GUIYANG, May 26 (Xinhua) -- An international expo on big data opened Sunday in southwest China's Guizhou Province, focusing on the latest innovation of the technology and its applications.

The four-day China International Big Data Industry Expo 2019 in the provincial capital of Guiyang will be attended by 448 enterprises from 59 countries and regions, according to the organizing committee.

Among them are more than 150 foreign companies, including 39 Fortune 500 firms.

The expo will feature nine high-level dialogues, including one on big data and global efforts on poverty alleviation, as well as more than 50 forums.

The expo will also include a global competition on artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.

Since 2015, the expo, the first of its kind in China, has been held four times in Guiyang. Last year, the expo attracted over 40,000 participants from nearly 30 countries.

As China's first big data pilot zone, the mountainous province of Guizhou has attracted heavyweight players, including Apple, Qualcomm, Huawei, Tencent, Alibaba and Foxconn, to establish cloud computing and big data centers as well as regional headquarters.