The Yangtze River Delta Smart City Summit commences in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Nov 12. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

The Yangtze River Delta Smart City Summit commenced in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Nov 12, according to local media reports.

The conference, jointly sponsored by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of the Economy and Informatization and the Huzhou municipal people's government, was attended by about 100 people, including government officials, business leaders, and representatives from related associations and alliances in the delta region.

Wu Zhiqiang, academician of The Chinese Academy of Engineering and vice president of Tongji University, delivered a keynote speech on "how to speed up the development of a 'smart city' and improve urban quality amid new infrastructure construction".

The opening ceremony also saw the official establishment of the Huzhou Smart City Research Institute, of which Wu was appointed honorary president.

The city has also reached strategic partnerships with the nation’s three telecommunications giants – China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom – as well as Zhejiang Chengshu Holding Group Co Ltd in an effort to accelerate smart city development.

In addition, a number of deals involving smart city development and the digital economy and with a combined value of 14.9 billion yuan ($2.15 billion) were signed at the conference.