Despite the summer heat in early August, construction workers were busy working in the Yangqu Transformation and Development Industrial Park in the Shanxi provincial capital of Taiyuan.

There is a boom in construction to meet demands from an increasing number of investment projects funded by businesses from across the country, according to Lu Qiusheng, vice-mayor of Taiyuan.

The Yangqu industrial park is part of the Taiyuan-Xinzhou Integrated Economic Zone, which was founded on Dec 29. Lu is also the director of the Taiyuan operational center of the IEZ.

He said the Taiyuan section of the IEZ has welcomed 68 large investment projects since its establishment. These include projects funded by Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, Shenzhen-based liquid crystal display producer HKC, and Taiyuan-based Tongze Heavy Industry.

The official said the zone's investment promotion office is also in talks with investors for another 89 big projects.

The IEZ is part of the new Taiyuan-Xinzhou integration program, which aims to build a city cluster in the center of Shanxi and foster a new engine for growth.

"The central Shanxi city cluster is one of the 19 city clusters proposed by the nation's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25)," Lu said. "And Taiyuan is at the center of the cluster that includes cities to its north, south, east and west."

Taiyuan was chosen as the leader of a national-level city cluster because of its growing economic strength, according to Lu.

In the first half of this year, Taiyuan reported a year-on-year GDP increase of 3.5 percent, ranking 12th among 42 major cities in China.

Lu said Taiyuan has garnered such strength due to its success in adjusting its industrial structure and growth pattern.

The city began its economic diversification campaign in 2012. As a result, emerging industries like electronic information, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, new materials and new energy have grown substantially. They have taken the place of traditional industries, like coal mining, to become new engines for local development.

Semiconductor producer Semisic is one of the enterprises representing Taiyuan's booming development of emerging industries.

The company is now one of the leading manufacturers of silicon carbide, a third-generation semiconductor material, in China.

"We are the first company in China to launch an 8-inch silicon carbide substrate to the market," said Li Bin, general manager of Semisic. "It took only a few years for our products to evolve from the primitive 2-in range to the cutting-edge 8-in."

Supporting the development of Taiyuan's high-tech industries is its research and talent pool. The city is home to 52 percent and 53 percent of the higher-learning institutions and research institutions in Shanxi province respectively.

The city has a range of incentives to encourage talented people to develop their businesses and careers there. Over the past decade, more than 110,000 professionals from across China and the rest of the world have settled in Taiyuan, according to local statistics.

The city is improving its quality of life, especially in the areas of convenient transport, ecological environment and housing affordability, which is proving a draw to investors and professionals.

With an increasing number of public spaces and city parks, especially the 100-kilometer Fenhe River scenic belt, Taiyuan is said to be the greenest city in Shanxi.

The city's vegetation coverage has reached 44.77 percent of its total land area, with per capita green area of 12.75 square meters.

By Yuan Shenggao
Yang Yu and Wu Jia contributed to this story.