City bases smart success on legacy

Updated: 2012-03-01 08:03

By Liu Xiangrui and Huang Zhiling (China Daily)

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BEIJING - The city of Mianyang aims to become an international center of innovation on the back of the success of its science and technology industries, officials said on Wednesday.

Mianyang, in Southwest China's Sichuan province, was home to a large number of military research centers and institutions set up in late 1950s and it remained a small city with an underdeveloped economy for 50 years.

But in 2000, the central government decided to exploit the city's rich science and technology resources and put them into production and on the market.

"After 11 years of practice, we have found a way to succeed, which is applying military technology for use in civil industry," said Liu Jie, deputy governor of Sichuan province, at a conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Since 2009, the central government has invested tens of billions of yuan in more than 1,000 projects in the city.

The output value from Mianyang's high-tech industrial park has quadrupled over the past decade, and the average growth rate of investment in fixed assets is up to 35.3 percent.

The edge in science and technology has drawn a number of competitive enterprises to the city, which has boosted employment and the local economy, especially after the 2008 earthquake that hit the province.

Emerson Electric, an engineering giant based in the US, has taken advantage of research and development work with the local Southwest Research Institute of Applied Magnetics and has invested in the city since 2009.

Foxconn, Pulse Electronics, Sinotruk and BMW have also set up operations in Mianyang.

"Of our 80,000 employees globally, half of them are in Mianyang," said Liu Haizhong, director of promotion at Sichuan Changhong Electric, which is based in the city.

Liu said his corporation, which had sales of 72 billion yuan ($11.44 billion) in 2011, not only contributes to the local economy, but also provides many jobs for local residents.

The development of the science and technology sector has greatly benefited the city in other aspects, including infrastructure, environment and tourism, according to Wu Jingping, Party chief of Mianyang.

"In the 1990s, Mianyang lacked public facilities and green space. Many residents were crammed into overcrowded low-rises," said Ji Xiaobing, who has lived in the city for nearly 50 years.

"Thanks to hefty investment and the construction of the science and technology parks, the city now has spacious streets and decent residential buildings."

Locals are proud that Mianyang is the first national garden city in western China, with nearly 40 percent of its urban area categorized as green land.

The city is now looking to attract more tourists. With an investment of 250 million yuan, the city's museum themed on national defense, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and satellites, which opened in 2006, is becoming a popular destination.