The Sixth China (Mianyang) Science and Technology City International High-Tech Expo kicked off in Mianyang, Sichuan province on Thursday.

Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Sichuan provincial government, the four-day expo has a total exhibition area of 70,000 square meters with more than 650 exhibitors, 26 of which are famous scientific research institutions, institutions of higher learning and more than 110 of which are famous firms in the country.

They have brought more than 10,000 state-of-the-art products to the expo, said Niu Xiaofeng, deputy secretary general of the Sichuan provincial government.

Mianyang, the second-largest city in Sichuan, is the country's only science and technology city approved by the central government in the year 2000.

Since the first expo was held in 2013, it has invited firms in the military sector, research institutes in the national defense sector and firms in the military and civilian integration sector.

The expo has contributed positively to Sichuan's economy.

Last year, 54 percent of the province’s economic growth came from science and technology, Niu said.