A batch of top e-sports events including TI9, QGC Winter Season and STEAM CHINA will come to Pudong, Shanghai, according to deals signed Nov 28. [Photo/WeChat account: zhangjiangfabu]

A batch of top e-sports events, including TI9, QGC Winter Season and STEAM CHINA, will be comig to Pudong, Shanghai, according to deals signed on Nov 28.

TI9, set to take place in Pudong in 2019, will be the first time the International DOTA2 Championship has come to the Asia-Pacific region.

Eighteen top-rated e-sports teams will be invited to compete during the week-long event. The bonuses will rise from $27 million in 2018 to $30 million dollars and the number of spectators is expected to exceed 16,000.

The arrival of these top events will greatly boost the development of Pudong's e-sports industry and help promote the formation of an e-sports industrial cluster in the area.

Apart from bringing in top e-sports events, Pudong will build a complete e-sports industrial chain to create a better environment for the development of the derived creative and cultural industry.

The area will introduce international e-sports organizations and industry associations, support heavyweight e-sports research and development companies, clubs and teams, and encourage the establishment of high-end e-sports competition venues and training bases.

Moreover, Pudong will encourage local vocational schools to set up e-sports and management majors to strengthen talent training. It will also try out a registration system for e-sports players in order to better regulate the industry.

These efforts are expected to help Pudong realize its goal of becoming Shanghai's e-sports hub and helping Shanghai gain the status of "capital of e-sports".

The output of China's e-sports industry has grown at an annual rate of over 20 percent in recent years and is expected to exceed 80 billion yuan ($11.6 billion) this year.

Shanghai has been the country's e-sports hub thanks to the city's favorable geographic location and abundant cultural and entertainment resources. And Pudong's e-sports industry has accounted for nearly 10 percent of the country's total.