Science and technology behind sailing host's booming economy

QINGDAO: Qingdao's hi-tech industries will soon account for more than half the city's total income.

The city's hi-tech industries registered 233 billion yuan ($31 billion) in production output in 2006, a 22 percent increase on the previous year, according to Qingdao's Statistics and Science & Technology Bureaus.

Electronic appliances, mechanics, communication devices, computers, automobiles, synthetic materials and air conditioners now account for almost a quarter of Shandong province's total industrial capacity.

By 2010, Qingdao's hi-tech industries will earn 354.5 billion yuan ($47 billion) to account for 45 percent of the city's total industrial capacity.

Technological Innovation System

Investment in technological innovation has witnessed a steady increase in the past two years, with more than 10 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) spent annually on more than 1,200 new projects.

Qingdao founded the natural science foundation and China's first "city-level key lab" project.

More than 700,000 people joined including 70 thousand scientists conducting research in 91 different key labs.

Cluster of Famous Brands

This year the contribution of hi-tech industries to Qingdao's famous enterprises ranks top of Shandong's 17 major cities.

The Haier Group has obtained 6,189 patent certificates and intellectual property rights to 589 separate software applications.

Haier's proposal for safe water-heating technology was accepted at the 66th International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Conference.

And the company's dual-drive washing machine was listed as the 2006 IEC standard, clearly demonstrating Haier's world-class R&D capabilities.

Hisense made China's first industrialized digital media processing chip, a breakthrough that ended foreign domination in the manufacture of chips for color televisions.

Haier, Hisense, Brightmoon Group and Yebio are the big five national-level technology centers to set up its home in Qingdao.

From Marine Science to Marine Economy

Qingdao, a coastal city, is also home to 50 percent of China's oceanic researchers, who conduct most of the country's research projects in their field.

Qingdao has become a major manufacturer of marine medicine and health products, with nearly 100 subjects under research.

In the oceanic chemical industry, the city's Brightmoon Group produces more sodium alginate than any other company in the world, accounting for a third of the global market.

"Marine economy has maintained over 20 percent increase annually," Mayor Xia Geng said at the 8th International Forum on Marine Science and Technology and Economic Development.

Rising Hi-tech Industries

Major marine industries totaled 86 billion yuan ($11.3 billion) in production value in 2006, an eighth of Qingdao's total economic capacity

Always encouraging the development of new hi-tech industries, Qingdao's software scene has grown 10 fold since 2003 into a 20 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) business.

(China Daily 08/17/2007 page24)