2021 is the first year of the 14th Five Year Plan period, and also marks the start of a three-year action plan aimed at creating new development concepts and promoting high-quality development. So this year is a crucial one for the development of Foshan National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Zone).

Recently, Pan Dongsheng, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Zone and director of the Administrative Committee, said that the Zone will further improve its infrastructure, optimize its development environment, increase the capacity, driving force and impact of its innovation, attract investment, and promote high-quality development.

At the beginning of this year, Foshan Municipal Government released its Document No.1, which focused on investment promotion for major industrial projects, and proposed the joint development of industrial land at municipal and district level in zones with space for expansion, based on functional areas such as the Zone's parks.

"This is a major opportunity for the Zone to develop advanced new technologies," Pan said, adding that to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, the Zone will build a high-quality innovative beacon community, advance its industrial platform construction, introduce a number of high-tech projects, and attract more innovative elements.

Newly-added tech enterprises accounted for over 70% of the city's total last year

Q: 2020 marked the end of the 13th Five-year Plan period and was the first year since the Zone's system optimization. What achievements have been made in advancing innovation-driven development?

Pan: I think the Zone is a major development platform that represents the city's biggest innovative development achievements. The Foshan Municipal Committee has paid keen attention to the development of the Zone, and in 2019, it published a scheme to optimize the Zone's management system, which established a development pattern of one zone and five parks, and clarified a management system of "unified planning by the municipal government, construction by the district government, and sharing".

Over the past year, the Zone has adhered to Party construction, innovation-driven growth, project implementation, opening-up and cooperation, and has achieved high-quality development. In 2020, the Zone achieved a total industrial output value of 419.183 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3 percent. In addition, 695 companies were recognized as high and new tech enterprises, accounting for 76.21 percent of the city's total.

Under the leadership of the Party Working Committee, the Zone successfully passed the transitional period of its structural reform, and promoted the coordination of the Administrative Committee and the authority.

The "beacon community" will be started in October

Q: This year, Foshan Municipal Government released Document No.1, which proposed the joint development of industrial land at municipal and district government level in zones with space for expansion, based on functional areas such as the Zone's parks. How will the Zone respond to the policy?

Pan: This is a major opportunity for the Zone to development new technologies. Next, the Zone will promote the construction of its beacon community, and work with the five parks to advance industrial carrier construction.

The beacon community is a demonstration project for high-quality innovative development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With a planned floor space of more than 0.7 km2, it will become an eco-friendly innovation and R&D base which will include maker spaces, R&D headquarters, incubation platforms, research centers, public service platforms, and result transformation centers, and it will imbue its green spaces with elements of Lingnan culture.

Design concept of the beacon community (north district)

Last year, land purchasing and storage was completed, and important breakthroughs were made in project construction. The construction is expected to start before October, and 50 percent of the municipal supporting facilities in the north district will be completed within the year. At the same time, we established a supervision and evaluation system for key projects, and urged the authority of each park to follow the schedule and road map and accelerate industrial landmark construction, in order to provide sufficient space and facilities for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological outcomes.

At the same time, the Zone is actively exploring a new model of building, managing and sharing science and technology industry parks across the five parks. This year, the Hannanwan scientific and technological innovation city project will be initiated in collaboration with Sanshui Park. The total project investment is expected to exceed 1.65 billion yuan. The phase I project will start this year, and it will become a model for cooperation between the Zone and the five parks.

Give support to 20 high-tech start-up teams

Q: The Zone's mission is to achieve high-quality development driven by innovation. What will the Zone do to achieve this?

Pan: Innovation is the future. Last year, the Zone released 17 policies, allocated nearly 200 million yuan to enterprises, and promoted the development of high-end industry clusters, the industrialization of scientific and technological outcomes, and the scaling-up of new tech enterprises. As a result, the Zone has the best innovation platform and the largest industrial projects in the city, the most powerful supporting policies for industrial talent teams, and the most optimized government service environment.

Innovation in science and technology requires accumulation. The Zone will further strengthen its collaboration with big institutes, attract more talent teams, continue to strengthen the supply of industrial technology innovation chain sources, and promote the deep integration of its industrial chain and the innovation chain. It will also fully facilitate the role of institutes such as the Foshan China Academy of Invention Achievement Transformation, the Foshan Institute of Technology Transfer of the University of Waterloo, the Foshan Industrial Application and Promotion Center for National Defense Technology Outcomes, and the Foshan Nanhai Guangdong Technology University CNC Equipment Collaborative Innovation Institute, and promote the transfer and transformation of advanced technologies both at home and abroad.

This year, the Zone plans to support more than 20 high-tech start-up teams covering areas such as high-end equipment manufacturing, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and new materials. It will also hold "exchange activities for overseas high-level talents", introduce 10 high-tech projects from overseas, attract high-level talents, and support the high-quality development of Foshan.

Complete supporting facilities to attract investment

Q: Projects are the core of industry development. How will the Zone exploit its advantages, introduce large and quality projects, and develop its middle and high end industries?

Pan: The zone will improve its supporting facilities; achieve the functional division of the production zone, business zone and living zone; construct standard plants and road networks; achieve intelligent management; and ensure a better working and living environment. It will also promote reform and create a better market environment, policy environment, and legal environment.

As the Zone adopts the development pattern of one zone and five parks, it is crucial to clarify its industry position, so as to avoid malignant competition, form industrial agglomeration, and improve the industrial chain.

Last year, the industrial development plan of the Zone (2020-2025) was released, which proposed to construct a "3+3+X" industrial system and use the industrial cooperation characteristic industry development pattern. This year, the municipal government listed the Zone among the member units of the municipal industrial reserve "phoenix tree" plan, and guaranteed land for major science and technology and industry projects. Therefore, the Zone will issue a uniform investment promotion policy for one zone and five parks, support the introduction of projects that conform to industrial plans, and construct a new model of investment promotion featuring a synergy between zone and parks, and park-park interaction.