The Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City has been praised as a flagship project between China and Singapore, helping develop an innovation-driven economy for Guangdong province.

As of this November, there were 230 registered companies in the knowledge city, with 29.4 billion yuan ($4.26 billion) in capital, according to the company managing the project.

Knowledge City Investment and Development chief executive officer Kok Siong Ng said the registered companies are involved in a wide range of innovative areas, including information and technology, medical instruments, intelligent equipment, creative culture, new energy, energy-saving and environmental protection, healthcare and new materials.

"After six years of development, the knowledge city has played an increasingly important role for attracting international innovative resources," Ng said.

Ng made the remarks during an industrial forum focusing on innovative resources, which ended in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, on Dec 7.

About 2,000 innovative companies are expected to open operations by 2020 in the knowledge city, which began construction in 2010, according to Ng.