On Tuesday, Xinhua reported that the Chinese city of Zhejiang - the home of the Alibaba Group - has pledged more than $17 billion to spur the tech industry and innovation in the next five years.
The plan is announced at a period when both central and local governments in China are taking steps to boost the struggling private sector and enhance the competitiveness of local technology firms.
In their report, Xinhua reported that Zhejiang's provincial, municipal and county governments will be spending 120 billion yuan within the next five years to "boost up high-tech and internet companies as well as medical research and development."
"We will also guide social capital and financial institutions to invest around 290 billion yuan," Xinhua said, quoting Gao Yingzhong, head of the provincial Science and Technology Department.
"The total investment on research and development (R&D) is expected to reach around 900 billion yuan."
In order to support the plan, the province introduced 50 new measures to spur the tech industry, which includes the increase of the ration of R&D spending in provincial GDP to drive patents and hone innovators.
According to local statistics, at least two-thirds of the province's economy last year came from private businesses.
