- CHONGQING, China, Aug. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Opening yesterday in China's western city of Chongqing and running through tomorrow, the first Smart China Expo (SCE 2018) has seen exciting top-level exchanges between global tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent and Qualcomm which have already lead to announcements of a slew of investment deals worth nearly US$90 billion that underscore the city's ambition to become China's pioneer in Big Data Intelligence. At the opening ceremony, Han Zheng, Vice-Premier of China, delivered a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping and announced that Chongqing will be the permanent home of the event, which will gather industry pioneers each year and support the development of the local and regional tech industry. Kicking off SCE 2018, 11 renowned entrepreneurs, academics and experts in the field of smart technologies shared their vision of a smart future, followed by a signing ceremony that witnessed the sealing of 501 major investment deals worth a total of 612 billion yuan (US$88.7 billion) that will channel tens of billions of dollars into three major sectors – smart manufacturing, intelligent services, and the next-generation information technology. "I believe this round of technological revolution will bring about changes far beyond our imaginations," Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma said in a keynote speech at the SCE 2018 summit. "Over the next 30 years, smart technologies will seep into every aspect of our lives and reshape traditional industries including manufacturing, education and medical services. The future belongs to those who can harness the immense power of IT and intelligent technologies." The investments announced at the summit will boost the growth of Big Data technology in areas such as Integrated Circuitry (IC), the Internet of Things (IoT), driverless cars, smart factories and smart logistics. Projects includes low-earth-orbit mobile satellite communications, service robots and Big Data centers that will accelerate Chongqing's digital economy, a new energy vehicle (NEV) production base, and internet-linked car and electric battery projects which will help the city improve its supply chain for auto production. Ma's view was echoed by Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon, who said: "We're very optimistic about the future development of IT, because everything around us is getting more and more intelligent." Amon added that Qualcomm is committed to growing in China through local partnerships and the U.S. chip-making giant will set up a joint venture in Chongqing to accelerate the development of IoT technologies. "Chongqing is honored to host the first SCE and witness the significant investment deals signed here. We expect to deepen our cooperation with partners all over the world and jointly create a better future under the theme of 'Smart Technology: Empowering the Economy and Enriching Life,'" said Tang Liangzhi, Mayor of Chongqing. For more information, please visit https://www.smartchina-expo.cn/ and http://www.ichongqing.info/smart-china-expo/. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/734860/SMART_CHINA_EXPO_signing.jpgPhoto - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/734861/SMART_CHINA_EXPO_hologram.jpg