Laureates to establish Xiongan lab

An alliance of Nobel laureates is planning to establish a science lab in Xiongan New Area in Hebei province to provide a platform for scientists to make breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, according to Hebei Daily.

"We have gathered a group of Nobel laureates and young scientists who are interested in going to work in China," Richard John Roberts, who was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine and founded the Laureate Science Alliance, was quoted as saying.

Roberts visited Hebei with a delegation on Sunday as chairman of the alliance, a nonprofit organization for scientific research.

Xu Qin, governor of Hebei, welcomed Roberts and the delegation in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, and extended the province's intention to work with Nobel laureates.

"Hebei is willing to cooperate with the scientists to establish a science lab and also a science town, and to hold scientific innovation forums and issue scientific awards in Xiongan New Area," Xu said.

"We would like to gather wisdom from all around the world to help build the area into an innovation hub and a gathering place for top scientists," Xu said.

Wang Yuling, an official at the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development office of the Hebei Development and Reform Commission, said: "This is another big step for the new area to develop into an innovation center with the world's wisdom."

The establishment of Xiongan New Area, about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, announced in April, is designed to facilitate the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

It was created as a major center to receive noncapital functions transferred from Beijing, including scientific research institutes, universities, financial institutes and company headquarters.

Since then, about 50 high-end companies, including Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, have set up branches in Xiongan.

High-end and high-tech companies will be the main industry in the area, the administrative committee of Xiongan said. In the future, large data analysis and artificial intelligence are expected to be the primary driving forces of Xiongan's development.

zhangyu1@chinadaily.com.cn