Xi'an high-tech zone prioritizes innovating to drive high-quality growth

As the cradle and gathering place of hardcore science and technology innovation, the Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone in Shaanxi province has been accelerating construction of the region's innovation-driven platform and achieve high-quality economic development, local officials said.

The zone prioritizes the construction of key projects for its high-quality development.

In the second quarter of this year, the zone plans to launch 51 major projects in areas such as high-end manufacturing, the service industry, infrastructure, new materials, information technology, people's livelihood and urban planning with a total investment of 116.54 billion yuan ($18.2 billion). Total year investment is expected to reach 37.2 billion yuan.

Earlier this month, the Global Key&Core Technology Conference opened in the Xi'an high-tech zone to further strengthen interconnection, exchange and cooperation in the field of hardcore science and technology.

It also served to promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements as well as the deep integration of the industrial chains.

At the conference, keywords such as "Silk Road Science City", "Qinchuangyuan" and "Hardcore Technology "in the Xi'an high-tech zone attracted attention from all walks of life.

To become a national central city, the Xi'an high-tech zone is focused on developing the Silk Road Science City.

It's also concerned with the construction of urban innovation and intelligent manufacturing zones, among other key projects.

The Silk Road Science City plays a vital role in the zone's overall position of building a highland for hardcore technological innovation with global influence and an international scientific exchange center on the Belt and Road Initiative that demonstrates the charm of China.

Focused on innovation and the industrialization of its technological achievements, the zone is committed to building a large platform for the transformation of Shaanxi's scientific and technological achievements.

By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-26), the Silk Road Science City will host 500,000 people and achieve an economic scale of 1 trillion yuan.

By 2035, it will host 1.5 million people and its economic scale will exceed 3 trillion yuan, driving the total economic scale of the Xi'an high-tech zone to 5 trillion yuan.

The vast potential of its economic scale has become an important showcase for the construction of Xi'an as a national central city.

In its 30 years of development, the Xi'an high-tech zone has prioritized technological innovation, created the country's first hardcore technological innovation demonstration zone, deepened the reform of the scientific and technological system and focused on the development of artificial intelligence and aerospace.

Its hardcore technology industries－including biotechnology, optoelectronic chips, information technology, new materials, new energy, and smart manufacturing－have become a banner of innovation and development in the western region.

Over the years, the Xi'an high-tech zone has continued to stimulate hardcore technology development and innovation while making hardcore technology intellectual property more distinctive through a series of measures such as policy support, industry landing, financial support and platform construction.

The Xi'an high-tech zone has welcomed a number of leading companies such as Samsung, Intel, Eccom, Micron and BYD, and developed high-end products such as ultra-wide bandgap gallium oxide power devices, magnesium-based composite materials, silicon carbide ceramic composite materials, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, the first IoT core chip, the Qiming 910 AI acceleration chip, the Qiming 920 AI acceleration chip and the first set of GPS chipsets.

It contains a large number of world-leading hardcore scientific and technological achievements, such as the first global wireless communication security international standard.

As the window and banner of reform and innovation in the western region, the Xi'an high-tech zone has initiated the construction of the country's first "hardcore technology bank branch" to further enrich the path of hardcore technology development and promote the in-depth integration of industry, technology, and capital.

The zone is promoting the construction of the country's first "hardcore technology bank branch".

After completion, it will innovate credit products based on the characteristics of hardcore technology enterprises and offer financial support for hardcore technology enterprises.

To accelerate the development of the hardcore technology industry, the Xi'an high-tech zone has continued to innovate financial service methods.

By strengthening the links between banks and government, it has signed strategic cooperation agreements with the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, and the Agricultural Development Bank of China to introduce 80 billion yuan for building a hardcore technology demonstration zone.

Through the implementation of the Silk Road (Xi'an) Qianhai Park project, the zone has introduced a slew of companies and financial institutions such as private equity investment groups and research centers on financial technology.

There are now 47 licensed or registered real estate and financial institutions in the zone, with a balance of financing guarantee totaling 10.74 billion yuan, a balance of small loans reaching 450 million yuan, and a balance of financing leases of 1.89 billion yuan.

In terms of the listing of hardcore technology companies, the Xi'an high-tech zone has also achieved outstanding results with 10 domestic and foreign companies listed in 2020. That number is a record high.

To support the listing of enterprises, the Xi'an high-tech zone has set up a "five-specialized policy" and a dynamic gradient cultivation mechanism to provide full-chain assistance for enterprises to go public.

The zone has issued nearly 60 support policies for technology finance, and offered various preferential policies such as risk compensation, equity investment, loan interest discounts, and encouragement of listing, mergers and acquisitions and reorganization.

The number of hardcore technology companies in the zone has reached 193.

The Xi'an high-tech zone has formed an industrial system dominated by optoelectronic information, intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine, automobiles, and new energy and new materials, and has gathered 3,000 high-tech enterprises.

These enterprises have laid a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the high-tech zone.

The Xi'an high-tech zone has two unicorn companies, 11 potential unicorn companies, 21 unicorn cultivation companies, 146 small giant companies, and 69 gazelle companies.

In 2020, the average operating income of those companies totaled 118 million yuan, with net profit reaching 14.86 million yuan. Those figures contributed to 7.36 million yuan in taxes and created 36,000 jobs.

In recent years, these companies have obtained 4,695 valid patents and 1,238 valid invention patents while also participating in the formulation of 245 standards, including 86 national standards and 159 industry standards.

The high value of these companies is reflected in their listing financing.

Of them, 69 companies have received equity financing, with a total amount of 7.97 billion yuan. Nearly half of them have plans to go public, and 25 companies have been successfully listed.

As a pioneering zone for high-quality development, the zone must lead the way in achieving carbon peaks and neutrality, and set an example to provide scientific and technological support and solutions for the country's overall emission reduction.

According to Qi Haibing, director of the management committee of the zone, the Xi'an high-tech zone has a vast area of forests and waters within its jurisdiction of 1,079 square kilometers.

It has also established a low-carbon and energy-saving modern industrial system. The comprehensive energy consumption per unit of industrial added value is 0.11 ton of standard coal per 10,000 yuan, which is only one-fourth of the average level of national high-tech zones.

A strong foundation has been prepared for the realization of the carbon target, Qi said.

By 2025, the Xi'an high-tech zone will create 50 carbon-neutral companies and achieve regional carbon peaks.

Compared with 2020, the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of industrial added value will be reduced by 15 percent, and the intensity of carbon emissions will be reduced by 20 percent.