Special Supplement: Innovation key to Wuxi's global future

Wuxi will continue to improve its living and working conditions for Chinese expatriates who plan to start up or expand their business, as well as increase public investment in innovation and encourage more multinational companies to establish their research and development centers in the city.

Represented by Suntech Power Holding Co and Hynix, the Wuxi Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has become one of the most dynamic locations in the Yangtze River Delta in terms of internationalization and innovation.

In 2006, the fiscal revenue of Wuxi hit 8 billion yuan ($1.05 billion), with hi-tech companies being the major contributor. Wuxi is home to 17 of the 100 hi-tech companies in Jiangsu, and its export of software reached 6 billion yuan ($780 million) last year, accounting for 90 percent of its total exports.

Such achievements have made Wuxi one of the leading cities in the country in terms of innovation and export of hi-tech products.

While Wuxi Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone may be in relative lack of university resources, it still ranks high in terms of economic internationalization, thanks to its active cooperation with prestigious universities, both domestic and overseas.

The city is expected to see 100 R&D centers within five years and maximize the benefits of their technological spillover.

Wuxi will also simultaneously expand its strategic research and development (R&D) cooperation with prestigious universities or institutes. Among them are the Jiangsu-based Nanjing University, and the Peking, Tsinghua and Tokyo universities.

It emphasizes a two-pronged development strategy: economic internationalization and scientific innovation.

The hi-tech zone currently has a strong R&D team and follows the steps of introduction, incorporation and re-invention of world class technologies.

While introducing technologies from other countries, the area has also been trying to establish its own innovation system under the guidance of the local government, which is centered on projects and mainly participated in by enterprises with an innovative spirit.

The government of Wuxi also plans to introduce more policies to provide talent flow, tax and land use incentives, as part of its efforts to draw more R&D institutes to the city.

So far, 35 foreign companies have established R&D centers in Wuxi, including some global Top 500 enterprises, such as Bridgestone, Bosch and GE.

The city has also been trying to create a better environment for those studying abroad to set up firms. Wuxi expects to see at least 150 enterprises being founded by Chinese expatriates and draw as many as 1,000 overseas Chinese, 1,000 IC designers and 15 innovative entrepreneurs.

Wuxi does not lack shining examples of those who have found their career in this small but promising land.

On December 14, 2005 Suntech was listed on the New York Stock Market, becoming the first Chinese hi-tech company and a completely homegrown enterprise, to be listed on the main board in the United States.

With only a laptop and a doctorate degree, Suntech CEO Shi Zhengrong came back to China in 2001 and established the company.

It took him only six years to turn the hi-tech firm into one of the world's top five in the Photovoltaic industry, which also put Shi on the Forbes 2006 list for the world's richest persons.

The local government has designated "one-zone-with-many-parks" model in the hi-tech zone to encourage innovation and offer better public management.

Many national-level projects are located in the parks, such as IC design base, software base for State Torch Program, a program ratified in 1988 by the central government for the development of high technologies, pioneering park for Chinese expatriates and liquid crystal display park.

The parks undertake 46 national, 28 provincial and 63 municipal projects, with more than 60 projects having independent intellectual property rights and a strong self-innovation capability. Among them are Suntech, Wuxi Evermore and Wuxi Zhongxing Optoelectronics Technology.

To create a better environment for companies operating in the city, Wuxi will continue to improve its public services by introducing more favorable policies, supporting key projects, emphasizing software innovation, and protecting intellectual property rights.

Wuxi also encourages enterprises to set up technology alliance projects and calls for the establishment of an investment and finance network, consisting of startup investment enterprises, strategic investment and venture investment.

Investment in the R&D of high technologies accounts for 4.7 percent of the city's total GDP, almost double the standard required of an innovation-oriented city. Meanwhile, the local government has invested $660 million a year in independent innovation.

Such efforts have paid off handsomely.

In 2006, the output of hi-tech companies reached $13.22 billion, with 234 provincial-level hi-tech companies producing more than 400 advanced technological products.

In 2010, the output of the integrated circuit is expected to reach 40 billion yuan ($5.3 billion) while that of liquid crystal display and auto parts will likely hit 80 billion yuan ($10.5 billion) and 70 billion yuan ($9.2 billion) respectively.

Wuxi will also speed up the development of its three pillar industries: software, photo-electricity and new energy.

To realize such goals, Wuxi will not only introduce new technologies, but also localize and re-invent them so that they fit better with the development of the city.

(China Daily 09/05/2007 page4)