Chengdu ready for new normal development

Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, has charted a new blueprint for its innovation-driven growth as the country pushes forward the strategy of public innovation and entrepreneurship to adapt to the new normal economic conditions of slower but more sustainable development, according to the city's science and technology bureau.

In October 2010, Forbes magazine named Chengdu one of four fastest-growing Chinese cities and ranked it as the fastest-growing city worldwide during the next decade.

David Dollar, senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and a former official of the World Bank, called Chengdu "a benchmark city for the investment environment in inland China".

In June, Chengdu was named one of the 15 model cities for innovation and entrepreneurship of small and micro-enterprises by five central government departments.

In August, the Chinese version of Fortune magazine listed Chengdu among the top 10 innovative Chinese cities.

Market research company Zero2IPO Group released a report in May that said Chengdu, along with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Wuhan, had become a major base for Chinese innovation and entrepreneurship.

Booming businesses

The first nine months of this year have seen an increase of 180,000 businesses in the city, up 34.4 percent year-on-year, according to the city's statistics bureau. More than 8,300 technology enterprises started operation during the period, data showed.

During the first eight months of this year, the city received more than 39,900 applications for patents, up 29.5 percent year-on-year. The number of applications for invention patents reached 15,730, an increase of 43.8 percent from the same period last year, according to data.

In July, several organizations, including AliResearch, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's research division, and entrepreneurship service provider 36 Kr, released a report on China's innovation climate, in which Chengdu was named one of the six major Chinese cities for innovation and entrepreneurship along with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

Government backing

To encourage public innovation and seek innovation-driven growth, the Chengdu city government has a host of measures to improve government services and support business startups.

The government issued a 10-year action plan that focuses on improving enterprises' competitiveness, upgrading industries, introducing talent and creating a sound environment for innovation.

It has also made it easier for small businesses to launch operations and accelerated the construction of a credit system for enterprises.

The government has pushed forward the reform of its administrative system, streamlined the administration process and delegated powers to lower-level governments. It also issued 46 policies concerning issues such as funding support, entrepreneurship of university students and subsidies for individual innovation projects.

Campus innovation

Home to 53 universities, 30 national level research institutes and 76 key laboratories at national and provincial levels, Chengdu boasts unique advantages in stimulating the enthusiasm of youth innovation.

The city has encouraged universities to launch training courses on innovation and entrepreneurship for their students and set up clubs for students who want to start their own businesses.

The government has also appropriated special funds to support student startups and offers opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

In the first half of this year, about 20,000 university students attended training courses and more than 3,000 of them started businesses, which generated more than 30,000 jobs.

The government also encourages universities and research institutes in the city to build bases and parks for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Four national-level and five provincial-level scientific parks, including those affiliated to the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Southwest Jiaotong University, have been built. Universities are also encouraged to set up industrial research institutes, laboratories and technology research centers with enterprises and local governments.

More than 10 such institutes and nearly 120 such labs and centers have been established.

Funding help

To ease funding pressure faced by many startups, the government has also encouraged financial institutions in the city, including banks, guarantee companies and small-loan companies, to provide loan services associated with the pledge of intellectual property.

Loans of nearly 400 million yuan ($63 million) with pledges of credit, intellectual property and stock rights have been granted to more than 140 enterprises to date.

The government has also prompted emerging enterprises to get listed in the capital market. In the first nine months of this year, eight enterprises in the city were listed on the Shenzhen ChiNext board, a Nasdaq-type exchange for tech startups, and 38 enterprises went public on the New Three Board, China's new exchange for non-listed small and medium-sized companies.

The government set up a sophisticated mechanism to introduce top-notch talent from around the world.

The city has 106 people included in the State-level "1,000-talent" project, which aims to attract leading overseas returnees to the country to benefit its technological advancement. There are also 374 people included in the provincial-level talent project and 25 top scientific research teams.

Effective platform

Chengdu has also created a brand event titled "Venture Tianfu-Jingronghui", which serves as a communication platform for innovators, investors and entrepreneurs.

Launched in February, the event has developed into an important part of Chengdu's public innovation strategy.

In the first three quarters of this year, more than 60 activities have been held in the name of the event. About 300 venture investment institutions, including SBCVC, Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital Partners, 6,000 startups and more than 10,000 university students and innovators participated in the events.

Deals involving investment intentions worth 960 million yuan for 89 projects presented at the events' show were signed.

Contact the writers through liyu@chinadaily.com.cn