The opening ceremony of the 2018 World Wenzhounese Conference is held on Nov 9. [Photo/66wz.com]

The 2018 World Wenzhounese Conference commenced in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province on Nov 9 with the attendance of nearly 1,300 guests from over 100 countries and regions.

The conference aimed at tapping into a rich vein of inbound investment: the enormous diaspora of former Wenzhou residents who have set up businesses elsewhere.

Wenzhou is a city renowned for its large population of businesspeople who have left the region to start businesses all over the world. Currently, there are around 2,438,000 Wenzhou people running businesses around the world. These people, after long years of exploration and struggle, have established 268 regional associations and more than 350 overseas Chinese organizations, successfully creating a large global interpersonal network.

The municipal government is looking to leverage this high-value community of business owners and encourage more capital and projects to "come home".

Chen Junwei, vice governor of Zhejiang and the Party chief of Wenzhou city, addressed the opening ceremony of 2018 World Wenzhounese Conference, saying Wenzhou is a land of honor and dream which has incubated many miracles, and the creation of a better future for the city requires help from every Wenzhou person.

Roughly 1,300 guests from around the world attend the 2018 World Wenzhounese Conference in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/66wz.com]

With the organization of 28 activities, this year's event provided different platforms for people to discuss the return of projects, capital and talents, and the future development of their hometown.

"Though I've been living and working abroad for two decades, I really hope our hometown could be better," said Jiang Zhongnan, a Wenzhou native who's settled down in Italy.

Chen Jian, a returning overseas Chinese, stressed the importance of innovation when seeking development in his keynote speech at the conference. He called on the government departments to build a fair, transparent and practical institution and market system in an all-round way, and to reshape Wenzhou's culture of innovation by introducing innovative talents, advocating spirit of innovation and encouraging innovative measures.