Graduates to power local innovation

The number of high-tech companies in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area in Jiangsu province registered a record 83 percent growth in 2018, compared with a year earlier, according to local officials.

By the end of 2018, the number of high-tech enterprises that met the criteria of the local administration reached 500 and a total of 5,480 invention patents were granted to local companies.

The booming development of the high-tech industry can be partly traced back to the area's innovation-oriented universities, according to local officials.

"In the way of developing innovation, human resources cultivated by universities are the key factor in success," said Fang Jing, director of the area's bureau of science and technology innovation.

Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, is a city with abundant university resources. There are 53 universities in the city. College students account for more than 10 percent of the city's total population.

Thanks to the rich human resources, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area is building itself into a renowned innovation center with global influence, bringing the role of local university resources into full play, Fang said.

Moreover, the new area has its own advantages in developing the semiconductor and healthcare industries, Fang added.

In 2016, the world's leading chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company launched a $3 billion plant in the area. At the end of October 2018, the project kicked off the mass production of 12-inch wafer, which is currently the most advanced manufacturing line in the semiconductor sector on the Chinese mainland.

The Nanjing Biotech and Pharmaceutical Valley in the area, occupying 13.55 square kilometers, has gathered more than 400 companies engaged in the healthcare industry.

Wu Yongqian, chairman and CEO of Nanjing TransThera Biosciences, a biotech company located in the valley, said since the healthcare industry involves all aspects of the cooperation, the layout of the industrial chain and the collaborative innovation are important.

Thanks to the local policies, which are friendly to startup companies and involve an all-round industrial layout and the improved financial environment, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area has the advantages to develop high-end technology industries, Wu said.