Hunan Xiangjiang New Area Development Group was officially founded on June 12, after the merger of three high-level investment firms, creating Changsha's biggest state-owned enterprise (SOE).

An unveiling ceremony was held at Meixi Lake International R&D Centre in the city which marked the integration of Meixihu Investment Co., Ltd, Hunan Xiangjiang New Area Investment Group Co., Ltd and Hunan Xiangjiang New Area Municipal Construction Investment Co., Ltd.

The new group has registered capital of 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), and will focus on infrastructure investment and construction in the Hunan Xiangjiang New Area, which was set up in 2015 as a state-level strategic development zone.

The move was based on the local government's plan to reform state assets and SOEs, and is expected to help achieve development targets of Hunan Xiangjiang New Area by integrating local resources.

The group will serve as a major platform for the area's infrastructure construction, regional development, ecological environment management and the marketization of "two-oriented society" (resource-conserving and environmentally-friendly) construction, said officials.

The Xiangjiang New Area is the first state-level new area in central China. It is located on the west bank of the Xiang River and comprises of several districts of Changsha.

The government aims to build the new area into a high-tech manufacturing and innovation base, which will aid the development of central China and the Yangtze economic belt.

Shanghai's Pudong New Area, the first new area in China, was established in 1992, with others following in Tianjin, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Gansu and Guangdong. China uses the new areas to test reforms, pilot opening-up policies and experiment with other innovations.