Chinese billionaire and founder of China Pacific Construction Group Yan Jiehe is to invest up to 250 billion yuan ($39.38 billion) to build a smart city that will house 250,000 residents in Shanwei, Guangdong province.

The city will occupy 100 square kilometers and is expected to be completed within 10 years, with investment of between 150 and 250 billion yuan.

The smart city will focus on education, vocational training and medical care, according to Yan.

He also promised that the new city with cutting-edge technology and facilities will become a place people around the world yearn for. "It will defeat other smart cities worldwide," he said.

The new city will be built at the Shenshan (Shenzhen-Shanwei) Special Cooperation Zone, with joint oversight by the Shenzhen and Shanwei governments.

Since 2013, each city in Guangdong has started to build new city. Shanwei, as a prefecture-level city in the east of the province, is less developed.

The establishment of new cities and industrial parks, which mainly take over enterprises migrating from the Pearl River Delta, is an important initiative in speeding up development of eastern, northern and western parts of Guangdong by local governments.

According to the latest Hurun Rich List, Yan and his son became the wealthiest people in Jiangsu province, with a combined fortune of 85 billion yuan.

Yan's company is China's largest privately held infrastructure company, and last year was ranked 166th on the Forbes 500 list of the world's largest companies.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn