The high-quality development of Southwest China's Guizhou province is in full swing as it has made efforts to develop high-technology enterprises and the green economy, while also shaping the province into a world-class tourism destination.

Li Bingjun, governor of Guizhou, said at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on Friday that the province was formerly impoverished with a challenging environment and inconvenient transportation. It has since shaken off poverty and ushered in a new era of high-quality development.

Li said that the province has channeled continuous efforts and resources toward rural vitalization work in recent years to increase farming incomes and develop agricultural sectors such as tea and fruit cultivation.

"The tea is organic and healthy. The black tea we produce is very popular and the green tea powder is exported to over 40 countries and regions," he said.

Li added that Guizhou has established a modern industrial system thanks to its rich natural and mineral resources. As reported by Xinhua News Agency, Guizhou has so far discovered 137 mineral resources — including coal, phosphate and aluminum — covering 80 percent of the nation's total types of mineral assets.

He said the province has taken advantage of these mineral resources to upgrade its traditional sectors — such as coal, tobacco and liquor — and develop cutting-edge high-tech industries like new energy.

"We have placed much focus on developing clean energy, which not only meets the province's power demand, but also can be transmitted to neighboring provinces and the Greater Bay Area," said Li.

He added that the province has extended its phosphorus chemical industry to new energy battery research and development, and also channeled resources to build up bases of smart algorithms, big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Luo Qiang, vice-governor of Guizhou, said at the news conference that the province's big data industry started from scratch from 2014 and has embraced prosperous development.

He said that China Mobile built the world's first computing artery with a 400G optical transmission network in the provincial capital of Guiyang last year, with which data transmission from Guiyang to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province takes just 10 milliseconds and to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, only 16 milliseconds.

Guangzhou is over 950 kilometers from Guiyang and Hangzhou is about 1,650 km away.

Luo added that some traditional and agricultural sectors have also shown good performance.

"For example, Jiangkou county — a formerly impoverished area — is now a 'world super plant' for green tea production and brings benefits to nearly 100,000 local tea growers. By the end of last year, we had developed 12 leading tea companies, and the province's pepper products take up nearly 70 percent of domestic market share."

In addition, Guizhou is making efforts to shape the province into a world-class tourism destination, as it takes tourism as its most advantageous pillar because of the mild climate and diversified landscapes.

Li said the province has breathtaking views of waterfalls, lakes, mountains and ethnic cultural attractions.

"The renowned Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest waterfall in Asia and Libo Seven Small Arches has emerald-colored lakes," said Li.

"In Guizhou, travelers can participate in marathons and go cycling amid beautiful natural scenery, or enjoy bamboo raft and dragon boat excursions with strong elements of Chinese culture. The province at large is enthusiastic about sporting events like soccer and basketball and has many scrumptious foods and liquors that keep travelers coming back," he said.