A ceremony to mark the start of work on China's first national information economy demonstration area in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang is held in Wuzhen of Zhejiang province, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. [Photo: The Beijing News]

China has approved its first national information economy demonstration area in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang.

A ceremony was held on Tuesday in Wuzhen, home of the annual World Internet Conference, to mark the start of work on the demonstration area.

The demonstration area will explore new mechanisms and models for innovative growth of the information economy and make Zhejiang a leader in "Internet Plus", big data, smart cities, cross-border e-commerce, sharing economy as well as the cultivation of new entrepreneurs.

Zhejiang is home to e-commerce giant Alibaba. In the first three quarters, the core industries of information economy in the province realized added value of 273 billion yuan (40 billion U.S. dollars), up 14 percent year-on-year.