On May 17, the Foshan National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone announced its economic indicators for the past year.

According to the new version of the evaluation index system released by the Ministry of Science and Technology in late April, 32 of the 41 quantitative indicators in the Foshan high-tech zone have increased year-on-year, and the yearly growth rate and compound growth rate of operating income reached 17.16 percent and 8.18 percent respectively, hitting record highs over the past five years. 

According to the person in charge of the zone's management committee, data from the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology show that in 2020 the operating income of the zone surpassed 521.5 billion yuan. Its total export value reached 87.6 billion yuan, and its total industrial output value hit 443.4 billion yuan.

While the main economic indicators maintained steady growth, the various quality indicators of the zone also showed outstanding performance.

In terms of regional innovation capabilities, the number of national and provincial innovative research and development institutions in the zone has steadily grown.

In 2020, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises and high-tech enterprises in the zone were 1,323 and 2,931 respectively.

The zone has 24 national incubators, 26 provincial R&D institutions, and 17 national enterprise technology centers.

Continuous investment in innovation and R&D has yielded fruitful results; one of the outstanding manifestations is the significant improvement in patent innovation.

In 2020, the number of valid patents in Foshan high-tech zone exceeded 92,000, an increase of more than 44 percent year-on-year. The number of valid patents per 10,000 population reached 2,555 and the number of new international patent registrations under the Patent Cooperation Treatyin that year reached 667, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the city’s total.

At the same time, the overall technological innovation revenue of the Foshan high-tech zone is synchronized with the R&D investment and patent results, and R&D investment and enterprise output are matched.

In 2020, the revenue of various technologies and products generated by the technological innovation of enterprises in the zone maintained an upward trend, and the growth of both technology revenue and the turnover of certified and registered technology contracts is expected to exceed 70 percent year-on-year in 2021.