Unique ecosystem helps produce breakthroughs

Zhongguancun Science Park, also known as Z-Park, has been shaping a unique ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship.

It has become a concentration of the countries' leading companies in the sciences and education. It has also attracted universities and research institutes, venture capital and financing firms and service agencies by promoting a culture supportive of entrepreneurs.

Z-Park boasts the presence of almost 40 colleges and universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, and nearly 300 national or city-level scientific institutions, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

More than 20,000 overseas students who have returned China work at Z-Park, and they have set up over 6,000 companies in the park.

To date, the park has attracted 1,091 leading personnel from the nation's "1,000 Talents" project, a national-level key project attracting global talents, accounting for one-fifth of the nation's total in the past years.

About 70 percent of Beijing's Haiju project, which aims to attract leading talent, is working in Z-Park.

Technological breakthroughs in the park have also provided technical support for the implementation of major State-level infrastructure projects, including aerospace engineering, the Three Gorges Dam, and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway.

Statistics also indicate that in December 2015, local enterprises and industrial alliances have formulated 5,107 industrial standards, up 26 percent from 2010.

Local enterprises have formulated 184 important international standards such as Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Multi-Carrier Wireless Information Local Loop (McWill) and Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing (IGRS), as well as 2,907 national standards, 179 local standards and 1,837 standards for different industries.

Its technology transaction volume is more than one-third of the country's total, including 80 percent of project products and services exported outside Beijing.

On the fast track

To date, the park is home to nearly 20,000 high-tech enterprises, including such industry leaders as Lenovo, Baidu and Xiaomi.

It has formed industry clusters, including next generation Internet, mobile Internet and new-generation mobile communications, satellite applications, biology and health, energy conservation and environmental protection, and rail transportation.

The clusters generated a combined revenue of 2.5 trillion yuan ($383.9 billion) during the first 11 months in 2015, accounting for 76.3 percent of the park's total, up 11 percent year-on-year.

The total revenue of Z-Park reached 4.07 trillion yuan in 2015, up 12.8 percent year-on-year, double the figure in 2010.

The number of listed companies reached 281 in 2015. Among them 178 are listed domestically and 103 are listed overseas.

Also last year, a total of 823 enterprises have been listed on the country's New Third Board, the over-the-counter exchange, accounting for one-seventh of the nation's total.

Companies in the park applied for 60,603 patents last year, doubling the figure in 2010.

The industrial output from local enterprises with annual revenue from their major businesses of more than 20 million yuan each hit 814.8 billion yuan during the first 11 months last year, accounting for 51.7 percent of the city's total, and up 4.3 percent year-on-year.

In 2014, those enterprises generate industrial output of 932.9 billion yuan, up 18.2 percent year-on-year. Their industrial output accounted for 51.7 percent of the city's total in 2014, up 14 percentage points compared with 2010.

Statistics indicate that from 2011 to 2014, their average annual growth was 17 percent.

Enterprises in the park reached an the estimated profits of 347.7 billion yuan last year.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), the average growth of profits was 22.7 percent.

During that period, the taxation revenue was 205.6 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 22.1 percent.

In 2014, 2,556 enterprises generated revenue above 100 million yuan each, double the number of enterprises in 2010. They contributed more than 90 percent of the park's total industrial output.

A total of 485 enterprises saw their revenue hit 1 billion yuan, double the figure in 2010, and contributing 70 percent of the park's industrial total.

Among all the enterprises in Z-Park, micro and small-sized enterprises have played a pivotal role in innovation.

By the end of 2014, the park had 14,921 such enterprises, accounting for 96 percent of the total. Their combined revenue hit 1.21 trillion yuan in 2014, accounting for 33.7 percent of the park's total. They had applied for 22,000 patents as of 2014, accounting for 41.9 percent of the park's total.

Internet Plus strategy

Currently, the central government's Internet Plus strategy, or the integration of the Internet and traditional industries through online platforms and information technology, is driving the park's growth.

The park is thus transforming its industrial structure. Its new hot areas for economic growth include Internet finance, mobile healthcare and intelligent hardware. Xiaomi and Letv, for instance, are revolutionizing the traditional TV sector; 58tongcheng is changing the traditional service sector; and IZP is creating a chapter for new cross-border currency transactions and logistics for e-commerce.

Local enterprises are also injecting huge investment into research and development as well as innovations.

Statistics indicate that enterprises in the park invested 154 billion yuan in R&D in 2014, up 16.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 4.3 percent of their total revenue and up 2 percentage points compared with 2010.

In all, 532,000 people were engaged in R&D activities in 2014, up 6.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 26.4 percent of the park's total in 2014.

The park has also taken the lead in business startups. According to Forbes, among the magazine's 30 selected top entrepreneurs initiating their businesses below the age of 30 in 2015, nine are from Zhongguancun.

Over the past five years, an angel fund investment has been active in the park. The value of their investments was 40 percent of the nation's total during that period.

In 2015, the number of stock rights investments reached 2,413, accounting for 32.2 percent of the nation's total. The disclosed capital hit 102 billion yuan, accounting for 24.81 percent of the nation's total.

Leading incubators including Cheku coffee, 36Kr and Innovation Works are located in the park.

A total of 50 incubators in the park, including those formed by universities, are playing an important role in the Chinese capital.

(China Daily 03/05/2016 page7)