The local government has made an extended effort to improve its environment to make the city a better place to live. Photos provided to China Daily

The city of Guangzhou wants to woo more heavyweight investors for its manufacturing, research, and service sectors, so it had two big promotions recently in Beijing and Shanghai to describe the opportunities it has to offer.

And it is looking at similar events in the coming months for Xi'an, in Shaanxi province, and Hong Kong, Macao, as well as developed countries and regions.

The capital of Guangdong province got 723 billion yuan in investment for more than one hundred projects at the Beijing event held in March. About 80 percent of these are in modern services, advanced manufacturing, emerging industries or R&D.

The investors include large State-owned enterprises (SOEs), universities, research institutes, multinationals, and other private-sector businesses.

The Shanghai event, in April, got backing for 74 projects that needed 160.04 billion yuan in capital.

The Guangzhou Party chief, Zhang Guangning, has spoken highly of the role investors have already played in his city's development.

"The high-profile, large cooperation with the investors is one of the important reasons behind Guangzhou's rapid economic growth and the city's completely new facelift," Zhang pointed out proudly.