In innovation hub, technology drives new economy

The Zhuanguancun Chuangye Tower, pictured here, serves as a space for talent-based innovation.

Promoting innovation requires innovative policies, say leaders of the Haidian Science Park, the birthplace of China's most advanced technology.

Meng Jingwei, deputy director of Haidian district in Beijing, said that innovation is crucial to maintaining economic competitiveness during a time of technological revolutions at home and abroad.

As the core of the Zhongguancun Innovation Demonstration Zone, Haidian Science Park is taking the lead in this transformation by attracting enterprises through its vibrant market, talented people and favorable policies, he said.

A total of 16,000 innovation-driven companies are headquartered in the park, including big names like Lenovo, Digital China, Founder, Baidu, Sohu and Sina.

The park is also home to many leading State-owned enterprises, such as the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle, have also based their China operations in the park.

This industrial cluster of innovative strength has given a timely boost to the park's overall business.

The park's research-driven companies generated revenue worth more than 1 trillion yuan ($160.6 billion) from January to November in 2012, up 20 percent over the previous year, with net profit amounting to some 5.1 billion yuan.

The cluster's total industrial value hit roughly 148.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3 percent, according to an official report.

And the number of high-tech enterprises registered in the park is on the rise.

Last year, the Haidian district received a total of 1,151 applications from enterprises for self-developed technologies, more than 600 of which have been approved by professional groups and the Beijing municipal government.

Now, the national-level high-tech enterprises in the area number 4,400, while Zhongguancun has 11,000 high-tech enterprises that are recognized on a local level.

In the coming year, the park will focus on its five key programs under a market-oriented innovation system, which includes setting up leading enterprises in the fields of cloud computing, biological science and integrated circuit design.

?This year, the gross revenue of the science park is projected to reach some 1.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 17 percent over the last year.

?Innovation achievements

Built on the foundation of a strong economy and rich resources, Haidian Science Park has succeeded in the field of scientific innovations.

It has developed a total of 58 high-end international standards, including 3G technologies, intelligent grouping and resource sharing, and wireless personal area networking.

The park has created more than 400 national standards and nearly 300 industrial standards.

Meng Jingwei, deputy director of Haidian district in Beijing

Furthermore, the amount of its technology-related trading makes up 25 percent of the total in China, according to its official website.

In 2012, the park was awarded the title of National Culture and Technology Demonstration Base by the Publicity Department of China and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

In total, 46 projects from the park won the National Science and Technology Award in 2011, accounting for 59 percent of the winners from Beijing, and some 16 percent of China.

In addition, some of the participant organizations in the park also received other honors, including the National Natural Science Award, the National Technology Invention Award and the National Technology Progress Award.

Talent pool

Because research and development thrives on elite personnel, the Zhongguancun High-end Talent Pioneering Base has been built with support from the district government through a partnership between the zone’s authorities and the University of Science and Technology Beijing.

As a result, a total of 69 talented people in the Haidian district were selected to be part of the nation’s 1,000 Personnel Project, a plan by the central government to attract top talent from overseas.

Nearly 160 were selected for the Haiju Project and 114 for the Gaoju Project, two of China’s other talent initiatives.

Dual-use workstations are also being developed in which enterprises and academicians will share resources.

There are a total of 15 such workstations based in the Haidian district, and some 39 academicians are working there.

In addition, the park has a public housing plan for 161 enterprises that offers more than 4,400 apartments for their top talents.

Founded in the early 1980s, Haidian Science Park is China’s first independent model zone for research and development