High-tech park growing local innovation

As many Chinese cities set new, higher targets for high-tech projects and supporting facilities in order to enhance their resident companies' global competitiveness, Chengdu's High-Tech Industrial Development Zone also altered its goals for future development. It aims to build itself into a world-class technology park with gross industrial output reaching 1 trillion yuan by 2020.

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Since its establishment in 1991, the industrial development zone has gone through several phases, and it now specializes in developing IT, biomedicine and precision instrument manufacturing.

Its output value totaled 104 billion yuan in 2013, up 19 percent from a year earlier. Its foreign trade volume reached 24 billion yuan last year, ranking third in the country.

"The high-tech zone's next move will focus on developing strategic emerging industries, including mobile Internet, core electronic devices manufacturing, software, biomedical engineering, aeronautic equipment, new materials and advanced environmental protection," Tang said.

Chengdu Guibao Science and Technology Co is one of many high-tech companies that reflect this ering, aeronautic equipment, new materials and advanced environmental protection," Tang said.

Chengdu Guibao Science and Technology Co is one of many high-tech companies that reflect this trend. It received 7 million yuan from the government in 2013 to support R&D in vulcanized silicone sealants, which are widely used in construction curtain walls, energy-saving windows and doors, automobile manufacturing, the new energy industry and airports.

Cao Zhenhai, chief financial officer of Chengdu Guibao, said the government offered land for expanding its manufacturing facilities in the high-tech zone in 2006. With more research labs, workshops and researchers, its production capacity rose from 3,000 metric tons in 2006 to 23,000 metric tons last year.

The zone's service department holds regular briefings to keep enterprises abreast of national and local policies on subsidies and tax rebates, he said.