(Yicai Global) June 7 -- Southwestern China's Guizhou province has decided to set up a big data industry fund to promote investment in key digital industries and projects.

The provincial development and reform commission has approved the "project for the establishment of the Guizhou provincial big data industry fund," Guizhou Daily reported. The fund is projected to have a total budget of CNY3 billion (USD469 million), and an initial contribution of CNY51 million has already been put in place, it said. The commission will make more efforts to expand its size to CNY200 million by the end of the year.

The fund will particularly support key and technological innovation projects which integrate big data and the real economy. The big data fund will also introduce social capital to set up sub-funds in order to make targeted project investments.

In recent years, Guizhou province has embarked on an ambitious plan to develop the digital economy. China's internet heavyweights such as Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and JD.Com have made significant investments, while well-known overseas enterprises such as Dell, Qualcomm and Apple have also established presence in the province.

Editor: Mevlut Katik