GENEVA -- China's rate of innovation is accelerating and continues to define the tech industry's agenda, said Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and co-founder of the Web Summit.

"Startups are booming, even though venture capital investment is declining. China continues to set the agenda," Cosgrave, who co-founded in 2009 in Dublin now one of the world's largest tech industry conferences, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"China is a major leader in the 21st century, it's clear," he added.

Cosgrave made the comments as this year's four-day annual flagship event wrapped up last Thursday in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. Over 70,000 attendees from 153 countries and regions, including business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, trade delegations and members of the media, connected and exchanged ideas about the technology and trends shaping the world.

"The rate of innovation in China is just accelerating, even faster than ever before," Cosgrave said, citing the Critical Technology Tracker report released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in August, which showed China is the leading country in 57 of 64 technologies from 2019 to 2023, a significant leap from just three technologies during 2003 to 2007 period.

Cosgrave said his company expects to further diversify its geographical footprint. "Hopefully, we will be in Africa at some point before 2030. We'd also love to do two events in Asia."

Web Summit currently organizes five technology events across the globe in Lisbon, Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Doha and Hong Kong.