A ceremony marking the resumption of the construction of 14 projects is held in Optics Valley of China on April 10. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

A total of 14 projects with investment of about 13.98 billion yuan ($1.98 billion) officially resumed construction at a ceremony in East Lake High-tech Development Zone -- also known as Optics Valley of China -- in Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei province on April 10, according to zone officials.

It was the first time Wuhan city held a ceremony marking the resumption of work at projects after the removal of travel restrictions imposed during the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The major projects that are resuming cover high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicines, education and infrastructure construction.

Officials said these not only benefit the people's lives, but would help to accelerate the overall recovery of the zone and promote the high-quality development of Optics Valley and even Wuhan.

Among the projects, was a new DR laser production base which will cost about 1 billion yuan, with a building area of about 50,000 square meters. It will be mainly used to produce precision laser processing equipment in the photovoltaic field, helping to improve the zone's laser industry chain.

Elsewhere, with a total investment of about 1.3 billion yuan, a project by Mindray Wuhan Research Institute plans to build facilities which among other things will produce surgical equipment, engage in health research and development and feature a global services support center, officials said.

Another project for a Wuhan national human genetic resources sample bank, will involve an investment of about 360 million yuan. There are plans to build a national science and technology infrastructure and science and technology resource sharing services platform, based on samples preservation and utilization. Officials said it will help to promote the development of life sciences and the biological industry and create opportunities in future bio-economy development.

According to zone officials, since the begining of March this year some 163 major projects in the zone, with a total investment of 323.98 billion yuan, have resumed construction.