A summer camp activity focusing on big data opened at Shanxi University (SXU) on July 16, gathering more than 500 graduate students and scholars from around China.

Jia Suotang, president of SXU, explained the significance and future of big data at the opening ceremony.

"To develop big data technologies and to train highly-skilled workers is vital for the economic transformation of Shanxi province, and SXU expects to play a key role," said Jia.

"It will promote scientific progress and the structural reform of the service sector," he added.

He also expressed his best wishes for the summer camp, in the hope that the activity would contribute to the development of Shanxi's big data industry and the increasing fame of SXU's big data research.

The six-day event consisted of a series of seminars and lectures given by more than 20 well-known scholars, including Professor Wang Liwei at Peking University and Professor Liang Jiye at SXU.