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Zhongguancun Science Park, a technology hub in Beijing, has become an attractive center for startup companies, as it realized transition from a science and technology center to a comprehensive innovation hub, according to a government official.
Guo Hong, director of the administrative committee of the Zhongguancun Science Park, said: "The key to the development model for Zhongguancun is to build and keep optimizing an ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, which includes leading companies in their own sectors, universities and colleges, high-end talent, as well as angel investment and startup financing."
With the deepening of reforms, he said the administrative committee found that policy hurdles preventing innovation-driven economic growth exist not only in the science and technology sector but also in terms of certain economic and social regulations that hinder innovation.
As a result, the committee advised the National Development and Reform Commission to streamline administration and delegate power to lower levels, in an effort to encourage the development of innovative startups.
It was also among the first to launch pilot programs on foreign exchange management for Chinese companies' overseas acquisitions and the prudent management of external debt.
During the first six months of this year, 8,759 technology companies were set up in Zhongguancun, at an average rate of 49 companies per day.
Among the newly established tech firms, more than 90 percent were privately owned.
Currently, more than 60 innovation-based incubators including China's Innovation Works, an early stage venture capital firm, have based themselves in Zhongguancun, where a large group of equity crowdfunding platforms have also emerged.
The total revenue of companies in this area whose prime operating revenue was above 20 million yuan ($3 million) exceeded 1.8 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, up 15.4 percent year-on-year.
The development of the new economy boosted angel investment, startup investment and private equity investment.
During the first half of this year, 379 angel investments worth a total of 2.34 billion yuan were made in Zhongguancun, accounting for 45.1 percent of the total amount disclosed nationwide, in addition to 403 startup investments worth 28.39 billion yuan.
Now, the Zhongguancun Science Park hosts a group of leading companies in a number of sectors including payment, crowdfunding and supply chain finance.
jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn
