Domestic, foreign Hakka businesses sign $19b deals in Meizhou event

A number of investment projects worth of more than 120 billion yuan ($18.91 billion) were signed between domestic and overseas Hakka businesses and authorities in Guangdong province during an industrial event in Meizhou, a mountainous city in eastern Guangdong, according to local authorities.

The Fourth World Hakka Businessmen Convention, featuring industrial investments by business people of Hakka, concluded on Tuesday in Meizhou, home to thousands of Hakka people, whose ancestors were believed to have moved from central China to the south centuries ago.

Hakka people mainly live in relatively undeveloped mountainous areas between provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"The projects are of great importance to drive a new round of economic development in the Hakka area," said Tan Juntie, mayor of Meizhou.

In Meizhou alone, 137 projects, with planned investment of more than 86.3 billion yuan were signed during the event. The projects range from new energy, medicine, new material, electric and information, machinery equipment and culture to tourism.

Cities of Meizhou, Guizhou, Heyuan also plan to establish trade and economic offices in 31 countries and regions along the 21st Maritime Silk Road and Silk Road Economic Belt, where millions of overseas Hakka businesses are located, according to the authorities.