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Official: Firms in 'China's Silicon Valley' doing well

By Tu Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-19 16:17

Enterprises in Beijing's Haidian District, cradle of 'China's Silicon Valley', are still performing well amid the financial crisis, a local government official has said.

"The impact of the crisis on enterprises here has still lagged so far," said Liang Jie, director of the Haidian Investment Promotion Bureau, at the Symposium for Bilateral Investment Promotion Mechanisms held in Beijing on Jan 16.

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Covering 431 sq km in the northwestern part of Beijing equal to 40 percent of Singapore's area, Haidian is the home of the famed Zhongguancun Science Park, which hosts over 18,000 enterprises.

The park's economic aggregate ranks No 1 among the 53 State-level hi-tech development zones.

The Zhongguancun Science Park has witnessed an annual growth of 30 percent since it was founded in 1998, said Liang.

Liang said the district planned to invest 800 million yuan ($117.04 million) in scientific research in 2009 and set up loan companies to help small- and medium-sized enterprises combat the economic downturn.

In 2008, the district witnessed contracts of foreign investment amounting to $1.99 billion, and actual foreign investment of $1.17 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year.