Shenzhen sci-tech park enhances innovation ties in GBA

Three new top-notch international sci-tech innovation institutions were unveiled on Thursday at Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone in Guangdong province, as a demonstration of the achievements since the release of the zone's development blueprint by the State Council one year ago.

The Hetao zone, wedged between the borders of Shenzhen and the Hong Kong special administrative region, aims to facilitate the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Since its establishment, the Shenzhen park has been an attraction for domestic and foreign sci-tech institutions and talents, drawing more than 160 high-end scientific research projects and 15,000 research professionals.

The zone has been playing a key role in boosting sci-tech cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. For example, five leading universities in the SAR have founded 13 projects across the border.

Hong Kong-based China Resources, a State-owned conglomerate covering various businesses, such as real estate and medicines, announced on Thursday a jump on the bandwagon by establishing its research institute of life and health in the zone.

China Resources said it will team up with Shenzhen-based Southern University of Science and Technology to cultivate talent jointly, establish a national-level research platform of organoid and an organ-on-a-chip system, and explore a new mechanism of collaboration between State-owned enterprises and universities.

It also pledged to be among the first companies to set up units in the Hong Kong Park of the zone — still under construction — and build a biological center there.

The other two institutions that debuted on Thursday were the international headquarters of the GBA National Center of Technology Innovation, and a joint laboratory led by the International Digital Economy Academy.

They will focus on the development of biopharmaceuticals, high-performance materials and intelligent robotics.

Additionally, five more research centers by SOEs and six by foreign companies, such as Apple and Siemens, have already got off the ground in the Shenzhen park. Six international industry and standard organizations also set up offices here, including the World WLAN Application Alliance and SparkLink Alliance.

Zeng Jianpeng, director-general of the Shenzhen park's Development Administration, said the central government has clearly defined "the strategic positioning of the Greater Bay Area as an internationally influential center for scientific and technological innovation and a demonstration area for in-depth cooperation between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao".

With premium technological innovation resources from Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Hetao cooperation zone can play a significant role in bolstering the development of a collaborative innovation hub, he noted.