Biz News Flash

'Made in Beijing' shift to 'created in Beijing'

By Zhao Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-20 14:53

Recent years have seen China's first cloud server rolling off the production line from the area. [Photo/China Daily]

New energy cars undergo tests on the production line at Beijing Etown. [Photo/China Daily]

Mobile phone giant Nokia recently announced plans to expand its research and development base in Beijing within the next year and a half, an indication of the confidence that multinationals feel for the area.

Nokia wants to build the key research facility in Beijing Etown, an industrial zone located in the southeastern area of the Chinese capital.

The facility will be responsible for developing the Series 30 and Series 40 software platforms, as well as WindowsPhone, a cutting-edge mobile device.

Nokia's ambitious move is seen by many as further proof of the Etown's success in promoting its high-tech industries and attracting investment from both China and overseas, area officials have said.

More than 3,800 enterprises have already established a place for themselves in the Etown, which is the capital's only State-level development zone, and 95 projects are already underway, the administrative committee has reported.

These include Fortune 500 companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Bayer, GE, Bosch, Corning and Tetra Pak, and famous Chinese brands such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International and the BOE Technology Group, both of them leading electrical product manufacturers.

The administrative committee has tried to take advantage of Beijing's scientific and technological resources and its talent, in its internationalization and attempt to build a top industrial base.

And these efforts have paid off: Etown has become a pioneer in innovation, with its high-tech sectors contributing 80 percent of the area's gross industrial output for 10 consecutive years.

Promising industries

One other area that is being given priority is energy-efficient development.

Favorable administrative committee policies and support have brought a number of enterprises here and this has contributed to technological innovation.

In recent years, China has seen its first servers for cloud computing rolling off the production line, its first electric vehicles in Beijing, and the country's first subway with a Chinese system.

Etown officials have said that the area's successes and experience help turn the "made in Beijing" label to "created in Beijing", with an industrial chain officially referred to as the "constellation model".

The model is based on an ideal industrial layout created by Etown planners, one that introduces a core part of an industry, which then attracts other parts, and so on, until an entire industrial chain is formed.

The development zone has already set up the world's largest, most integrated industrial chain for eco-friendly mobile devices, local officials have said, and work on a digital television chain is under way.

They expect to get more than 20 projects and will benefit from a BOE production line of eighth generation LCDs, the core component of digital TVs, this year.

The area is pushing the development of a number of promising sectors such as wind power, solar photovoltaic devices, new materials, and next generation Internet.

Government strategy

In a bid to boost the area's development, Beijing government has stepped in with a key development strategy.

It approved the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area and Daxing district to both adopt the brand of "Beijing Etown", aiming at enhancing the competitive strength of local industry and helping the city's economy stand on top of the nation.

Daxing's administrators, management, and other public services will support Etown expansion, said one official. Consequently, Daxing district and the economic zone districts both have come up with land, industrial, and environmental ideas for the capital's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011 -2015).

The area is expected to gain as much as 800 billion yuan in gross industrial output.