Meng Fanli, Party chief of Baotou, addresses at the promotional investment conference held in Shanghai on Thursday. [Photo by Jin Xinyi/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Baotou CPC Committee and the Baotou Municipal Government held a promotional investment conference at the Shanghai Oriental Riverside Hotel on May 6 with the aim of attracting investment to drive local development.

The event drew almost 300 attendees, including well-known companies and industry association representatives, staff members from domestic universities and scientific research institutions.

Forty-eight projects in fields worth 159.7 billion yuan ($24.66 billion) were officially signed at the conference. The projects are related to fields such as modern energy, modern equipment manufacturing and modern service industries.

Since the beginning of this year, the city of Baotou in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has been working to connect with top enterprises around the world to promote the investment of the industrial chain.

"Baotou is a beautiful city with rich natural resources. The proven reserves of rare earth account for 83.4 percent of the country and 37.8 percent of the world. The city is inclusive and open to various application scenarios and has its unique advantage in the new energy industry", said Meng Fanli, Party chief of Baotou.

"Baotou has a broad prospect of development, not only with economic benefits but also huge social contributions".

Jin Xinyi contributed to this story.