Guangdong governor Ma Xingrui vowed to offer equal treatment to private-operated companies and foreign-funded firms and State-owned enterprises.

The move aims to further develop the nongovernmental economy which is playing an increasingly important role in Guangdong's sustainable economic growth.

Ma made the remarks in his keynote speech at the Guangdong Entrepreneurs Conference which was held in this Guangdong provincial capital on Tuesday.

He urged entrepreneurs from Guangdong to play an even bigger part in helping the province, one of the country's economic powerhouses, to expand cooperation and exchanges with the rest of the world in the following years.

Guangdong relies much on foreign trade and using overseas investment for its economic construction.

Ma promised to create an even better business environment and offer even better service to the Guangdong entrepreneurs to expand their business in the southern province, the window of China's reform and opening drive.

Xu Lejiang, deputy minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged Guangdong entrepreneurs to actively join hands in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the coming years.

More than 1,000 government officials, entrepreneurs and business representatives attended the conference.

Special forums and discussions were also organized during the conference to boost investment and trade.

Meanwhile a total of 23 cooperative and investment projects with an investment of 46.4 billion yuan ($7.14 billion) were signed between entrepreneurs during the one-day event.

The projects mainly involved into artificial intelligence, bio-medicines, new energies, infrastructure, agriculture and food processing.