JINAN, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The 12th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Technology Conference and Fair (APEC SMETC) kicked off in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao on Thursday.

Themed "Digital Innovation Drives Sustainable Development, Win-win Cooperation Aspires Greater Prosperity," this year's APEC SMETC, scheduled from Thursday to Saturday, will focus on multiple topics, such as the digital transformation of SMEs, technological innovation and development, green low-carbon development, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, among others.

Representatives of over 1,600 enterprises from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies and the Belt and Road Initiative partner countries have joined the event.

This year's exhibition will likely promote further technical exchanges and economic and trade cooperation among APEC member economies.

The APEC SMETC is a cooperation project under the APEC framework and has been held for 11 editions since 1996. The latest edition is co-hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People's Government of Shandong Province.