City breaking ground in boosting science and innovation

The Xi'an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone is setting a benchmark in core technology and leading scientific innovation in the long run, said local officials.

Recently, the zone was approved by the General Office of the State Council to create China's first innovation demonstration zone for core technologies. It once again proved the zone's strength in technology-driven and innovative development.

After 29 years of development, the zone offers unique conditions for the development of core technologies with developed industries, talented workers and technological advantages.

The zone leads the way in forming a new nationwide system for core technology research, building core technology industrial clusters, and implementing eight key actions and nine tasks.

The zone's work plan this year is to be carried out through 20 innovation-driven projects. They include the construction of core science and technology innovation demonstration zones, and research institutes and communities.

It plans to construct the core area of the national artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zone, focusing on AI-characteristic industrial parks.

In the next few years, the zone will focus on four major fields of information technology, aerospace, high-end equipment and life sciences. This covers third-generation semiconductors, photonic technology and industry, 5G and cloud computing.

By 2025, the scale of the core technology industries is forecast to reach 500 billion yuan ($77.04 billion) and there is to be more than 3,000 core technology companies in the zone.

In recent years, the zone has adopted a number of policies to improve the independent innovation of core technologies and the transformation system for scientific achievements and boost the cultivation of enterprise groups.

In terms of supporting core science and technology research and development, the zone has issued a policy to support the industrialization of achievements and encourage companies to develop key projects. In 2019, the zone paid out more than 130 million yuan for major achievements.

In 2020, it produced Qiming 910 and 920 AI acceleration chips, the first GPS chipset and the first global wireless communication security international standard.

In terms of core technology transformation, the zone is exploring modern technology market construction and operating models of achievement transaction through a trading market and a global technology transaction cloud platform.

As of 2020, the volume of technology transactions in the zone had exceeded 45 billion.

With regard to the cultivation of core technology companies, the zone has issued policies on supporting the development of enterprises listings, offered a hard-tech enterprise gradient growth cultivation system and established support for the listing of "hard technology" companies.

Today, the zone has cultivated more than 5,000 high-tech enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises.

In terms of strengthening the technology industry, the zone is making every effort to build pillar industries including electronic information, high-end equipment, automobiles and biomedicine.

At present, a number of major projects have been introduced, such as the Haichuang Park project, Eswell Silicon Industrial Base and BYD Smart Terminals.

The new AI industry has been promoting the construction of professor Yao Qizhi's Cross Information Core Institute and a number of demonstration projects such as iFlytek.

As a demonstration base for innovation, the zone will focus on the positioning of lean entrepreneurship, stabilize employment, stimulate the vitality of market players, ensure the safety of the industrial and supply chains and support the growth of innovative small, medium and micro enterprises.

The zone is striving to transform and upgrade provinces and cities with core technology to provide an impetus for the construction of a national central city.