Economy

Zhejiang: Ningbo poised to make new waves in IT and beyond

By WANG XIAOTIAN (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-01 09:16

NINGBO, Zhejiang - Ningbo, a manufacturing hub of the Yangtze River Delta, is positioned to become a national IT leader as the first large-scale forum opens on May 15 following the opening of the Expo 2010 Shanghai.

Hosted by Ningbo and attended by nearly 700 delegates from governments, nongovernmental organizations, academies and industries, the three-day forum themed "Information Technology and Urban Development" will discuss IT applications in urban construction and management, urban life, global cooperation, modern logistics, industrialization, education and social responsibility.

Mu Huaiyou, vice-general director of the Ningbo Information Industry Bureau, expects the forum to also promote the local IT industry and consolidate the city's leading position in IT infrastructure among strong counterparts like Beijing and Shanghai.

"IT has expanded to all walks of urban life in Ningbo and will continue to play an important role in the city's development as a pillar industry," Mu said, adding that Ningbo will focus more on software exploration in the coming years.

The software sector has been growing by more than 40 percent year-on-year in the past three years. But Mu said it is still a comparatively weak sector compared with electronic manufacturing that produces more than 100 billion yuan annually.

The coastal city has faced increasing pressure on industrial restructuring since the global financial crisis. It is now targeting less resource-heavy but more profitable industries such as IT, especially in software development.

In 2009, the city realized a GDP of 421.5 billion yuan, a 8.6 percent increase year-on-year, with secondary industry taking up 53.3 percent. The IT industry accounted for 11.7 percent of the gross industrial output value last year.

"The added value of the IT industry per capita is 6.8 times larger than that of primary and secondary industries in total," Mu said.

This year, the government will focus on support for an IT field that features integrated circuit designs, the local cartoon industry that ranks eighth nationwide, and electronic commerce showcasing sound perspective and rapid growth, especially national portals over various industries.

Similarly, Ningbo is securing its leading position in electronic government and public service by deploying a fourth-generation (4G) network over the city and eliminating information isolation between different government departments.

Sponsored by the central government, the city has become the first pilot of the 4G network application, which is expected to benefit emergency management and urban administration by realizing video multiplex simultaneously, said Gu Dedao, the planning division director of the bureau. It is also the first Chinese city to promote government information-sharing through legislation.

Gu attributed the momentum in developing IT application for the city to the sound manufacturing industrial base and mature enterprises.

Local enterprises accounted for 25 of the top 500 "Informatized Chinese Enterprises" rated by the National Informatization Evaluation Center in 2009.

Analysts also believe the Hangzhou Bay New Zone, a provincial key development area located in the north of Ningbo, will reinforce its advantages in the field by attracting advanced manufacturing enterprises to set up factories and workshops in Ningbo.

Started in 2001, the zone has a planned land area of 235 square kilometers and sea area of 350 square kilometers. It has drawn total investment of $10 billion and 259 industrial projects from enterprises including Cooper and SK.

By 2015, new and high-technology industries are expected to contribute more than 50 percent of the zone's GDP, while the service sector takes up more than 45 percent, said Zhang Weidong, office deputy director of the zone's administration commission.

CHINA DAILY