Sleepy suburb transforms into high-tech hub

Range of targets for 13th Five-Year Plan outlines a brisk growth path, Du Juan and Lu Hongyan report from Xi'an.

Since its establishment in 1991, the Xi'an High-tech Industrial Development Zone, one of China's top national-level industrial zones, has helped transform a sleepy suburb into the most developed area in Xi'an, the capital of China's northwestern Shaanxi province.

Residents in the high-tech zone, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, have the highest average income in the city. As the Chinese government attaches increasing importance to innovation and entrepreneurship, the Xi'an zone, which has helped thousands of startups grow and develop, is expected to see faster growth in the coming years.

In 2015, the zone was named a national proprietary innovation demonstration area, which is expected to accelerate its industrial restructuring and innovation-driven growth, local officials said.

The zone has been charged with maintaining an annual economic growth rate of 13 percent during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), higher than the estimated national level in the following five years.

Companies registered in the zone are projected to generate 2.5 trillion yuan ($380 billion) in annual revenue by 2020, with yearly growth of 15 percent.

The zone's GDP growth is expected to amount to around 13 percent by then, The budgetary financial revenue of the zone is forecast to reach 20 billion yuan by 2020 at an annual increase of 15 percent, according to the plan.

The self-innovation level will be greatly improved, said local officials.

By 2020, research and development investment is projected to account for 6 percent of the zone's overall investment.

About 7,000 new invention patents are expected to be granted in the zone by 2020.

"During this period, the environment and conditions for startups will get even better," said Zhao Hongzhuan, Party chief of the zone. "During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), the zone introduced 118,000 skilled professionals.

"The zone has already become the center of talent in Northwest China."

In 2015, there were 372,000 people working in the zone, of whom 78 percent held bachelor's degrees.

The zone has attracted high-end professionals with 40 working stations for postdoctoral research, ranking first in central and western China.

The zone authority said it is working on building 50 national-level engineering centers and technology development centers and labs by 2020 as innovation ability grows in the area.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the industrial structure improved greatly in the zone thanks to its rich human resources and supportive policies.

The proportion of the service industry surpassed that of secondary industry in the zone in 2015, accounting for 54 percent of the total.

In particular, the revenue of the modern service sector in the zone was 380 billion yuan last year, accounting for 43 percent of the four major industries. The other three are electronic information, advanced manufacturing and biomedicines.

The modern service industry covers various sectors including technology, finance and innovative design. Among them, the scale of technological services has been growing rapidly and accounted for more than 40 percent of all service businesses in 2015.

The zone is an important industrial base for semiconductors in China and a manufacturing center of the world's smartphones, Zhao said.

The software park within the zone has become a national software export base. It is home to thousands of software companies, providing high-quality products and services to the world.

Xi'an has thousands of enterprises engaged in the IT industry, which has attracted many leading IT enterprises, such as Applied Materials, Qualcomm, GE, Ericsson, Micron, Walsin, Simmtech Electronics, NEC, ZTE and Huawei. Most are located in the high-tech zone.

In 2015, revenue from the electronic information industry in the high-tech zone reached 199 billion yuan.

In the coming years, the zone will continue to improve its internationalization level, according to its development plan.

By the end of 2020, its import and export volume is expected to reach $45 billion with annual growth of 15 percent. Foreign investment to be used in the zone is forecast to reach $12 billion by then.

The zone is the most energetic area in Xi'an. Hundreds of thousands of young people work hard there to realize their dreams.

The government has been working on improving the living conditions and natural environment in the zone, aiming to provide an ecofriendly residential environment for people working there.

The local government said it would further improve the zone's public infrastructure in the following years.

More than half of the zone's residents would choose public transportation by 2020, due to improved public services, local officials predicted.

In addition, the public library plan to own an average of 2.3 books for each resident and hospitals will provide no less than eight sickbeds for each 1,000 residents in the zone.

Contact the writers at dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn and luhongyan@chinadaily.com.cn

Software park hosts leading enterprises

Located in the Xi'an High-tech Industrial Development Zone, the Xi'an Software Park is home to 1,880 software and information technology companies, which account for more than 90 percent of such enterprises in the city.

In 2015, revenue from software and information technology industries in the high-tech zone reached 164.7 billion yuan ($25 billion), up 21.07 percent year-on-year. The amount is expected to surpass 300 billion yuan by 2020, with around 230,000 employees forecast to work in the sector by then.

Company bios:

Xi'an Intelligence Silicon Technology Inc:

The company developed the first programmable chip with proprietary intellectual property rights in China. The quality of such chips has reached international standards.

Xi'an GMobile Information Technology Co Ltd:

This fast-growing company focuses on providing file management and file wireless transfer solutions for both Android and iOS smartphone platforms. Its products have more than 100 million active users.

Xi'an Skye Intelligence Technology Co Ltd:

The company owns nine patents, two of which are international patents. It has invented a hands-free camera drone designed for outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy capturing and sharing great moments. The Skye Orbit is a quadcopter drone that allows for precise auto follow tracking and instant social sharing.

Yeahmobi:

This company focuses on mobile advertisement services based on big data technology. Its users cover more than 200 countries and regions with an output value of 1 billion yuan.

(China Daily 06/14/2016 page10)