Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone ranked 17th in the 2021 Evaluation Result of National Hi-Tech Zones released by the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, moving two places higher from its previous ranking due to continuous efforts to bolster innovation.

The annual evaluation assessed 157 national hi-tech zones in terms of innovation capacity, entrepreneurial activity, structural optimization, industrial value chains, green development, opening up and innovation, as well as global competitiveness.

Among all the aspects, the zone was rated 15th in innovation capacity and entrepreneurial activity; 20th in structural optimization and industrial value chains; 27th in green development and opening up and innovation, and 15th in overall quality and sustainable innovation. 

Zhuhai National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan) [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zh_gxq]

The operating revenue of the Hi-Tech Zone in 2021 is projected to increase 8 percent year-on-year to 345 billion yuan ($55 billion), while the GDP of its main park in Tangjiawan increased by 9.7 percent to 30.62 billion yuan ($4.85 billion).

The zone's added value of industries above designated size soared by 20.9 percent to 12.1 billion yuan ($1.9 billion), while its fixed-asset investment climbed by 10.5 percent to 27.6 billion yuan ($4.4 billion). In addition, the ratio of local R&D expenditure in the zone's GDP is set to reach 8 percent.

The zone issued 4,016 granted patents last year, an increase of 15.5 percent, and the number of valid invention patents grew by 25.4 percent to 3,671. 

Special funds for boosting its high-quality development were allocated to supporting major platform projects by Huawei Kunpeng, the Zhuhai Institute of Advanced Technology, JaFron Biomedical, and more. An investment fund for high-tech industries will be set up, with a first-phase amount reaching 200 million yuan ($32 million), for technological innovative projects adhering to the zone's development trends.

The zone welcomed 103 hi-tech companies in 2021, increasing the total number to 1,136, which accounts for 55 percent of Zhuhai's total. Its total number of provincial R&D institutions was increased to 17 with four newcomers last year, accounting for 71 percent of the city's total. In addition, the zone is home to seven national company technology centers and two national engineering technology research centers.

In addition, Sun Yat-sen University's Tianqin Space-Based Gravitational Wave Research project has also achieved phrasal progresses, with its Comprehensive Scientific Research Building having been put into operation and the tunnel of the Superstatic Cave Laboratory having been connected.