TIANJIN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- During the seventh World Intelligence Congress (WIC), a major artificial intelligence (AI) event held from May 18 to 21 in the north Chinese city of Tianjin, approximately 81.5 billion yuan (about 11.58 billion U.S. dollars) of investment involving 98 key projects were signed.

The newly inked projects involve the industrial chains in various fields such as novel information technologies, automobiles, biomedicine, equipment manufacturing, new energy, and new materials, according to the organizer.

Over 1,000 officials, experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from 51 countries and regions participated in the event.

The four-day event, themed "Intelligence: Extensive Development Space, Sustainable Growth Driver," was held at National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) and multiple other venues in the port city.

Since its inauguration in 2017, the event has offered a platform for scientists, entrepreneurs and economists from home and abroad to discuss the frontier trends of intelligent technology.