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As the source for innovation, talent is the key factor boosting Zhongguancun's development, according to its administrative committee.
Growing from Zhongguancun Electronics Street in the early 1980s to a science and technology park and then the current national innovation demonstration zone, Zhongguancun has experienced profound changes and systemic reforms.
The reforms include assisting the market to play its role, integrating resources from government, industry, university and research institutes, and building an eco-system for business startups that nurtures entrepreneurship.
According to the administrative committee, the ultimate purpose is to liberate talent, releasing its innovative vitality.
The reforms also provided guarantees for technological innovation and entrepreneurial attempts in the region.
In recent years, Zhongguancun has become a fertile ground for a range of high-level talent that returned from overseas to pursue business dreams. The area is now home to several thousand enterprises started by talent returned from overseas and several more are registered each day.
Such high-level talent is very likely to hatch a new technology, form a new team and even break ground for a new industry.
Xie Liangzhi, now president and CEO of Sino Biological Inc, is one of them.
He gave up his high salary as a research fellow at Merck & Co to start his own business in Zhongguancun in 2002.
In 2007, he founded Sino Biological with his teacher, famed biotech pioneer and MIT professor Daniel I.C. Wang.
In 2009, the global H1N1 flu pandemic gave Xie's company a chance to succeed. In 30 days, the company, using genetic engineering technologies, successfully collected a protein from the virus that was crucial for the development of vaccine.
Thanks to its strong research team and other professionals returned from overseas, Xie's company quickly became a leading global biological solution specialist offering services and reagents for life science research and product development worldwide.
The company develops as many as 800 varieties of protein products a year. Its customers include top global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, small biotech companies and academic institutions globally.
Another example is Jin Xiaodong, who was selected by the nation's recruitment program for global experts.
The Silicon Valley veteran and holder of 16 US patents relating to wireless signal chips started the Quintic Holdings, and soon also attracted a group of top professionals including Cao Kanyu and Xuan Peiqi from other world-leading chip companies.
With all its advantageous factors, Zhongguancun has become a place where dreams are realized for a variety of talented people.
Statistics show the main forces in business startups at Zhongguancun are experienced professionals who left their prior positions as well as ongoing business founders and recently graduated students.
As part of Zhongguancun's business startup service system, places like its University Science and Technology Park enjoy favorable policies in business registration, tax breaks, rent subsidies and equity financing, especially for small enterprises.
Tan Zhongyi owes his success to the support system in Zhongguancun.
In 2009, when he was trying to start his business of selling formal dresses online to college students with 100,000 yuan ($16,357) he scraped together, Tan met great challenges.
He had difficulty finding an affordable office space, but after a long search, was finally able to rent an office desk at the park at a low price.
Starting with 5 square meters of working space, Tan transformed his business into a mode that combines "a physical store and electric business" only a month later.
In just two years, Tan opened eight stores in Beijing and another three in Xi'an and Nanjing.
Today his company has annual revenues of several million yuan.
zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn
