Jiangyin Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone

Jiangyin Hi-tech Development Zone. [Photo/yicai.com]

Jiangyin Hi-tech Development Zone, established in 1992, was upgraded to a national-level hi-tech zone approved by the State Council in 2011, second of its kind in a county-level city in China.

The zone has been sticking to the innovation-driven strategy and implementing relative measures to accelerate the upgrading of its traditional industries and promote the industrialization of its scientific and technological innovations since the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).

The investment in research and development (R&D) accounted for 3 percent of the zone's GDP, and more than 90 percent of key enterprises in the zone set up their own R&D institutions during the five years. Industries of new metal material, electronic information and precision machinery underwent fast development due to the sustainable innovations. The value added of the hi-tech industries accounted for over 62 percent of the total value added created by enterprises with an annual industrial output value above 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) in the zone.

It founded the country's first cooperative innovation alliance for technology, talent and capital in 2010, aimed to provide services of loans, venture capital and financial for innovation and entrepreneurship projects. It also built up various kinds of accelerators or incubators to promote its development of hi-tech industries.

In 2016, the zone's GDP reached 75.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.58 percent; its industrial value added totaled 156.88 billion yuan, increasing 6.53 percent over the previous year; the received registered foreign capital totaled 603 million dollars, a year-on-year increase of 6.53 percent. The revenue in the general public budgets was 7.06 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of 12.34 percent. The fixed-asset investment reached 38.90 billion yuan, an increase of 12.51 percent compared to that of the previous year. In 2017, the industrial output value of hi-tech industries made up 48.6 percent of the zone's GDP.