Representatives from over 100 of China's top 500 companies attended the B20 Summit in Hangzhou, showing the dynamism of Chinese companies and the country’s overall economic development.

“In the past, most Chinese enterprises grew on savage expansion and low costs,” said Li Dongsheng, chairman and CEO of TCL Corporation.

“However, these advantages are not enough to support growth.”

“China's manufacturing industry should step into the medium-and-high end sector, and we must be more innovative in technique, management and business model.”

Tsinghua Holdings, for example, has applied for over 30,000 patents from both home and abroad, and high-end research personnel account for over 50 percent of the total staff in the organization.

“The national innovative strategy has fostered a good environment for corporate development,” said Xu Jinghong, chairman of Tsinghua Holdings. “We are planning to invest over 50 billion yuan in the research area over the next five years, and set up a 10-billion fund to facilitate the commercialization of research findings.”

Sun Pishu, chairman and CEO of Inspur Group, was impressed that President Xi Jinping singled out IT as vital for innovative development, as a member of the IT sector.

Three other tech giants from the BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent)also attracted media attention at the summit.

Robin Li, chief executive officer of Baidu, said, “Technical innovation is in the DNA of Baidu. We have invested a lot in cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, deep learning, and big data. We have the confidence to explore more game-changing techniques.”

Modern service industries –– including the finance, insurance, public health, tourism and consulting sectors –– are developing rapidly in China, reflecting the economic restructuring, transformation and upgrading of the country’s economy.

In the first half of the year, the added value of the service industry accounted for 54.1 percent of national GDP.

Jing Xiandong, CEO of Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial arm, said, “Our aim is to make financial services more equal and efficient among ordinary people, just like that of water, electricity and gas.”