Zhangjiang takes on internet

An advanced chip production line rolls off from the Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Thousands of startups flock to innovation zone to lead Shanghai into the future

The Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone has vowed to build itself into an important engine to drive Shanghai's transformation into a major hub of science and innovation with global influence.

The national-level innovation demonstration zone comprises 22 industrial parks and 124 sub-parks that are home to different industrial clusters, such as new-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, energy and environmental protection.

The zone is also a massive repository for resources, contributed by more than 70,000 enterprises located within. More than 2,670 of them are high-tech companies and more than 1,400 are research institutions.

The total number of invention patents from the zone has surpassed 24,000, local officials said.

In 2014, Zhangjiang was identified as a vital element in Shanghai's planned transition into a global science and technology hub, expected to exert significant influence on a global scale.

The zone aims to become a key engine driving Shanghai's transformation into an internationally influential innovation hub. [Photo/Xinhua]

Over the past two decades, the Zhangjiang zone has been growing into an ecosystem hospitable to new industries, attracting high-level professionals from around the world to implement key projects, as part of the national strategy for innovative development and economic transformation, said Cao Zhenquan, deputy director of the zone.

A number of cutting-edge projects sprouting from Zhangjiang have given the zone a reputation as a leader in technological innovation in China.

While the world's first quantum communication experimental satellite was launched into space from Jiuquan in Gansu province in August, much of the research on domestic quantum communication takes place in the zone. China's first quantum communication industry park is also located in this zone.

Other projects include a terahertz technology experimental center, a robot capsule endoscopy trial production line, a stem cell translational medicine industry base, an internet of things advanced sensor project and a mobile internet video industrial park.

The zone has also released a series of policies to encourage entrepreneurship, especially in internet-based industries.

The demonstration zone has released guidelines stating that a batch of hackerspaces, or centers providing technology support to help businesses to innovate, would be established from 2015 to 2017.

A foreigner learns about immigration policies at a service center in the zone. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to the guidelines, a group of hackerspaces for internet-based international business startups will be created and financial support will be provided for the sites and services.

With professional services, these hackerspaces will work to meet the needs of entrepreneurs, local officials said.

The Zhangjiang zone has also been encouraging industries, particularly traditional ones, to integrate with the internet to drive industry transformation.

In addition, the zone will also support the improvement of services in parks where new technologies are dominant, such as mobile internet, cloud computing, big data and the internet of things.