HEFEI - Nearly 100 overseas Chinese signed agreements for projects worth 3.5 billion yuan ($497.9 million) in an innovation center in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province on Tuesday.

A total of 32 project agreements were signed in the Overseas Chinese Innovation Center of Hefei, covering biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence and other industries.

"Overseas Chinese have made important contributions to China's economic development with their innovative spirit and entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The country's rapid economic development has also offered them bigger room for development," said Qiu Liguo, deputy head of the overseas affairs department of the China Overseas Friendship Association.

Launched in 2016, the center has attracted over 400 overseas Chinese-funded enterprises with an output value of nearly 42 billion yuan.

There are 17 such centers across the country, according to official figures.