Beijing envisions future as top technology center

Beijing aims to become one of the world's influential technology centers by 2020, a senior official said on Friday.

Yan Aoshuang, head of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, said during a news conference that the city has advantages in science and technological development and will carry out a series of policies to build itself into a center of innovation.

According to the commission, by the end of 2015, half the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering - the top think tanks in China - were working in Beijing. The capital is also home to 412 scientific research institutions, the most in the country.

"Beijing will actively work on attracting national labs to the city," she said. "Meanwhile, the city will start several innovative projects, including ecological environment protection, food security, healthcare and city construction, in order to boost technological development."

Beijing has 12,000 high-tech companies, accounting for one-sixth of the nation's total.

There are 3,800 venture capital investment and equity investment management companies in Beijing, controlling 1.6 trillion yuan ($240 billion), which provides strong capital resources for research development.

According to the commission, almost 6 percent of Beijing's GDP was in the research and development sector in 2015.

Li Changping, deputy head of Haidian district in Beijing, said the district has established 40-some funds with 17 billion yuan to support research.

"The local government of Haidian district committed to invest around 3 billion yuan to introduce more social capital to promote commercialization of technological research achievements," she said.

Based on the central government's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development plan, Beijing will cooperate with its neighbors to boost scientific research.

"Beijing will accelerate technology imports, financial support and the transformation of intellectual property rights in the innovation sector, which can then be applied to other areas in China," said Lin Xiaofeng, head of the technology department of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn