In the following months, both central and local governments have unveiled a spate of policies to support the drive, including tax cuts, subsidies and funding.

The wave of high-tech start-ups in the most-populous country is also attracting the attention of overseas investors.

Eneko Santiago, a venture capital investor from Silicon Valley, said every time he came back from China, he would tell entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley that China was now has more advanced. Investors worldwide are eyeing investment opportunities in the start-up sector in China, he said.