A groundbreaking ceremony for the 15 projects is held in Hangzhou Bay New Zone in Ningbo on Nov 7. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Thanks to the "Return of Zhejiang Merchants" campaign, 15 projects with paid-in investments totaling 21.1 billion yuan ($3.18 billion) were announced to start construction in Ningbo's Hangzhou Bay New Zone on Nov 7.

It was introduced that nine of the 15 projects were from advanced manufacturing industries such as intelligent manufacturing, new materials and information economy while the other six are about modern services like e-commerce and logistics.

"These projects concerning 'Return of Zhejiang Merchants' have been a major force in attracting investments for Ningbo," said an official from the city's economic cooperation bureau.

The campaign was initiated by the provincial government in 2012 to call for Zhejiang people living outside to give support and join hands with the local government to develop their hometown. It has been a strong momentum to Zhejiang's economic growth by bringing in projects led or invested by Zhejiang businesspeople.

Ningbo had imported a total of 443 projects with an investment of 51.15 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2017.