The 1st Modern Energy Industry Development Conference kicks off Wednesday in Baotou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 1st Modern Energy Industry Development Conference kicked off Wednesday in Baotou, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, gathering experts and officials in the field of energy to discuss key issues in China's energy industry development under China's goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.

Deals for 30 projects with a combined investment of 68.3 billion yuan ($10 billion) were inked at the conference.

According to the deals, investments for 17 projects in the field of modern energy will total 61.8 billion yuan. Investment for three projects in the sector of circular economy will amount to 2.18 billion yuan.

Two new infrastructure projects will have a total investment of 640 million yuan, and two new material projects will have a total investment of 1.24 billion yuan.

A combined investment of 700 million yuan will be invested into two digital industry projects, and 400 million yuan into two scientific innovation projects.

There also is a public services project that will receive 300 million yuan of investment, and an e-commerce project to receive 1 billion yuan.

Baotou has been stepping up efforts in high-quality development and supply-side structural reforms since October.

These efforts include improving the business environment and strengthening endeavors in investment programs.

Deals signed at the conference will help further the city's economic upgrade and transformation, and its high-quality development, conference organizers said in a press release.