Industrial park opens in Zhenhai to develop high-end new materials

A researcher checks product quality at a new materials company in Zhenhai district, Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn] 

An industry park for high-end new materials opened in Zhenhai district, Ningbo, in East China's Zhejiang province, on June 24 – aiming to attract leading new materials projects to locate there.

"We aim to significantly enhance the technology level and market competitiveness of our new materials industry to reach an asset scale of 40 billion yuan ($5.82 billion) in 2020," an official said.

He added that the figure would increase to 100 billion yuan in 2025, with key breakthroughs made in graphene and magnetic materials development.

Zhejiang Graphene Manufacturing Innovation Center is launched in Zhenhai district in December 2017. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn] 

Zhenhai district has seen a boom in its new materials industry in recent years, with more than 200 related companies having settled there, contributing to the local biomedicines, telecommunications and marine engineering sectors. 

The district's new materials sector reported 29.2 billion yuan worth of output last year, up 13.2 percent year-on-year. 

Earlier in 2004, the Chinese Academy of Sciences set up the Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology in the district, the academy's first research institute in Zhejiang. Ever since then, the institute has promoted the application of more than 30 key technological innovations in new materials such as graphene and nanocrystalline.