As a Chinese economic powerhouse and a key player in the nation's vision of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative, Guangdong province will invest heavily in a number of projects in a move to bring about closer co-operation with the regions along the trade route.

"The province will pool US$55 billion worth of capital for 68 projects in its Belt and Road Initiative from 2015 to 2017. The projects will involve such sectors as infrastructure, energy and resources, agriculture, fishery, manufacturing and services," said Zhang Zhigan, executive deputy director-general of the provincial information office on Tuesday. He made the comments while delivering a welcome speech to an ASEAN media delegation in the provincial capital of Guangzhou.

A delegation consisting of 10 reporters from nine ASEAN mainstream media outlets paid a visit to the province from June 30 to July 2. The reporters visited the city of Shantou in east of the province as well as Guangzhou. Shantou is the ancestral homeland of millions of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

The official said that the province is also accelerating the development of several major platforms that would enable further co-operation with the region. They include the Sino-Singapore Knowledge City in Guangzhou, the overseas Chinese economic and cultural co-operation experimental zone in Shantou and the Greater Guanghai Gulf Economic Zone in the Pearl River Delta city of Jiangmen.

"Guangdong and the ASEAN region enjoy geographical proximity, cultural and human similarities, strong blood links, close business relations and mutual benefits," he said. "They are bound for partnership."

Official statistics indicate that the province's trade volume with regions along the Maritime Silk Road accounted for US$27.8 billion in the first quarter of this year, representing an increase of 6.5 percent from a year ago and 12.9 percent of the province's total foreign trade.

Last year's figure surpassed US$117 billion, a growth of 15.5 percent from 2013.