This photo taken on April 25, 2024 shows a scene at the release of scientific and technological achievements during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) annual conference in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)
BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Known as "China's Silicon Valley," Zhongguancun in northwestern Beijing underlined its continued commitment to openness and cooperation by welcoming innovators from more than 100 countries and regions to participate in the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) where China's strides in science and technology were also showcased.
The 2024 ZGC Forum took place in Beijing from April 25 to 29. Founded in 2007, the ZGC Forum has evolved into a national-level open innovation platform and an international forum over the years.
-- Visible innovation power
At this year's ZGC Forum, the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (BAQIS) launched the second-generation "Quafu" quantum cloud computing power cluster. With up to 590 qubits "flying" in the cloud, the cluster has seen multiple indicators reach the international "first tier".
Quantum computing will greatly accelerate the computing speed in such application scenarios as password cracking, drug development, transportation and logistics optimization that are closely related to people's wellbeing, and is expected to crack "computing anxiety", introduced Chang Kai, Executive President of BAQIS.
As a new-type research and development institution, BAQIS showcased new breakthroughs every time it participated in the ZGC Forum. It launched the world's first prototype of quantum direct communication principles in 2020, the long-life superconducting qubit chip that broke the world record in 2021, and the "Quafu" quantum computing cloud platform with the largest scale and the highest single-chip bit count in China in 2023 which is on par with the international advanced level.
The NeuCyber Array BMI System, a self-developed brain-machine interface (BMI) system from China, was unveiled at the opening ceremony of the 2024 ZGC Forum.
It fills the gap in high-performance invasive brain-machine interface technology in China, said Luo Minmin, director of the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, which co-developed the system with NeuCyber NeuroTech (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
As a vanguard in China's reform of sci-tech innovation systems and mechanisms, as well as transformation and industrialization of related achievements, Zhongguancun has tried a number of reform measures. Driven by innovation, it has seen up to 123,000 newly-established technology enterprises in Beijing in 2023, meaning there could be a technology enterprise born in Beijing in less than five minutes on average.
-- Invisible competitiveness
In Zhongguancun Software Park, which is a sub venue of the 2024 ZGC Forum annual conference, 1 square kilometer can create an output value of up to 183.1 billion yuan, nearly doubling the figure five years ago which stood at 96.9 billion yuan.
With forward-looking judgement of technology trends, effective allocation of elements of innovation, and release of the advantages of the industrial ecology, the Park targets world-class innovation and technology implementation.
Its footsteps towards "innovation" are a microcosm of Zhongguancun's rapid growth. In 2020, the number of effective invention patents owned by enterprises in the Zhongguancun demonstration zone exceeded 140,000. In less than four years, this number has nearly doubled, exceeding 260,000. The total revenue of these enterprises has increased from 3.6 trillion yuan in 2014 to 8.6 trillion yuan in 2023.
Led by the innovation in Zhongguancun, Beijing has accelerated the construction of an international sci-tech innovation center, with the number of cited papers and the number of invention patents owned by 10,000 people second to none in China, and the number of national high-tech enterprises, the number of specialized, refined, characteristic and novel "little giant" enterprises, and the number of "unicorn" enterprises remaining the first nationwide.
In addition, over the past decade, the annual transaction amount of technology contracts, the number of national high-tech enterprises, the daily number of newly-established technology enterprises, and the added value of high-tech industries in Beijing have all increased by more than one time.
-- Perceivable influence
The world should regard Zhongguancun as innovative as Silicon Valley, said chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures Kai-Fu Lee who has taken part in the ZGC Forum for many times.
Zhongguancun has always been regarded as "China's Silicon Valley." It has incubated a large number of national high-tech enterprises, specialized, refined, characteristic and novel "little giant" enterprises, and "unicorn" enterprises, with multiple innovation indicators taking the lead nationwide.
This year has witnessed guests from 100-plus countries and regions attending the ZGC Forum which is twice of the number of countries and regions in 2019. Foreign guests delivering a speech at this year's Forum accounted for more than 50 percent of the total guests delivering a speech at the Forum, which is for the first time in the ZGC Forum.
International cooperation is not an option but a necessity, said President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Mustafa B. Shehu who advocated that more creativity and technologies should be transformed into practical solutions for building a better world.
The Zhongguancun International Advanced Technology Competition welcomed its seventh finals award ceremony during the 2024 ZGC Forum. More than 3,100 projects from 75 countries and regions took part in this session of competition, and the number of international projects is four times of that of the last session, accounting for over 40 percent of the total participating projects.
The 2024 ZGC International Technology Trade Fair, an important part of the 2024 ZGC Forum, has seen 17 parallel forums held by 19 international organizations, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and foreign government departments.
The higher international participation and recognition reflect the increasing influence of the ZGC Forum, and also demonstrate the global connectivity and radiation of Zhongguancun.
Zhongguancun has attracted over 300 multinationals to set up their regional headquarters and research centers. Overseas branches set up by enterprises settling in Zhongguancun have increased from hundreds to thousands.
From cellphones produced by robots to independently-developed innovative drugs, the innovation results made in Zhongguancun are being used and enjoyed by more countries and people.
At the opening ceremony of the 2024 ZGC Forum annual conference, a construction plan was released, setting a new goal for Zhongguancun which is to fully complete the building of a world-leading science and technology park.
Housing 17,000 national high-tech enterprises, 400-plus listed companies, 85 "unicorn" enterprises, and 11 enterprises each with a revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan, Zhongguancun is firmly stepping towards the center of the world's innovation stage.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
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