China has approved its first national information economy demonstration area in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang.

A ceremony was held on Nov 15 in Wuzhen, home of the annual World Internet Conference, to mark the start of work on the demonstration area.

The demonstration area will explore new mechanisms and models for innovative growth of the information economy and make Zhejiang a leader in “Internet Plus”, big data, smart cities, cross-border e-commerce, sharing economy as well as the cultivation of new entrepreneurs.

Zhejiang is home to the e-commerce giant Alibaba. In the first three quarters, the core industries of information economy in the province realized added value of 273 billion yuan ($40 billion), up 14 percent year-on-year.