shiyu, director of Qingdao Commercial Bureau, said the demonstration zone will have a big effect on the reform and opening-up process in Qingdao.

The demonstration area offers an unprecedented opportunity for development of Jiaozhou, said Sun Yonghong, Party secretary of Jiaozhou.

"We are exploring new development opportunities and hope our experiences can serve as an example for local economic and trade cooperation at an international level," Sun added.

Shen from the China Center for Urban Development said building the demonstration area is part of China's larger efforts to deepen reforms.

"Once successfully constructed, we can share experiences and set up similar demonstration areas in other port cities along the east coast," Shen said.

During the ninth meeting of the CPC central committee for deepening overall reform, the central authorities also approved a guideline on supporting Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in building a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In the development of the Shenzhen pilot demonstration area, the statement said it will fulfill the requirements of high-quality development, implement the innovation-driven development strategy, seize important opportunities in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and strive to create a model city for a great modern socialist country.

Companies in Shenzhen are emerging as leaders in innovation who are pouring resources into research and development and are eager to experiment with pioneering applications.

Huawei Technologies Co has invested about $2 billion in the R&D of 5G since 2009, which makes it a leader in commercializing the fifth-generation wireless technology. Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, said in a recent interview that "rivals will not be able to catch up with Huawei's 5G technology for two to three years".

The Chinese technology giant had signed more than 50 5G commercial contracts across the world by the middle of July, including 28 in Europe.

Ren also said that without spending on basic science research there can be no knowledge about the future. As part of its broader efforts to attract top-line talents, the company has offered enviable annual salaries of up to 2 million yuan to eight graduates with distinguished records.

Internet heavyweight Tencent Holdings is also making use of cutting-edge technologies to empower ordinary people and make a difference to their lives.

It is using facial recognition technologies to reunite parents with long-lost children. The company partnered with police in Fujian province to help more than 1,000 families find lost relatives last year.

Pony Ma, CEO and chairman of Tencent, said people should work hard to make the best use of technologies to solve social problems and create real benefits.

Tencent's instant messaging platform WeChat is using mobile games to aid poverty relief. The company partnered with the poverty reduction office under the Ministry of Finance to develop a mobile game that allows players to grow and sell agricultural products.

Through sales of virtual products, players earn credits that can be used to secure discounts on an e-commerce outlet for purchases of real goods such as rice and fruits produced by local farmers.