Tech town a new engine for region's growth

Development area in Baodi shares resources of Zhongguancun Science Park, benefits from integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei

Leveraging the nation's strategies to integrate Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and drive innovative development, a high-tech demonstration area has emerged in Tianjin as a new growth engine in the region.

Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town, located in the northwest of Baodi district of Tianjin, was founded in 2013 as one of the major investment projects by the famed Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing.

Growing from an electronics street in the 1980s in Beijing's Haidian district, Zhongguancun Science Park was China's first national-level high-tech park and first national innovation demonstration zone.

With a reputation similar to that of the Silicon Valley in the United States, Zhongguancun is the most important high-tech engine in China. It has attracted such high-tech giants as Lenovo, Baidu, JD and Xiaomi.

Echoing the nation's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration and innovation-driven development strategies, Zhongguancun began branching out and promoting its operations throughout the country in the early 2010s.

As a major move of the branching-out plan, Zhongguancun Science Park's administrative committee signed an agreement with the Baodi district government in November 2013 for the establishment of Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town.

The tech town was positioned as "a dynamic new urban development among Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan (in Hebei province), a destination to receive the non-capital functions shifted from Beijing, an innovation base for industrial technologies and a national demonstration zone for ecological protection and development", according to the Baodi government.

Authorities from both Beijing and Tianjin greatly value this key development project.

In 2018, the tech town was regarded as an important cooperative platform between Beijing and Tianjin by both governments.

In 2019, the tech town was listed as one of the development priorities in the work reports of both governments.

A role model

Local authorities highly spoke of the tech town's development achievements made during the past years, praising it a role model for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration.

Officials in Baodi said they plan to use the advantageous resources of Zhongguancun Science Park to make the tech town a comprehensive project for industrial and urban development.

The project's development will highlight collaborations among governments and enterprises, and it will be operated according to market rules, local officials said.

The government's role focuses on development planning, including plans relating to its development orientation, population, industries and areas zoned for ecological, residential and industrial developments.

The tech town will highlight sectors that can effectively use the science and technology resources of Zhongguancun and can upgrade local traditional industries. These sectors include artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, biomedicine, medical equipment, new energy, new materials and advanced equipment manufacturing as well as modern services.

In land planning, the tech town will cover an area of 14.5 square kilometers and the entire development will be implemented in four phases over a span of about 30 years.

Total investment required for the 30-year development is estimated at 110 billion yuan ($16.27 billion), according to the tech town.

Local authorities estimate that the tech town can create 120,000 new jobs and accommodate a permanent population of 75,000.

Officials said the tech town's planners aim to forge an ecologically friendly, livable garden-like city.

Most of the existing landscape－which features a number of water bodies such as rivers and lakes－will be preserved. Trees and flowers will be planted and trails will be developed along the rivers and lakes, to create more waterside parks and sightseeing belts for residents.

To date, one large riverside park and seven smaller community parks have been established in the tech town.

Other public facilities in place include an electric power substation, a heating plant and several bus lines.

To date, more than 200 businesses have settled in the tech town, including 27 manufacturing companies. With a number of companies becoming operational, it is estimated that local enterprises will generate total pretax profits of 1 billion yuan and create 8,000 new jobs by the end of this year.

Among enterprises attracted to the tech town, 18 are from Beijing, accounting for 67 percent of the total, and nine are from the Yangtze River Delta and other regions of the country, according to the local government.

High efficiency

Business startups have greatly benefitted from the high efficiency of the local government.

For instance, it took only 26 days for the biomedicine project invested in by Beijing-based Kingbio to complete such procedures as land acquisition and construction approval.

Among the projects founded so far this year, 16 have acquired land for development, nine have begun construction and two have become operational, according to the local government.

Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town has established a highly efficient and comprehensive service system for enterprises.

The tech town's comprehensive service center offers one-stop solutions to enterprises and individuals. Administrative procedures related to business registration, construction approval, taxation, social insurance and permanent residence can all be competed under one roof.

Among other options, the government offers human resource services to help enterprises recruit new employees and conduct cooperation with higher-learning institutions for personnel training.

The government has also established a financial service center, helping local companies access funding from various financial institutions.

To offer a friendly environment to investors and professionals, the tech town has heavily invested in improving its infrastructure facilities.

For instance, a number of residential communities have been developed for those who work in the tech town. Schools have also been built to offer high-quality education to the children of entrepreneurs and employees.

The tech town is planning to build star-rated hotels, shopping malls and recreational facilities for residents, making the area an ideal place for living as well as doing business.

Adding to its appeal for entrepreneurs and professionals, the government of Tianjin recently released a number of preferential policies, offering more incentives in housing, medical insurance and children's education for people from the rest of the country.

Smart town

Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town is currently developing a smart town by incorporating the latest information technologies into local infrastructure.

In March, the tech town signed an agreement with Beijing-based Sinnet for the building of its cloud computing and big data base. The project, with a total investment of 12 billion yuan, will not only offer local enterprises easier access to cloud and big data resources, but also help the government upgrade services and infrastructure with smart technologies, according to local officials.

Because it is located in the northeast of Tianjin, Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town shares all the advantageous transport resources of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

It takes less than 30 minutes to reach the centers of Beijing and Tianjin via a number of expressways. Two high-speed rail lines slated to be completed next year will further facilitate travel.

Travel from the tech town to major airports in Beijing and Tianjin are less than an hour by car.

For cargo flow, it takes less than two hours to reach major seaports in Tianjin and neighboring Hebei province.