Big Data is going big in China as the Guiyang International Big Data Expo 2016 kicks off on Thursday in the city of Guiyang, the capital of the Guizhou province located in southwest China.

The technology event is expecting Big Data experts, executives, industry leaders and analysts to share their insights and in-depth discussions on the realm of Big Data along with over 500 guests.

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A large number of Chinese and foreign companies from around the world - including Huawei, Foxconn, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Didi Kuaidi and Shanghai Zhizhen Network - are expected to be present during the event.

Among the highlights of the event are in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), e-commerce, smart transportation, smart city, medical care, virtual reality (VR), robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) - all related to the exciting realm of Big Data.

So far, Chinese telecom giant Tencent has set its eyes on Big Data focusing on different services related to the cloud, mobile payment and location-enabled technologies. Pony Ma Huateng, Chairman of Tencent, said during the event that the company is aspiring to integrate big data from its services - such as e-commerce - all together in one single location. Pony Ma also introduced Tencent's big data storage center that now stores around "1,000 petabyte of data", he said.

Premier Li Keqiang also attended the technology summit event where he discussed China's plans to use Big Data to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. Mr. Keqiang said the country should also focus on the protection of commercial secrets and intellectual property rights, while giving a "fair platform" to both Chinese and foreign companies.

Among those who attended the summit include Foxconn's Founder and Chairman Terry Gou, Dell's Chief Executive Michael Dell and others.

TagsChina International Big Data Expo 2016, Big Data, Huawei, Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, Intel, JD.com, IoT, VR