City fertile ground for innovation

Hefei, the capital city of East China's Anhui province, continues to attract attention of the scientific and technological circles because of its achievements made in the past year.

In 2021, it played host to a number of major breakthroughs — the quantum computer prototype Jiuzhang 2.0 was developed; Zuchongzhi 2.1, a 66-qubit programmable superconducting quantum computing system, was built; scientists broke the world record when they extended the storage time of light to one hour; China's artificial sun set a new world record by running for over 1,000 seconds at high plasma temperature; and mathematicians proved the core conjectures of Keller's geometry.

One scientific breakthrough that Hefei made last year, the record-breaking high-temperature tokamak plasma, is likely to bring a total revolution to the energy industry.

As long as 1,056 seconds — that was the new record for high-temperature tokamak plasma, set on Dec 30, 2021 by the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak, or EAST, at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Known as China's artificial sun, EAST aims to create nuclear fusion that will operate like the sun, so as to develop controllable nuclear fusion power plants capable of providing humanity with an infinite supply of clean energy.

In addition to EAST, Hefei has seen a steady stream of other original innovations over the recent years that are leading the world in their respective fields.

In such areas as quantum communications and dynamic random-access memory chips, the city is moving into the lead. Major achievements, including the dark matter particle explorer Wukong and the Mozi quantum satellite, have captured world attention. The use of tocilizumab as a treatment for COVID-19 and the development of recombinant protein vaccines have also assisted China's fight against the epidemic.

Basic research and original innovation require a lasting efforts to wait years for projects to bear fruit. Projects like the artificial sun and Mozi began receiving the full support of the Hefei city government and the Anhui provincial government decades ago. Local institutions have assembled first-rate personnel from in and outside China to collaborate on research projects. It was those years of hard work away from the spotlight that have produced the major results of so many research projects today.

The collaborations with the industrial sector to enable the applications of advancements in science and technology are also crucial.

Jiang Ruhai, the founder of Hefei CAS-Juche Technology, has been exploring the vast opportunities of driverless vehicles for a long time. Over the past several years, Jiang had already led his team in the research and development in driverless technologies, but he was unable to achieve commercial application because of the lack of funding. At the crucial moment, the CAS (Hefei) Institute of Technology Innovation, or HFITI, stepped in to provide a platform and seed funding for Jiang's team and an equity incentive plan of more than 70 percent of the shares. In just over a year, CAS-Juche Technology managed to achieve mass production and make profit.

There are already 30 collaborative platforms involving city government bodies, universities, institutes and enterprises similar to the HFITI platform. Using such platforms as support, Hefei has created a highly efficient way of accelerating industrial innovation.

The numbers tell their own stories. Every day in 2021, 3.4 national-level high-tech enterprises were established in Hefei.

By Jan 24, Hefei was home to 69 A-share listed companies, ranking it seventh among provincial capitals. Of the companies, 13 are listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, placing Hefei second among provincial capitals and sixth among all cities nationwide.

Hefei now ranks 14th nationally and sixth among provincial capitals in terms of the number of "little giant enterprises", or specialized and sophisticated technology enterprises producing unique and novel products. Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone ranks eighth of 169 such zones across the country, while Hefei Economic and Technological Development Area ranks 10th of 217 such zones.

Today, Hefei's landmark industries, represented by chips, flat panel displays, equipment manufacturing and industrial robotics, are growing and expanding. There is deep integration among the chains of innovation, industry, talent, policy and capital, and countless market entities are engaged in free and vigorous competition.

Scientific research, especially basic research, is characterized by a lengthy process and a high level of difficulty. Many researchers said that Hefei offers an excellent environment to address this concern.

Zhang Douguo is a professor in the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China. The strong academic atmosphere at USTC and the good scientific research support policies of Hefei have enabled Zhang to devote himself to research in the field of optics for more than 10 years with fruitful results. The city has implemented a lump-sum funding system for scientific research, and fully delegated decision-making power over the use of research funds, thus allowing researchers to manage funds independently. This has not only improved the efficiency with which funds are used, but also motivated researchers to increase income and reduce expenses.

QIUSHI