City’s digital economy booms on the back of global high-tech conference, investment and innovation
The internet has been an integral part of the development plans for Tongxiang since Wuzhen, an ancient river town in the county-level city, became the permanent venue of the World Internet Conference in 2014.
The conference, also known as the Wuzhen Summit, is an annual event for global policymakers and industry leaders to discuss internet-related issues and policies. This year it will be held for the fifth time, running from Nov 7 to 9.
Tongxiang in East China’s Zhejiang province is enjoying a strong development momentum in its digital economy due to the summit and other strategic opportunities. The city has introduced 565 related projects over the past four years, with total planned investment of more than 37 billion yuan ($5.3 billion, 4.7 billion euros, ￡4.1 billion), and is now home to 1,177 internet-related companies.
The city has established a provincial-level information economy demonstration zone along with a number of industrial bases for software and information technology.
Companies related to these sectors have achieved rising profits this year, according to official statistics. From January to August, the total output value of the city’s electronic information manufacturing industry exceeded 4 billion yuan, an increase of 8.6 percent year-on-year; and the revenue of the software and information service industries reached 250 million yuan, increasing 81.8 percent.
The Tongxiang government has also made efforts to promote the application of artificial intelligence programs in companies and the integration of the internet in manufacturing, in a bid to deepen the integration of industrialization and informatization.
In 2017, the city carried out 561 automation projects to improve efficiency and safety for many businesses, with a total investment of nearly 13 billion yuan. Many companies specializing in the manufacture of fiberglass, polyester filament fabrics, nonferrous smelting and new materials deep processing have built intelligent manufacturing platforms to upgrade their businesses.
To meet the needs of industrial expansion, Tongxiang last year created a science and innovation cluster centering on the internet and advanced manufacturing.
The cluster, covering an area of 125 square kilometers, will attract high-end businesses in the fields of internet, fashion, advanced equipment manufacturing, new materials and key auto parts manufacturing, according to the government.
The cluster is home to eight important industrial development platforms including economic zones, industrial parks and pilot zones, and also boasts nine major projects related to new composite materials, new energy vehicles and old town protection and reconstruction.
The Tongxiang Science and Technology Incubation Park is the largest park of its kind in the city, with an area of more than 100,000 square meters. Established in 2004, the national business incubator has attracted a large number of innovative and high-tech startups, allowing them to share infrastructure and services. The park has become an ideal place for young entrepreneurs to start new businesses.
It forms a complete service chain for business incubations and provides diverse financial support, including up to 1 million yuan in subsidies for science and technology projects, and 20 million yuan in angel funding.
Other services such as business registration, policy consultancy, technology trading and intellectual property rights management are also offered in the park, as well as diverse living facilities, including a 13-floor serviced apartment, meeting rooms, gyms, tennis courts, convenience stores and cash points.
The park so far has been home to nine national-level high-tech companies, 46 provincial-level technical enterprises and two listed companies on China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the new third board. It currently has 86 companies, whose total sales revenue reached 510 million yuan in the first eight months of this year.
Phoenix Tea, a national level makerspace organization, opened a subsidiary in Tongxiang’s Wuzhen township in October 2015. It combines bricks-and-mortar facilities and an online platform to integrate capital, technology, personnel and other resources.
The Wuzhen Design Park focuses on the commercialization of high-tech research results, combining design, research and development, training and business nurturing.
(China Daily European Weekly 11/02/2018 page18)