Primary school students visit the Ningbo Community Museum in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/people.cn]

The second Global Ningbo Community and Development Partnership Conference is scheduled to be held in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province from Oct 17 to 19, local media reported.

The conference will shine a spotlight on the accomplishments the Ningbo Community has made over the past seven decades and promote efforts to advance the city's high-quality development.

A major portion of attendees will be luminaries of the Ningbo Community, which originally referred to a group of businessmen who were born in Ningbo but lived outside of the city, usually achieving success by starting their own businesses.

Now, the term has expanded to refer to any Ningbo native who currently lives outside of the city.

Renowned figures in the community include Hong Kong tycoon and philanthropist Yue-Kong Pao, Nobel Prize winner Tu Youyou, who is credited with discovering the antimalarial drug artemisinin, and former CAMS and PUMC president Gu Fangzhou.

Statistics show that from 1984 to 2017, Ningbo Community members had donated 2 billion yuan ($298.5 million) to their hometown, contributing considerably to the city's development in terms of culture, education, health care, and talent cultivation.

Over the same period, more than 8,100 businesses receiving investment from overseas Chinese set up operations in Ningbo, with their total value topping $50 billion.

In addition to the Ningbo Community, several execs from Global 500 companies will also attend the event.