The city of Baoding, Hebei province is helping more than 100 small companies come up with innovations to promote new, high-tech industries, with a new engineering technology center opening recently, which brings local companies together with professional teams from Agricultural University.

Wang Jie, head of the project, which has city government support, said, “It will help us and the whole industry extend the industrial chain, and add value to products.”

This year has seen almost a dozen technological innovation platforms open in Baoding, bringing the total number of companies with these technology engines to 101. Both traditional industries such as textiles and clothing, and emerging industries, such as new materials and new energy are getting financial and policy support from the city government, and at least 60 platforms have received 82 million yuan ($13.3 million) from the government and another 1 billion yuan from companies for their projects, which will be a great help to local industries. The plan calls for the city to build 120 platforms for scientific innovation by 2015.