China is making great efforts to promote innovation-driven development and is willing to work with other countries to foster new growth drivers for the world economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to the 2018 Smart China Expo, which opened in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Thursday.

The world is witnessing a new round of technological revolution and industrial changes, marked by rapid development in a new generation of information technologies such as the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence, said Xi.

Xi called it a "common task" for countries across the globe to facilitate the integrated development of the digital economy and the real economy, accelerate the transition from old growth drivers to new ones, and foster new industries and new industry formats.

China attaches great importance to innovation-driven development and is accelerating data industrialization and industrial digitization, Xi noted, adding that the country is striving to achieve high-quality development and create high-quality life for its citizens.

He noted China would like to collaborate with the international community in developing the digital economy and create new growth engines for the world economy.

The 2018 Smart China Expo, the first of its kind, is scheduled from Thursday to Saturday under the theme of "Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life." Xi said the theme reflects the trend of the world economy and people's longing for a good life globally.

The expo is attended by organizations, enterprises and scholars from the smart industry around the world.