The China International Big Data Industry Expo 2019 kicked off on May 26 in Guiyang, the capital city of southwest China's Guizhou Province, a bellwether occasion to learn about the latest developments of the global big data sector. It was the fifth consecutive year that Guiyang, also known as "China's Big Data Valley", held the event. Since 2015, the expo has become a highlight of the province. China attaches great importance to the development of the big data industry, and is willing to share opportunities of the digital economy's development with other countries and jointly explore new growth drivers and development paths by exploring new technologies, new business forms and new models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory letter to the expo. As the world's first national-level expo on big data, the event set its theme at "Data creates value, innovation drives the future" this year and featured speeches from global heavyweights including Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Romer and Turing Award winner Whitfield Diffie. The expo is increasingly global thanks to its strategic height. Latest data showed that compared with last year, the number of participating countries increased from 29 to 59, while the number of participating companies from the Fortune 500 grew from 15 to 39. Meanwhile, the number of exhibitors rose from 388 to 448, among which the number of foreign exhibitors surged from 56 to 156. The number and level of guests were the highest ever. Sun Zhigang, secretary of the provincial Communist Party of China committee of Guizhou Province and director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, said that the expo has become an international event rich in cooperation opportunities and leading the development of the industry. It has become a world-class platform for sharing development plans and the latest achievements, Sun said. Lasting for four days, the expo will end on May 29. Source: The Organizing Committee of China International Big Data Industry Expo Image Attachments Links: Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=337027 Caption: China International Big Data Industry Expo 2019 opens in Guiyang