Wuxi airport zone posts high-quality growth

Area becomes key innovation and cooperation hub in Jiangsu province

The Wuxi Airport Economic Development Zone has delivered high-quality growth while striving to become a hub for innovation and international cooperation, becoming an important link in the transportation network of the Yangtze River Delta.

Industrial output of the zone, located in Xinwu district of the city of Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province, maintained steady growth in the first half of the year.

The total output value of industries above designated size — enterprises earning at least 20 million yuan ($2.85 million) annually — between January and June surpassed 27 billion yuan, up 12.4 percent year-on-year, said Chen Weiliang, deputy director of the zone's administrative committee.

Innovation-driven growth

Home to 131 high-tech companies as of 2021, the zone has achieved rapid, high-quality growth through increased innovation capabilities and financial support for research and development.

To boost innovation, the zone has established the Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a subcenter of a national technology transfer center in collaboration with Jiangnan University.

"We plan to build up a whole-chain sci-tech innovation community featuring a combination of makerspaces, accelerators, incubators and sci-tech parks in five years' time," Chen said. A makerspace is an area where people can come together to create or invent things, either using traditional crafts or technology.

In 2021, the zone's subsidies for R&D activities increased by 1.77 percent over 2020. The effective R&D investment of companies above designated size based in the zone grew by 27.46 percent year-on-year.

Holding the belief that people are the most important resource, the zone has been working to bring in high-caliber professionals in industries such as new energy and biomedicine to bolster high-quality growth.

The zone has stepped up cooperation with areas such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, while working to bring in more resources, foster an enabling environment for professionals, establish a market-oriented talent identification mechanism and attract more high-level personnel by setting up workstations for academicians and postdoctoral students.

Signature industries

The zone has been restructuring and upgrading its signature industries, which include aviation and aerospace, modern logistics and biomedicine.

The aviation and aerospace industry, for instance, has posted robust growth in recent years. A number of well-established players in the sector, such as Ruili Airlines and Hanhe Aviation Technology, have set up operations in the zone.

The Wuxi Aviation and Aerospace Industrial Park opened in June. It focuses on improving the industrial layout and innovation capabilities of the local aviation and aerospace companies, with the aim of growing into a leading hub for the sector in the Yangtze River Delta.

On the logistics front, the zone has been mapping out development strategies to make itself a logistics hub in an effort to bring out the potential of airports, high-speed railway stations and ports in inland areas.

To date, the zone has drawn up development plans for areas such as the Sunan Airport Area and the Sunan Express Industrial Park, according to Chen. Sunan refers to southern Jiangsu in Chinese.

The Sunan Express Industrial Park is now home to more than 40 logistics companies, including industry leaders such as China Post, Cainiao Network and SF Express.

In July 2016, the park was listed as a national example for smart logistics by the Ministry of Commerce, becoming the country's only express industrial park to make the list that year.

The acquisition of Ruili Airlines made Wuxi the first city in Jiangsu province to own a local airline.

The renovation of National Highway 312 has commenced. Once finished, the highway is set to make travel between Wuxi and its neighboring city of Suzhou much easier.

A project to reconstruct and expand Sunan Shuofang International Airport has been given the green light. Once completed, the project is expected to substantially reduce the time the runway is occupied by airplanes and make takeoffs and landings more efficient.

Green growth

In pursuit of green growth, the zone has incorporated carbon reduction targets into its three-year (2021-23) action plan for high-quality development, Chen said.

The zone prepares reports every year on the greenhouse gas emissions of local companies above designated size to get a full picture of the total energy consumed, the total amount of greenhouse gas emitted and which industries are the biggest emitters.

The New Energy Circular Economy Low-Carbon Industry Demonstration Park began construction in the zone in June 2021. With a planned investment of 1.1 billion yuan, the park is designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 380,000 metric tons every year.

A differential electricity pricing system has been put in place to drive conservation efforts by enterprises which operate machinery that consumes a lot of energy.

Investment promotion

The zone has ramped up efforts to attract Fortune Global 500 companies, large State-owned enterprises and leading private companies, particularly in the realms of integrated circuits, life sciences and technology, smart aviation and aerospace equipment, high-end commerce and high-end logistics.

"The top officials in the zone are to participate in at least one investment promotion activity every month," Chen said, adding the zone is working closely with well-established Chinese and foreign consultancies, investment promotion agencies, professional platforms and universities to maximize its appeal to investors.

To improve its business environment, the zone sends dedicated personnel to companies to communicate face-to-face with executives to learn about their needs and difficulties. They assist the companies in mapping out development strategies, perfecting their contingency plans and working out feasible solutions.

In the last two years, the zone helped more than 20 top-performing companies address problems in planning, environmental assessment and other procedures and clear obstacles to growth, according to Chen.