BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- China will accelerate construction of the science and technology innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in a bid to foster connected regional innovation layout with city clusters as driving forces, reported the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily on Monday.
Cities have played an important supporting, driving, inheritance and demonstration role in China's national independent innovation system, noted Wang Hui, a senior consultant with CCID Group affiliated to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
In the promotion of innovation development, authorities pointed out, cities can drive the innovation development of city clusters which can further advance the formation of innovation development belts.
For instance, Beijing and Tianjin, two leading cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster, are expected to drive the innovation development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The city cluster of Hohhot City, Baotou City and Erdos City in neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, can be built into the expansion area of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
Shanghai, the central city in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster, will drive the innovation development in the Yangtze River Delta which can further drive the development in the Yangtze River economic belt.
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two core cities of the Greater Bay Area city cluster, will drive the innovation development in the Greater Bay Area which can further drive the development in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region.
City “innovation circle” is taking shape in China. Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei and Hangzhou, four provincial capital cities, plan to join hands in buildingl the “Yangtze River Delta innovation circle” , which is one of the city clusters in China that boast the most intensive science and education resources, the strongest innovation ability and the highest level of openness.
In this circle, Shanghai and Hefei in east China's Anhui Province, serve as comprehensive national science centers, Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province is a pilot city for the comprehensive reform of the national science and technology system, while Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province is committed to building itself into a digital economy city.
In the future, the “Yangtze river delta innovation circle” is likely to strengthen cooperation with key cities along the Yangtze river such as Wuhan in central China, Chongqing and Chengdu in southwest China, driving the formation of "Yangtze river economic belt innovation circle" and fostering integrated innovation development.
As for the Greater Bay Area, the construction of the international science and technology innovation center has been processed actively and around 13.2 billion yuan will be pumped into Guangdong to support the construction of multiple major science and technology projects, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) which is participating in the center construction.
Beijing municipality has made it clear in its 2019 government work report that it would strengthen the layout of its science and technology innovation strategy in 2019 by establishing support mechanism for fundamental research, building first-class universities and disciplines, undertaking major national science and technology tasks, etc.
Considering the effective role of innovation in promoting regional development, China will focus on upgrading provincial-level high-tech zones into national-level ones in its central and western area, and speed up the construction of innovation-oriented industrial clusters there, the authoritative source revealed.
China will also formulate related guidance and improve management systems in these high-tech zones so as to build them into innovation-driven development demonstration zones and pioneers of high-quality development, according to the source.
According to Zang Hongyan, a doctor at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTED), China's regional economy has entered the stage of innovation-driven development, innovation ability has become the decisive factor for regional competitiveness, and thus cultivating new driving forces is the basic route for long-term regional economic development. (Edited by Gu Shanshan)
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